Dear Friends:
Greetings to you in this new year that we hope is less challenging than 2020. As I write this, we are living through record-low temperatures. We hope you are also experiencing record achievements in your business and personal life.
The commercial cattleman is challenged to build a highly fertile cow that is moderate in mature size, and that is ready to calve as a two-year-old and every 12 months after. You can breed her to a terminal sire for greater feedlot gain or to a moderate-frame bull for female replacements. Avoid extremely high milk production; it’s too costly to maintain and too demanding of energy to get the cow rebred. The larger-framed cow’s growth continues through the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th calf. But a moderately framed cow will have established her full size by that point, allowing more energy to be directed toward reproduction. Fertility is the most valued trait we have – the most highly correlated to return on a cow.
We look forward to welcoming you at Brad Z Ranch on March 13. Please let us know if we can answer any questions in the meantime.
– Jim Bradford, Brad Z Ranch
