Management
What’s a Bull Really Worth?
By Wes Ischmael
“The investment in a higher priced bull that can contribute to
Spangler explains. “Consequently, bull selection drives the
improved production of more market-acceptable calves and
progress that can be made by commercial producers.”
better weaning weight for the cow-calf producer is not that
Finally, bulls determine the relative
costly when numbers are put into perspective for calves sired
market value of calves sired.
and as a percent of the breeding cow’s total annual cost,” says
Jim McGrann, noted agricultural economist and Texas A&M
Estimating that value may be tricky,
University professor
but more tools these days are designed
emeritus. He now owns
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Ranch Management
between bulls, you need to
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getting for your buck...
Patrick Gunn, Extension
beef specialist with Iowa State University, explains the bull
battery typically represents less than 10% of annual cow costs
for the herd, while the difference in returns between good and
below-average sires for traits of interest could be 15% or more.
“I can’t stress enough the value in optimizing your
marketing goals through improved male genetics,
regardless of cost,” Gunn says. In fact, he considers buying
bulls for commercial use that excel in economically
relevant traits an unparalleled investment opportunity.
Basic bull value
Bulls bring value to the commercial cowherd
via three primary avenues.
First is getting a cow bred by any bull.
“Sometimes you get what you pay for,” says Matt Spangler,
Extension beef genetics specialist at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln (UNL). “Using a bull without any known EPDs is risky,
given that you have no idea what his genetic potential is.
Using a bull that might be cheaper, but that does not excel
in traits that are drivers of profit for you, can end up either
slowing progress or eroding progress that you have made.”
Next is building the genetic potential
of the cowherd over time.
“The bulls used over the past several years contribute
greater than 80% of gene flow in a self-replacing herd,”
“Economic selection indices can
provide a tool to compare bulls in terms of their potential
differences for net profit,” Spangler says. “These are the most
valuable tools to help producers understand the economic
value of choosing a given bull. However, this assumes
that producers use an index that truly fits their breeding
objectives. Producers that retain replacement heifers should
use an index that has this assumption rather than an index
that assumes all offspring will be fed through the feedlot.”
For that matter, it pays to understand the relative weight
of various traits in chosen indexes. As an example, if
marbling is paramount to you, be sure the carcass-
based index you consider places commensurate
weight on marbling versus other carcass traits.
Sifting the differences
Figuring the net return of one bull versus
another revolves around both ultimate breeding
cost and the value of their calves.
“In making the decision between bulls, you need to really
think about what you’re getting for your buck,” says Matt
Stockton, a UNL agricultural economist. “What’s this bull going
to give me versus this other one in terms of calf value?”
Stockton developed the Bull Value Cow-Q-Lator (CVC) several
years ago, which helps users consider differences between bulls
based on their total cost and the estimated value difference
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