Thanks for the comment Doc, coming from you that means quite a bit. My reply to that post would be what I like to refer to as even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. My way with words stumbles at times. That being said, I will try to clarify my selection for SEC, which is a very good and very fair question by the way.
I needed something to turn out for cleanup after AI. Now before I get it from all angles, let me explain. With a small herd of cows (less than 50), I needed something good enough from the cleanup bull to be marketable, meet my strict criteria, and have a chance to leave a female in the herd if I didn't get some of the top cows settled AI. The biggest reason for this 1407 son is his dam. She is a changer and when I say changer I mean she improves cattle genetically and phenotypically in one generation. Most of the issues I have with 1407 are phenotypical, that is too say I don't like the way they look ... AT ALL!!!!! That being said they are reasonably sound and are working in an awful lot of herds (registered and commercial) well enough to be PROFITABLE (longevity of daughters yet to be determined in my mind, but worth the risk at this time). This son that got turned out cleanup did all the things that 1407 does well. Low BW, solid growth to a year of age, scanned well REA and IMF, is not a goofy idiot to handle and sets his rear legs down very well, his front toes point in the same direction, he is deep bodied and has real rib shape (as opposed to most New Trend derived cattle being peaked topped and puss-gutted). His first calves are on the ground right now and look good, not great but good. Better phenotype than 1407. To me as ugly as 1407's consistently were, HE IS A BREEDING BULL!! To me a breeding bull does things consistent and consistently well. I cannot argue with the genetic contribution that 1407 has contributed, but I do have issues with the phenotypic contribution, so I found a son that hopefully would do the genetic things as well as 1407 and yet isn't horrible to look at or sell progeny from him. I believe in phenotype as much as genotype and I can't emphasize enough that EPD's are a valuable TOOL, but not the complete answer. I hope this makes sense to all who read it and would welcome any comments.
Thanks