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By Casey Henly
t’s that time of year again — stock show
season is in full swing, farmers are anxiously planting in the fields, the weather
is warming up, and it’s breeding season.
For the next 90 days, the mature male
bovine will get his time to shine. Ranchers have spent increased dollar amounts to
ensure that their bull battery is in adequate body
condition to achieve maximum coverage on the
herd. Bulls are one of the single most important
parts of a producers program because of the genetic impact on the calf crop. Bulls make up 50
percent of the genetic profile of one calf, and one
bull can cover up to 25 cows. Herd bull quality can have a dramatic effect on the economic
performance of your herd.
There is no doubt that sustained nutrition can
have a profound positive effect on herd and calf
performance if fed on a year round basis, but
bull quality also has a dramatic impact on the
growth, development and performance of the
calf crop. Black bulls, white bulls, red bulls, or
multi colored bulls can all provide different levels of heterosis when mated to the right female.
With most ranchers in the Gulf Coast having
a cow herd that is greater than 25 percent Brahman, their herds enjoy the advantage of the added
growth and muscle in the progeny by using a
Exotic breed bull, such as Charolais, Simmental,
Maine Anjou or Limousin. Let’s take the Charolais x F1 Tiger stripe cross for example. The calves
will be ½ Charolais, ¼ Hereford and ¼ Brahman.
Historically and in the foreseeable future, this
mating will continue to press the scales and grab
the attention of order buyers across the country.
If the operation is breeding with a purely terminal goal in mind, pure Exotic bulls are a definite
option to consider. If the goal of the operation is
to keep replacements and/or market high quality replacement females in this area, then other
breeds of bulls may need to be considered.
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