Article Highlight

Value-Added Premiums $50 Per Head, Data Show

Weaned calves are worth an average of about $50 per head more than their unweaned herd mates. That’s according to new data compiled from 393,600 calves sold through Superior Livestock Auction’s summer 2020 video sales.

The data analysis on vaccinated and weaned calves sold by Superior Livestock Auction (SLA) is an ongoing research project under the direction of Ken Odde, professor and former head of the Department of Animal Sciences at Kansas State University. To date, the project has collected data on over 25 million head of cattle.

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IGS BULL SESSION RECORDINGS

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STAYABILITY EPD.  DOES IT WORK?

Daughters sired by bulls in the top 25 percent for stayability were over twice as likely to remain in the herd as six-year-old cows and averaged almost two more calves in their lifetime compared to daughters sired by bulls in the bottom 25 percent for stayability EPDs.

The financial success of cow-calf operations depend on a cow’s ability to remain in the herd long enough to recoup the cost of heifer development and cow maintenance. In order to achieve this, a heifer needs to calve as a 2-year-old and produce a calf each subsequent year. Stayability EPD was developed to predict this reproductive success (or failure) and is defined as a cow’s ability to remain in the herd to a specific endpoint, with the assumption that open cows are culled. The typical endpoint is defined at six years of age. Stayability has an economic influence on a cow herd through female reproduction, increased calves per cow, and increased calf performance given mature cows on average wean heavier calves.  Continue reading.

  

IGS and the Pursuit of Better Cattle

IGS Feeder Profit Calculator ™ Highlights Profit, Reduces Risk

Using the IGS Feeder Profit Calculator, cattlemen are able to provide sire information, regardless of breed, as well as preconditioning, weaning and health data in exchange for a Total Relative Value that compares the profit potential of their calves to the industry at large. That value, indicated on a formal certificate, can be used for producer benchmarking and buyer insight.

Superior Livestock Representative Clint Berry says such technology is in line with what he sees for buyer demand.  Continue reading.

A global collaboration of major beef breed associations seeks to empower commercial cattlemen with genetic insight and more powerful tools for better breeding decisions.

Modern-day ranching requires more information to produce better animals, and International Genetic Solutions is propelling the effort across multiple breeds. The aim is to provide more accurate selection tools that allow for head-to-head comparisons and maximum profitability — regardless of breed. “Tying all of that information together adds a lot of value to commercial and seedstock producers because it provides a set of EPDs that are comparable across breeds without doing a bunch of extra math to figure out how they compare,” says Bob Weaber, Kansas State University Extension Specialist.  Continue reading.

Working Ranch Half Time SHOW

Does collecting data on the commercial cowherd really pay off?  One rancher has been doing it for over 30 years!!!  Come on along crew!!

"We put our data into the IGS database, so yes, we have genomically enhanced EPDs on every animal in the herd".

"I have better genetics. How do I get someone to pay me a premium for my calves?"

Find out what John Grande has to say on the Working Ranch Half Time Show.

Data Driven Value

 

FPC Demonstration

Chip Kemp Featured on Superior Sunrise

IGS PARTNERS WITH NEOGEN GENOMICS

 

The world's largest multi-breed beef cattle evaluation partners with the industry's leading genomics company. Here's what it means for ranchers.IGS Feeder Profit CalculatorTM - Marketing Backed by Genetics.
 
"We're extremely proud of the collaboration we have with IGS. It really is the first of its kind in the world," says Stewart Bauck, vice president of Agrigenomics for Neogen Genomics. "We will, along with IGS, be developing and refining a set of tools that we can make available to commercial producers so they can select superior females in a multi-breed or crossbreeding operation."
 
  
  
WHY IGS?

 

 

Data Sharing for the Good of an Industry

 

Matt Spangler of the University of Nebraska says the future of the beef business will depend on information sharing.

 

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