EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
by Mark Anderson Executive Director North American Limousin Foundation
NALF is looking forward to the fall sales in addition to the spring bull sale season of 2023 as we head toward winter . As most of you are aware , severe drought in much of the Central United States , along with the impact of inflation on production cost for ag producers has been a challenge . Producers have had to contend with higher production costs for feed , fuel , fertilizer , etc ., along with regional drought conditions throughout a good portion of cattle producing country . All of production agriculture continues to face challenges given the current operating environment and regulatory requirements of political foes that may not realize where their food comes from . Higher cattle prices are needed and being seen across the country and are critical to producers given the inflationary environment we live in today .
Given this , it is critical that we promote the positive traits of the Limousin breed to help commercial producers remain in business with efficient cattle that possess superior genetics for least cost production practices . This will require that we continue to capture more data that helps us produce the right kind of cattle to remain competitive in the beef industry . Limousin cattle have feed efficiency advantages and superior dry matter conversion rates which are of paramount importance given today ’ s high feed cost . This , combined with superior carcass traits and the advantages of superior maternal traits that lead to the production of an easy keeping cow in hard range conditions will be of value to most commercial cattlemen .
Documenting some of these advantages through independent third party research is why the NALF board recently formed the NALRF ( North American Limousin Research Foundation ). As many of you may be aware , NALF has partnered with two commercial Angus cowherds in Northern Montana to generate enough test progeny to conduct third party research at South Dakota State University next fall .
Phase one of the NALRF research project is now complete with 453 head of commercial Angus cows , which were bred on two separate ranches in Montana in early June via the 7 & 7 synchronization process . The commercial cows were artificially inseminated to three different contemporary groups of nine sires consisting of Purebred Limousin , Lim-Flex ® and Angus bulls of similar EPD equivalency .
Progeny of the matings will be shipped to SDSU in the fall of 2023 for the independent third party research . The NALF board hopes to document the effects of heterosis and its impact on feed efficiency for feed conversion rates while monitoring dry matter intakes and ADG on an individual basis . Additionally , individual carcass data will be captured that can be traced back to the nine sires within the three different contemporary groups of bulls .
Harvest dates will be scheduled to three different shipping dates of increasing outweights . This should measure the effects of maintaining feed efficiency and its impact on carcass trait profitability in today ’ s era of larger outweights on fed cattle . It is not uncommon to see steers marketed now at 1,600-1,700 lbs . This typically requires some form of crossbreeding to have an animal that can reach these larger outweights and remain feed efficient with a desirable carcass , both quality and yield grade . NALF will keep you posted as the research progresses .
The NALF board strongly feels the time is past due for research that can demonstrate the advantages of using Limousin genetics in a crossbreeding program on English-based cows . Positive complementarity effects achieved for performance production traits , maternal effects and advantages in carcass merit need to be documented to proactively promote the advantages of using our genetics in the commercial cattle industry .
Along those lines , the NALF board is also working toward new EPD development and resulting indexs that are more current and critical to production cost in today ’ s operating environment . At the August board meeting , with the help of Dr . Robert Weaber , NALF will soon publish both an ADG and dry matter intake EPD . These two EPDs will be combined with other production and carcass traits to develop a more current terminal index that is more reflective of today ’ s larger outweights on fed cattle and larger premiums on quality grades in addition to yield grade differences .
The NALF board is also moving forward with the development of a maternal index . Both the updated terminal , and maternal index will be utilizing the IGENDEC software that is provided by the Beef Improvement Federation . NALF is intent on utilizing all the captured phenotypes that members have submitted for feed intake systems to enhance the accuracy of the new EPDs and Indices moving forward .
This has come on the heels of a large influx of carcass data phenotypes that have been added into the NALF herdbook over the last three years to dramatically enhance carcass trait EPD accuracies . Presently , NALF has added more than 120,000 head of actual carcass data phenotypes into its herdbook , which is by far the largest capture of carcass phenotypes of any current breed association to date .
NALF will continue to promote the use of data and upgraded technology in the future and representative of what has been a driving factor the past 50 years for NALF members . The NALF board is intent on maintaining a quality , data driven herdbook that focuses on data capture that will increase EPD accuracies to make genetic improvement a more efficient task for our membership .
The NALF board and staff would like to thank the membership for your continued dedication to the foundation through these trying times of inflated production costs for all of agriculture . The need for superior genetics to supply to the commercial cattle industry has never been greater and Limousin cattle are in a much better position to fulfill that need than ever before
12 • OCTOBER 2022