RFI Tested Hereford Bulls

[smnherf]

Here is a bull I raised that I sent to the University of MO for evaluation performance and RFI evaluation.

He was top on the test with a RFI of -5.81. He gained 4.07 per day to rank 7th and was the highest feed Conversion bull in the test with a 1.81 lbs of feed to 1 lb of gain.

I had 2 other bulls that a FG ratio of 3.98 with an ADG of 4.21. I also had the highest ADG group of bulls there, with the lowest average RFI score and the best FG ratio.

His EPDs are BW .5 WW 44 YW 76 M 16 REA +.10 and IMF .07 and his REA/cwt was 1.28

My question is if the average FG ratio was 5.72, what is a bull worth that can gain more weight and do it on 1/3 less feed than the average bull?

All comments are welcome.

Brian

 

[MikeC]

Very good test numbers.

What's he worth? Advertise the heck out of him and you'll see come auction time.

Save a semen interest for yourself if the ultrasound turns out good. You might want to use him one day.

 

[CPL]

Brian I saw those pictures earlier and was anxiously waiting for details. You've got some real good cattle and this bull goes right along with them. Congratulations and good luck with the sale!

 

[smnherf]

Thanks for the compliments. I don't have a production sale. I have been selling private treaty the past few years and haven't been doing a lot of advertising as it seems word of mouth has done a lot for me.

I have some advertising coming out soon and it will be interesting what response I get. Right now I plan on using him in some way shape or form whether it be natural service on some heifers and cows or I collect him and AI to him. I have kinda made up my mind though that it is going to take the right situation to allow him to leave the place though.

Brian

 

[S&S Farms]

Brian
Never say not for sale. Just have a price that you could live with if you quoted it and the buyer said yes. A friend back east told me that and I plan to remember it. Bull look nice but what does RFI stand for?

 

[oakcreekfarms]

I see some faults in him, but overall a good bull.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

He looks and sounds like the right kind. Who is the sire and dam?

 

[Alan]

Overall a good looking bull, I too would love to see a pedigree.

Alan

 

[smnherf]

I am not saying that he is a perfect bull, but how many people realize the meaniing of this data. To put it into perspective, He gained 30% more than the average, but did it by eating 1/3 of the feed the average bull. Thats like paying $2.00 for corn when everyone else is feedig $6.00 corn and having more weight to sell in the end.

The bulls sire is Gerber Liberty 017L.

The bulls registration # is 42847300.

Thanks for looking everyone

Brian

 

[Angus In Texas]

Brian
Never say not for sale. Just have a price that you could live with if you quoted it and the buyer said yes. A friend back east told me that and I plan to remember it. Bull look nice but what does RFI stand for?

RFI stands for Residual Feed Intake - is the difference between actual feed intake and that predicted by regression, accounting for requirements of production and body weight maintenance...... in laymens terms - excess feed intake without added weight gain.

Basically they are looking for animals that gain more but eat less..... thus they have a better feed conversion ratio. If bull A eats 3 pounds of feed to gain one pound and bull B eats 2 pounds of feed to gain one pound then bull B has a better feed conversion ratio and his RFI would be more negative than bull A's

 

[S&S Farms]

RFI stands for Residual Feed Intake - is the difference between actual feed intake and that predicted by regression, accounting for requirements of production and body weight maintenance...... in laymens terms - excess feed intake without added weight gain.

Basically they are looking for animals that gain more but eat less..... thus they have a better feed conversion ratio. If bull A eats 3 pounds of feed to gain one pound and bull B eats 2 pounds of feed to gain one pound then bull B has a better feed conversion ratio and his RFI would be more negative than bull A's

Thanks I had never heard of the term RFI and did not know if neg or pos numbers were good now I do.

Jeff

 

[Elder Statesman]

He gained over 4 lbs. on less than 7.5 lbs of feed per day? That is a pretty amazing conversion. Can you tell me how they know the actual feed intake on each animal? Are they in individual pens, electronic or Calen gates? What kind of ration were they using? What was his starting and finishing weights? Did they ultrasound during the test? Does the University have this on a website? It would be interesting to see the test results.

Sorry for all the questions. Efficiency and carcass performance always interest me.

 

[greenwillowhereford II]

I am not saying that he is a perfect bull, but how many people realize the meaniing of this data. To put it into perspective, He gained 30% more than the average, but did it by eating 1/3 of the feed the average bull. Thats like paying $2.00 for corn when everyone else is feedig $6.00 corn and having more weight to sell in the end.

The bulls sire is Gerber Liberty 017L.

The bulls registration # is 42847300.

