Florida Bull Test

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The 84 day report is up our four bulls are holding their own. We had planned to bring one of the bulls home to use in our herd this year. Our son Jacob has had the 1221 bull picked to use since he hit the ground I had to talk him into sending him with the promise that he could bring him home. He loves the pedigree on this calf and the calf's dam is on the donor short list. I still have a problem flushing a cow until I have a bunch of calves out of different sires on the ground. So far 1227's dam has had (counting this years calf) five calves out of five different sires I haven't reported this years calf so don't have ratios yet. Of the four reported they have birth ratio's of 100, 92, 107 and 107 weaning ratios of 104, 100, 105 and 111 two yearling ratio's of 102 and 106, yea she is on the right track for sure. This years calf is a bull out of Final Answer 0035 and he is really nice. Check out the 84 day results at http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fl_bull_test/results_2013.shtml

oops 1221 not 1227 my bad
Gizmom
 
Are they going to be in the January sale? I've been paying pretty close attention to your bulls along with a few others.
 
Three of the four will be in the sale unless they fail the BSE. We have planned from the start to bring one home to use. If you want ratios on the dams of the other bulls give me a shout and I will send them to you. I didn't make the sale last year my sister got sick before Christmas and passed away on January 18th. Good Lord willing I will be there this year, so maybe we can meet.

I haven't seen the bulls since we dropped them off, Jacob has been over a couple of times and said they look pretty good. He also said they have some studs in the test this year.

Gizmom
 
Final results of the 2013 Florida Bull Test have been posted

http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fl_bull_test/2013_Bull_Sheet_FINAL_Summary.pdf

I am pleased with how our bulls performed. The four bulls we consigned to this test have all passed their BSE exam. Three of the bulls will be in the sale at the beef unit on January 18th.

Test ID 1198 (1227) final weight 1260 Ratio 105 Frame 5.1

Test ID 1197 (1221) final weight 1228 Ratio 102 Frame 5.0

Test ID 1196 (1238) final weight 1190 Ratio 102 Frame 5.9

Test ID 1195 (1239) final weight 1160 Ratio 101 Frame 4.9

I talked to the folks at the test today to verify the frame scores. They are taking photo's off all the bulls on the test to post on their web site, once I have copies I will try to post them. We are bringing the 1221 bull home to use on heifers, which has been the plan from the start. We have a flush brother of the 1196 (1238) bull here at the house that is a stud. When we were picking bulls to send to the test we wanted to send one of the calves out of the 658 flush. We talked to a customer at the Fall Round Up sale that had purchased another flush brother to this calf from our 2008 calf crop he told us that he really loved the bull that he had done a great job for him. That is the kind of report you love to hear from your bull customers.

Gizmom
 
double v":3tx1aqbv said:
Not as bad with the humidity but not far behind. last years drought was rough on all, this year it's been different. 1 May we had snow the temps were real mellow most of the summer and not 90+ with no rain forecasted. Think this winter is going to be a bear hope not but won't be suprized.

I think you were right!!! December has been loaded with more snow and cold weather that I can remember since living out here!!!
 
Our weather here has been crazy, 79 one day with the next down in the 40's with the wind blowing. Everyone has been sick. Today we have an 80% chance of rain and a flash flood watch. Like I said some crazy weather.

Gizmom
 
Dogs and Cows
Hopefully I can address some of your questions. I pulled the following from the entry forms, this addresses the amount of gain the test was designed for.

The ration fed will be formulated (target 4.0 lbs. gain per day) to be adequate for allowing expression of growth potential and development without over conditioning the bulls. The diet will be a grain and forage based diet, with ad libitum access to hay.

When you look at pictures of these young bulls you can see they are expressing growth and have not been overconditioned. This in very important when your purchasing a young bull to put to work. You want a young bull fit not fat.

As far as testing for the quality of the meat I have again pulled information from the entry form:

Bulls will be evaluated by ultrasound for carcass traits 30 days before the end of the test. Ultrasound evaluations will be made by a certified technician.

Ultrasound is the best way we have to determin carcass value. Measurements of ribeye area and IMF are taken. This is valuable information to have for your bull customers.

Another important piece of information is purchasing a bull that has passed his BSE exam.

Bulls will undergo a Breeding Soundness Evaluation according to the Society of Theriognology guidelines prior to the sale by the Bull Test designated Veterniarian. Any bulls that do not pass the initial breeding soundness exam may be tested a second time (by the Bull Test designated Veterinarian) prior to the sale. Bulls that do not pass either Breeding Soundness Evaluation will not be permitted to sell in the sale.

I was thrilled to see that our bulls were as consistant as they were. Do we breed for this? Yes we do. Do we always succeed no we don't. I start planning the next years breeding decisions as soon as calves start hitting the ground. We do everything we can to have a uniform calf crop. Uniformity is something else that our bull customers want. We also breed for moderation we can't be everything for everybody and have accepted that. Our herd is very maternal, we do breed for performance but not at the expense of maternal traits. It is like walking a tighrope, you want performance and growth and carcass but it all has to balance. If you breed for just one trait down the road it will bite you in the butt. If you just breed for growth your cow herd will get to big, if you breed just for carcass you can lose some in maternal but if you just breed for maternal you will end up with puds.

To have four bulls in a test like this one and all four complete the test as well is these bulls did I would be pulling your leg if I told you I wasn't tickled. The data we get from a test like this is a tool for us to use to make better better breeding decisions. This years test indicates to us that we are on the right track.

Gizmom
 
Gizmom, got my results from the RFI test put 4 on out of 99, will PM with results did well. due to some viewers of this forum I would like to keep results private..
 
For those interested, the sale catalog is now online on the florida bull test webpage under sale information. One of the few places in the country and the only place in the South that I know of, that you can buy a bull that has been tested for feed efficiency. $7.00 and up corn is not that far in our rear view mirror and probably not too far from our future as well. Good luck to Gizmom and all the consignors.




http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fl_bull_test/ ... tion.shtml
 

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