Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
I had never DNA parent tested my cattle. Last year, I DNA tested the whole herd down to replacement heifer calves (including parent testing). I had ONE cow come back that the sire did not match. She was purchased - they checked a clean up bull used on that farm (son of AI sire) and it was a match. They re-issued registration papers on the only two daughters out of the cow. But, all my cows calve in a separate pen, so no chance of switching. Other than a couple of years using a clean up bull, my farm never has a breeding age bull on it. Even when I owned a mature bull, I partnered with another farm that kept the bull year-round other than the 30 days I used him.
I have to say, it seems a bit lax to have such a huge enterprise with coop farms involved and not DNA parent testing.
Saying red flags should have come up because "he only brought $5000" is a bit ridiculous. We all saw pictures of the bull and he looked great. I would venture to bet that there are President sired calves out in the industry that absolutely do not warrant $5000. NO bull produces 100% perfect phenotype offspring - even bred to flush sisters.
Jeanne, you are right!
Someone takes a straw of President and uses him on a non-registered, regular cow, and gets a bull, It's a pretty safe bet to say that he will struggle to bring much of a premium. Case in point. I go to the yards, buy a $300 cull cow, I manage to get her settled to President and get a bull, he's probably not going to bring much.
You are in the registered business, you know how it works. There are people out there using President on some VERY NICE cows, and for that effort, they are going to command more than $3k for the animal. In our state, that is close to the price you get for a registered grandson or great-grandson, not a direct son. Listen to the auctioneers when they say "this great-grandson is from such and such" Most sales here in the Bluegrass put the direct AI sons at the front of the sale, and after they sell, almost always at a premium, most people are walking out, and by the end of the sale it's usually just the bargain hunters left and the people looking for a free meal. I can't recall a registered Angus sale that I've seen in Kentucky whereby every last animal sold was a direct son of a top AI sire, and proven via DNA, and where the ENTIRE CROWD remained until the last bull was sold. The majority of registered bulls sold in Kentucky are multiple generations away from the sire that the auctioneer is squawking about.
A direct son, from a top dam, that is problem free, and has excellent phenotype has a completely different market than a great-grandson that is not even DNA tested. You know that.
