SG_USA_January_2022

SANTA GERTRUDIS BREEDERS INTERNATIONAL 71 ST ANNUAL MEETING SEEKING BOARD CANDIDATES S A

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T he 2022 Santa Gertrudis Breeders International (SGBI) Annual Membership Meeting will be April 7-9, 2022, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington, Ky. Elections for six seats on the association’s board of directors will be conducted during the annual meeting. Ballots will also be mailed in mid-February for members who are unable to attend the annual meeting. Terms are for three years and elections will be held for the following positions:

Active SGBI members interested in seeking a board seat and having their name placed on the ballot should con- tact Member Services Specialist Diana Ruiz via email at diana@santagertrudis.com by Friday, Jan.

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28, 2022. A 300-word bio and picture are required, which will appear in Santa Gertrudis USA prior to the Annual Meeting. Questions regarding the association’s election process, terms and responsibilities can be directed to SGBI Executive Director Webb Fields at wfields@santagertrudis.com.

Eastern Region Director – 2 seats Western Region Director – 2 seats At-Large Director – District 1 At-Large Director – District 5

Risk and Reward For both buyers and sellers, there are many resources available to better understand and utilize genetic selection tools. One of the best resources is your breed association. “I think there are a lot of good resources that are out there, particu- larly from breed associations,” Rowan shares. “The data collection submission resource guide for Santa Gertrudis does a really good job of underlining the traits that are being reported.” After all, education is one of our best assets for herd improvement and profit- ability. As producers, if we can fully grasp the interconnectivity between phenotype and genotype, we are able to take risks to receive reward. One way to achieve balance for your phenotypically and genotypically driven customers is to integrate genomically enhanced EPDs in your program. “I think that genomic-enhanced EPDs are a really great tool for commercial and seedstock producers. And if you’re a commercial producer, I think that demanding that the bulls you’re buying have genomic-enhanced EPDs is totally realistic because it’s a huge decrease in risk that you’re taking when you’re buying that bull without any progeny,” Rowan explains. As seedstock producers, utilizing genomically enhanced EPDs gets us the closest predictions possible to an animal’s genetic merit. Because genetic merit plays a key role in phenotypic performance, this benefits both seed- stock and commercial producers. At the end of the day, it all depends on the operation’s goals because that is how to note which EPDs require the most attention. For example, for an operation that retains ownership of calves, feeds them out and sells

IT'S ABOUT BALANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

them on carcass-based merit, carcass EPDs are an important tool. However, someone who is selling calves at wean- ing may not pay as much attention to those carcass EPDs. This all ties back to understanding your customer base because what makes them profit, makes you profit. “As a seedstock producer, under- standing the needs of your customer base and trying to match the EPD profiles of your sale offerings to what your customers need is a really big deal and something that can help your customers out,” Rowan says. “This will ultimately be a good thing for the seed- stock producers as well.” How to Be Better Entering sale season, the main goal is to display balance between pheno- type and genotype, and how to select animals based on that. To achieve such a balance, however, we have to be committed to accuracy in reporting. “I think it’s important that, as seed- stock producers, we remember how important it is that we are reporting accurate phenotypes because EPDs, whether they’re genomically enhanced or traditional, rely really heavily on accurate reporting,” Rowan says. This is a feat that together, as a breed association, you are able to accom- plish. As we progress into sale season and prepare for the next, keep that challenge in mind. “All of these different phenotypic measurements that feed into our EPD predictions are really important, and we can’t live without them,” Rowan explains. “So, it’s a really important concept that not only do we need to balance genotype and phenotype, but that we need phenotypes to make our genetic predictions better.”

with two things in mind: your herd improvement and your customers. “We’re selecting for the phenotypic things – the visual things – that we might not have an EPD for and that are going to directly contribute to that commercial calf profitability,” Rowan says. “The other thing I’ll throw in there is that for any trait, if you have an EPD that’s being reported for it in your breed, you absolutely should use that over the phenotypic measurement of an individual because that’s always going to be more accurate.” Of course, Rowan notes that not all traits are expressed with EPDs, but it is important to find a balance, even when this is the case. “It’s important to find a middle ground between those external pheno- types and things we have EPDs for,” Rowan echoes. To better understand your cattle and provide a resource for potential buyers, Rowan offers an example of how to cater a balance of phenotype and genotype. In Rowan’s terms, he recommends more explicit educa- tion. For example, in this sale season, it could be beneficial to use a page or two in the sale catalog to discuss EPD- based selection tools. It is as important to report all EPDs, percentile ranks and selection indexes that exist within a breed. This type of action is rewarding for both buyers and sellers. “Commercial producers who are there buying can get the full picture of what those animals are and how they stack up genetically,” Rowan explains. “But also, if you don’t have something like a foot or leg score, I think that it’s important still to quantify those things.”

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