Bulls that pack on a few extra pounds may not have the stamina to breed the needed number of cows
Ferdinand, the bull famous in children’s fiction, just wanted to sit and smell the flowers. With that kind of attitude, Ferdinand wouldn’t be wanted in commercial beef herds. In fact, Ferdinand would sooner find himself in a batch of bologna than in the shade of a tree. There are several reasons bulls may not be […] Read moreTag Archives Healthy Sires
Who’s your daddy? Find the answers via sire parentage verification
LANIGAN, Sask. — A sire parentage verification study is beginning to bear fruit for researchers and ranchers. “The producers co-operating in this study have learned as much as we’ve learned,” said Bart Lardner from the Western Beef Development Centre in Lanigan. Year two of the three-year study just wrapped up, which is evaluating the use […] Read more
EPDs not high on the list for commercial bull buyers
Though they contain valuable information, EPDs are among many factors that go into decisions about sires
It’s impossible to say how many commercial cow-calf producers consider the expected progeny differences (EPD) statistics of bulls they plan to buy. Dr. John Basarab, beef research scientist with Alberta Agriculture, suspects that it isn’t very many. He thinks EPD data is a few levels down on the list of bull-buying considerations. First on that […] Read more
Bulls not equally prolific in the pasture
Producers expect breeding duties among their cows to be shared when they use multiple bulls in a pasture. However, DNA parentage data collected over three years at the Western Beef Development Centre near Lanigan, Sask., showed that some bulls are far more prolific than others. Some bulls sired as few as three calves while others […] Read more
