Customers and friends often call or send emails with questions related to their breeding program. We do our best to answer the questions or we contact someone in the industry with the expertise needed to answer the question. What follows are some interesting answers to recently posed questions. Our hope is that you will find these interesting and potentially helpful.
QUESTION: We recently were having a discussion about EPD birth weights with fellow beef producers in a different part of the country from where our operation is located. We explained our program uses a balanced approach in our genetic selection. We select for carcass quality but continue to apply selection pressure to birth weight. Our fellow beef producers disagreed and made a case for larger framed cows and higher birth weight calves because they "sell their cattle by the pound." Can you help me better understand the value of lighter birth weight calves?
QUESTION: I read and heard that carcass traits do not affect reproduction but that yearling growth does. I am also unaware of what maternal traits restrict fertility. Can you help me understand these relationships?
QUESTION: I am a commercial producer from Oklahoma. I select for above average scrotal (but not too high) in my bulls as it is my understanding that his daughters will mature faster and be more fertile. Will an above average scrotal in my bulls create heifers that mature faster and be more fertile?