Beefbooster CEO Jennifer Stewart-Smith says emotion doesn’t belong in the process of selecting a bull.
“While the pedigree is important, the data available for Beefbooster bulls simplifies selection decisions. We have reliable data that allows producers to select bulls that meet the specific needs of their ranch, and suits their management style.”
This is how Beefbooster began. Ranchers were looking for a way to use the data they had started to collect to improve results and predictability in their herds.
How it all began
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Several things happening in Canada’s beef industry during the 1960s and 1970s led to the Beefbooster model.
The first was the work by Dr. Roy Berg at the University of Alberta’s Kinsella Ranch. Berg had begun looking at crossbreeding in the early 1960s in search of a “low-tech cow” that was suitable for actively grazing and nurturing grasses and forages, while also delivering quality meat. Berg was mixing breeds and showing positive results with weaning weights and other attributes.
Also during the 1970s, ranchers were starting to do a better job of tracking performance records. They were looking for bulls that would produce functional cattle based on economically measurable traits. At the same time, exotic breeds were being introduced to Canada. These became the primary catalysts that began shaping the beef industry.
Ranchers started working with their data and began seeing success in developing bulls that helped ease calving. At that time a 70 per cent assist rate was considered normal; today the average is much lower and the industry standard has changed. This was one of the first areas where Beefbooster had an influence.
Predictability
Good data provides better predictability on bulls for sale, and using whole-herd phenotypes and genotypes increases the reliability of the figures. These are just two ways Stewart-Smith feels Beefbooster is providing credible and reliable information.
“If you go to a Beefbooster sale we give you the reliabilities on every single Estimated Breeding Value (EBV). It is no use buying a bull if you don’t know how reliable their EBV is. The dairy industry provides an LPI (Lifetime Profitability Index) on the bulls they sell but that reliability isn’t demanded in the beef industry, and isn’t required.”
Stewart-Smith says there is a reliability figure of over 50 per cent connected to the traits and EBV where there is sufficient data available, in the Beefbooster program. She believes composite bulls may even have deeper pedigrees than some of the purebred bulls being sold currently and Beefbooster has the data to back that claim.
“We create EBVs and build the pedigrees in exactly the same way the purebred industry does, but we do ours at the University of Alberta, providing third party verification.”
The Economic Index is a critical component in the Beefbooster program. The EBVs are used to create an economic index based on a breeding goal. For example, a goal for maternal cattle may be the most pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed.
An index is built for that and given an economic weight. Then a dollar value for that bull based on the multi-trait index is determined.
Predictability is an area where Stewart-Smith says the numbers should speak for themselves. “In the Beefbooster herd our average breeding season is between 45 and 50 days, with approximately 70 per cent of calves born in the first cycle. The industry average is 90 days with a considerably lower first cycle average. Beefbooster bulls allow producers to manage their resources efficiently.”
While producers may start to see benefits in traits such as more vigorous calves within the first few years, the Beefbooster program is a long-term commitment to changing how a ranch operates. It can take eight years to see foundational changes in the herd, ideally when the producer is able to have a Beefbooster-sired heifer bred to a Beefbooster bull.
John Kotchel, Kotchel Cattle and Timber, Vanderhoof, B.C
Sustainability is part of the program
Beefbooster producers want to raise animals that fit their environment so that their resource base matches their production base. “Beefbooster isn’t really about the bulls; it’s part of a holistic management plan,” says Stewart-Smith.
“These bulls are really just icing on the cake — everything else needs to be working in these environments and then we produce an animal that is sustainable in that environment. They are easy-keeping, require less labour, and utilize the resources available to maximum efficiency,” she says. This means producers can run larger ranches with fewer people, which is where the industry seems to be heading.
These producers are using everything — the cattle, the grass, the sun, the water — to maximize their profitability. This is why they were a great fit for the McDonald’s sustainable beef pilot.
“McDonald’s called us because they saw one of our customer’s herds and they saw how Beefbooster worked into overall sustainability in that operation and it really tied into what they were looking for,” she says. A few workshops were held and a number of Beefbooster ranches joined the pilot program.
Beefbooster community
Beefbooster works almost like a co-operative. “We have member ranches that produce the seedstock and member ranches that buy. The ranches that produce the seedstock have agreed to the breeding goals — good feet and udders, longevity for example — and they select them for the economically relevant traits and the breeding goals they have set,” says Stewart-Smith.
In the fall, Beefbooster will buy the young animals from the seedstock ranches. They are brought to the Thorlakson feedlot where all animals are tested by a veterinarian for structural soundness, disposition and other traits. Feed efficiency and RFI scores are measured through the GrowSafe system. Semen tests are done on all animals and added to the DNA samples taken earlier in the year. All of the information is sorted and creates a value index for maternal bulls, heifer bulls and terminal cross bulls.
In the spring, the breeders come for the first sale and purchase the bulls they want for the coming year’s seedstock production; the customers come to the next sale.
The prices for the yearling bulls are set in advance and are based on the price paid for the calves in the fall — customers know the prices will be fair and relative to their calf prices. A general rule is to expect to spend the price of about four to five calves for one bull.
“We work with the U of A and Livestock Gentec and collect all the breeding data and DNA, and have created tools for the seedstock producers to select the animals that fit the goals set out. With the university we have built selection reports for both bulls and replacement heifers,” says Stewart-Smith.
Research that benefits everyone
Beefbooster is involved in open-sourced research and will provide data for use in projects through Livestock Gentec at the U of A and Alberta Agriculture. The results not only tell them more about their animals, but also may provide industry benefits.
“What is the point of having a database if you don’t use it? So we allow our data to be used extensively. The big trick will be connecting all the dots so everyone is able to benefit from it,” says Stewart-Smith.
Projects such as reviewing the testing procedures for feed efficiency and feed intake, and mate selection and heterosis will result in procedural changes in their program as well as the potential for industry-wide benefits.
Further research is looking at technology (net feed efficiency, dry matter intake data) that could result in a premium for producers because it is a trait that feedlots will likely pay for.
What’s next?
Stewart-Smith says the beef industry is lagging behind the dairy, swine and chicken industries in its use of technology, and she sees the potential opportunities and benefits.
“I would like to see a greater acceptance of technology in the industry. I would like to see value indexes attached to every bull sold. Then we can compare apples to apples.”
Stewart-Smith says there is a lack of incentive for the beef cattle industry to accept the technology, and no one is demanding a better system.
“There is a lot more required in the dairy industry, and others, when selling breeding stock, such as DNA panels and proper indexes. But today a beef producer who is doing the extra — which might be costing him more — may sell his bull for the same price as someone who doesn’t provide that type of information.
“There is so much technology available right now that would add value to the whole system but because there is no incentive to use it, we aren’t,” says Stewart-Smith.
Annemarie Pederson is a freelance writer from Calgary, Alberta
