CreekAngus said:
After going to Deer Valley Farms, I got all goggled eyed looking at their cattle, the money thrown around and all the commotion and promotion. Once the new car smell went away I began to look at my own program and decisions and see if I was going to maintain my current course. What I learned about DVF is that they make the EPD's work for them and they're more about the numbers and carcass than a certain phenotype.
For you seed stock folks....What is your agenda?
Mine is to raise 6 to 7 frame Angus, deep in the rib, square hipped and clean fronted cattle, with an eye on performance and no regard for carcass. I'm looking for 600 to 800lb weaning weights (based on sex) on a 210 day average (calves coming off at 210) and they got to look the part. In my neck of the woods, commercial folks don't take their cattle all the way to the rail, most wean'em at the sale barn or in the trailer. EPD's are a guide in my program, a tool to use, but rarely will it disqualify an animal for me.
I will make it simple.
We are looking for the deepest bodied, thickest cattle that we can breed that are highly fertile and functional. We aren't interested in catering to the folks that are unable to feed their cattle in the winter. We aren't interested in nose bleed CED and dinks at birth.
There are operations that can deliver the kind of bulls that create these thick females, but they are few and far between. SAV is the top dog in this category. Look at Kelly Schaff's Instagram and you will see statuesque sires and dams that have no compare, regardless of what the naysayers might claim. He raises REAL CATTLE in my book.
While EPD's are very important, it's how you use certain sires at your disposal, you cannot breed one season and say "hey, that bull didn't deliver what I wanted" It's like building up a farm, most people don't accomplish everything in one season. Each bull you draw on delivers something you may want, you get a daughter if lucky, then breed her to another sire to get another trait you want and hope that what you are building on gets even better. It's a LONG, SLOW process that many are unwilling to adhere to.
Money is NOT the ONLY deciding factor in whether or not you have superb cattle, there is so much more in the equation that it would take another thread to cover it all.
I'm already getting 800 pound 205's and my goal is to hit 900-950.
Another thing I'm super focused on is delivering POTENT bulls to my clients. After speaking with two separate Vets recently, fertility is becoming a hot topic issue. She said she is seeing more and more bulls with "bad swimmers". Deliver a bull that can't perform and watch your reputation go down the toilet faster than you can hear "flush". There is a method to delivering such a bull to clients, but I won't give away the method we use on CT. All I can say is that they are potent and get the job done.
As for weaning weights, this bull is one of several that topped 800 pounds on his 205, he is a DNA proven son of SAV President 6847. He is 9 months old, both BR and TT have seen him in person and can attest that he is "thicker than a Snicker". He could service heifers right now with ease, but he won't be used at full potential until 15-16 months. Imagine this guy growing for another 6-7 months on the ration he is on, which includes steamed and flaked corn. He is going to be massive.
http://bit.ly/2J2CT5z
