Simmental Association for a Commercial guy

[WarEagle73]

Long time without posting, but still been lurking around. Had a question for the board to see if anyone has any experience with this.

We have a small commercial herd, calve out 20-30 cows a year. Utilize AI in a pretty big way and every calf produced in the last three years has either become a replacement heifer or we have retained ownership. We have bought a couple of registered Angus cows and have thought about trying to produce a few bulls a year to sell locally and potentially buy the calves back to fill a truck to the feedyard.

My question is has anyone used the commercial options in the Total Herd Enrollment Program for the Simmental Association? Or used regular THE with commercial cows? My math says its cheaper to just used their normal version of THE rather than the $500 commercial option. I would really like to find a way to utilize all of this data that we are collecting, and I think the EPD's they can generate on our calves might be worth it. We would also be willing to do genomic testing on the commercial cows too.

 

[Bright Raven]

That is a good question. One I have not explored. I am enrolled in option A. Commercial is option D. A cursory look says you might save money if you have a large commercial herd. If you only have 20 to 30. It would be cheaper to use Option A.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I am no help for you. I have been THE option A all along. I have always reported every cow on my farm since 1972. Long before there were "options" (LOL). But, I am not aware of the Commercial options. Sorry.

 

[76 Bar]

Didn't realize THR/THE was optional with the ASA. What percentage of the membership utilizes THE?
Aside from the RAAA, is THR mandatory in any other registry's?

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Didn't realize THR/THE was optional with the ASA. What percentage of the membership utilizes THE?
Aside from the RAAA, is THR mandatory in any other registry's?

We are THE. All I have to do is report birth weights, weaning weights, and yearling weights when I can get them. It cost me $15 (IIRC) per cow and I get registrations and EPD's for free on all my calves.

 

[Bright Raven]

Didn't realize THR/THE was optional with the ASA. What percentage of the membership utilizes THE?
Aside from the RAAA, is THR mandatory in any other registry's?

THE is very popular. Especially Option A. You save a bundle if your program benefits from registering all offspring.

PS: I was posting as Fire Sweep was. As she mentioned, 15 bucks versus 50.

 

[WarEagle73]

On the commercial side, do you think it is worth it? We collect tons of data on our commercial calves from weaning weights through full carcass data. Right now we don't have a ton of Sim-influence, but we are headed that direction. I feel like the data management and ability to generate EPD's for these commercial calves makes it worth the $15/hd. Thoughts?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Do you want the EPD's to help you decide which animals to keep? Do you want them for sales of bulls for your buyers?
and/or to help decide which bulls would be calving ease? growth numbers?
I am "old school" (very OLD). I use phenotype (my eyes, other's eyes) more than I use estimated numbers. I weigh everything - birth, 5 months, 6 months, 8 months; yearly & mature at least twice a year.
I use EPD's on bulls AFTER I have decided which bulls I want. Then I match the bull to my cows (phenotype & genotype).
I don't fully understand how helpful commercial EPD's will be, so I'm not a good one to give advice on this.
I wish more commercial people would jump in on this. Starting the title with Simmental, probably turned off all the "Angus" commercial guys. LOL Maybe have better luck just posting something like - "Commercial EPD's - helpful or not??"

 

[Bright Raven]

On the commercial side, do you think it is worth it? We collect tons of data on our commercial calves from weaning weights through full carcass data. Right now we don't have a ton of Sim-influence, but we are headed that direction. I feel like the data management and ability to generate EPD's for these commercial calves makes it worth the $15/hd. Thoughts?

Yes. If you have 20 to 30 head to enroll in THE, Option A, you can register and log in data for only $15 per head AND you avoid the $500 commercial fee. However, if you have more than 50 commercial cows, then Option D becomes more attractive. That is how I understand it.

If you want to get it from ASA, call 406-587-4531. Follow the directions on the recorded operator.

 

[SimAngus farmer]

I have been enrolled in THE for several seasons now. I use the "C" option. I also have 30 or so cows and believe the cost for "C" is $7 a head. You would receive EPD's on bull and heifer calves, but would pay individually for any registrations. If you are mainly needing the EPD info and not as concerned about registering calves, then this option may work for you.
I started off by DNA sampling my entire cow herd during the recent DNA roundup at a reduced price to get more accurate data to start off with.
Janine Story with ASA is extremely helpful and will help you decide what would work best for you. She also will guide you through getting started entering your cows into the database if they aren't already registered. I usually have to put in a call to her about once a year for a refresher or help with an error.
I'm definitely not an expert, but will try and answer any questions you might have concerning my experience.
War Eagle!