All... The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) is going to discuss adding an Udder Scoring System to the BIF guidelines during the June meeting in Fort Collins.
I was looking for some practical producer input to take into this discussion and would appreciate any insights you might have on the general questions below:
1) Do you use an Udder Scoring system? If so which one (most are based on the system developed by the American Holstein Assoc.)
2) Are these systems to complex or too subjective?
3) Most comments I read talk about looking for a "Good Udder" how would you define that?
4) Do bull buyers place any importance on Udder Quality?
5) If the economics boil down to A) Nurses without assistance or B) Needs assistance to nurse ... is that really the more important issue?
6) Does longevity of udder also play a role? For example if one bull's daughter have increasing udder problems at a younger age vs. a bull's daughters that maintain udder quality later in life. Or is this reflected in a Stayability EPD and as such redundant to this discussion.
I appreciate any insights.
Susan
I was looking for some practical producer input to take into this discussion and would appreciate any insights you might have on the general questions below:
1) Do you use an Udder Scoring system? If so which one (most are based on the system developed by the American Holstein Assoc.)
2) Are these systems to complex or too subjective?
3) Most comments I read talk about looking for a "Good Udder" how would you define that?
4) Do bull buyers place any importance on Udder Quality?
5) If the economics boil down to A) Nurses without assistance or B) Needs assistance to nurse ... is that really the more important issue?
6) Does longevity of udder also play a role? For example if one bull's daughter have increasing udder problems at a younger age vs. a bull's daughters that maintain udder quality later in life. Or is this reflected in a Stayability EPD and as such redundant to this discussion.
I appreciate any insights.
Susan