Thanks for looking everyone

Brian

Congrats. I'd like to know the bloodlines of the dam as well. I looked up the Liberty bull, and he was sired by the KPH Phase bull, but the animals fairly close up in his pedigree were very interesting to me. Some of the old genetics still very relevant indeed. Justa Banner on the top, and a string of Prospectors on the bottom side of the Liberty bull. Look behind Feltons 517, and you'll find Prospectors also.

I think you've really got a legitimate prospective breed mover. :clap:

 

[beef]

1.81 lbs of feed to 1 pound of gain ... that should be a record ... posted on April 1... hmmm ;-)

 

[KNERSIE]

1.81 lbs of feed to 1 pound of gain ... that should be a record ... posted on April 1... hmmm ;-)

I also read that, but never thought of it being 1 April.

That will be a world record that will stand unchallenged for many years, even by pigs and chickens.

 

[smnherf]

The coversion figure is based on a dry matter basis.

They use the Growsafe system wich utilizes scales and RFID tags to track every time the animal eats and how much he eats. The bulls were penned 6 bulls to a pen and were fed a ration of soybean hull pellets, corn, DDG, and a supplement.

Check out http://WWW.Growsafe.com.

The bull started at 550 lbs and came out 829 lbs on a 76 day test. I don't think that the results are available online. I would be willing to share my data with you but should probably OK it with the other breeders.

I ultrasounded the bulls after they had been home about 3 weeks.

I visited with Dr Kerley from the university of MO about the data and he says there ar no abnormalities in the data at all. He beleives the data to be accurate. He called him a true outlier. The challenge now is to test some of his offspring and see if they can do it too.

Thanks for your questions and your interest

Brian
Thanks for the interest.

 

[smnherf]

That will be a world record that will stand unchallenged for many years, even by pigs and chickens.
I don't know about that, but we may be surprised at how efficient some animals are compared to others. Within this test the conversions ratios varied greatly from just under 2 to over 9 with the average around the upper 5's. If there are outliers on the upper end, why cant' their be outliers on the lower end?

Brian

 

[KNERSIE]

I visited with Dr Kerley from the university of MO about the data and he says there ar no abnormalities in the data at all. He beleives the data to be accurate. He called him a true outlier. The challenge now is to test some of his offspring and see if they can do it too.

I cannot see how a FCR of 1.81:1 can be accurate at all. Do a search of FCR of various accurate bull tests and compare with your bull's results.

The bull may very well be an true outlier, and outliers on the lower end is just as possible as outliers on the higher end. The number you've quoted is just so far of the norm that very few people who have tested bulls will believe that. Or there may be another way of calculating a FCR in the USA as opposed to the rest of the world?

Typically its the ratio of the total amount of feed taken in during the entire test to the total amount gained on the entire test. That is not including the adaption period. If you said it was 4.81:1 I would have congratulated you on breeding a very efficient converting animal. The hereford breed's FCR in a test done in Australia was 5.8:1 a few years ago. (and that is not every animal in the breed tested, but a combined figure for all the bullcalves tested that year in the entire country)

Pigs convert at about 3.5:1 and chickens are very similar, 1.81:1 is very much an outlier in the bovine world.

 

[smnherf]

Knersie, I hear what your saying, I have thought a lot about the accuracy of this data too. I am willing to bet that if you did a distributiion chart and plot the FG ratio of every bull in the test, you would end up with a perfect bell shaped curve. Alot in the middle and a few at each end. Just like any test has.

Even with the FG data from Australia averaging 5.8, it is enttirely possible that you would find bulls that would be well over 50% above and below that numer. That leaves a normal range of under 2.9 to 8.7. It is entirely possible that there would be cattle outside that normal range.

Keep in mind, this isn't data I collected. It was done under the direction of Dr Kerley in a univesity testing facility. He has nothing to gain by the results of the test. I would question the data more too, but I had two other bulls that converted 3.98.

Feed conversion is calculated the same here as anywhere else.

Brian

 

[KNERSIE]

Even with the FG data from Australia averaging 5.8, it is enttirely possible that you would find bulls that would be well over 50% above and below that numer. That leaves a normal range of under 2.9 to 8.7. It is entirely possible that there would be cattle outside that normal range.

I am carefull not to say impossible, but I'll say highly improbable

Keep in mind, this isn't data I collected. It was done under the direction of Dr Kerley in a univesity testing facility. He has nothing to gain by the results of the test.

I realise its not your data, I think Dr Kerley needs to re-evaluate his testing methods.

I would question the data more too, but I had two other bulls that converted 3.98.

Then you'd really be an industry leader!

Are you sure Dr Kerley hasn't measured the intake in kg and the gain in lbs?