Prepare Your Bulls with Breeding Soundness With breeding season approaching for many producers, it is important to not only ready the cow herd for the upcoming months, but also the prospective bull battery. If your bull or bulls are hold-overs from years past, don’t assume they are ready to perform just because they finished up […]
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Getting Ready For Hay Season We may still be in the thick of winter, but as the hay stores slowly wane we’re reminded – another haying season will soon be upon us. If you make your own hay, you know that with the satisfaction of a full barn before winter comes some headache and hard […]
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The use of rotational grazing, otherwise known as cell, mob, or holistically managed grazing has become accepted by only a moderate percentage of the agricultural community as an efficient and productive way to manage animal grazing. The system can be extensively in the pasture manager’s control, but a 2012 Census of Agriculture found that only […]
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Starting from scratch…to Southeast Sun Belt Farmer of the Year: The Robert Mills Story Robert Mills owns and operates Briar View Farms, a diversified 2,200-acre farm in Southside Virginia. The operation includes 300 mama cows, supported by 1,500 acres of grass, baling hay from half those acres while grazing the rest. Mills grows 150 acres […]
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Regenerative Agriculture: The Future For Modern Food Production? Amid all the hustle and bustle of daily modern agricultural practices and the drive to feed our rapidly growing world population, a small but growing community of food producers across the globe are pioneering a strategy of sustainable agriculture that could become a widespread practice in decades […]
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Fortify The Health Of The Newborn Calf When the first pregnant cow displays signs of labor early in calving season, it is too late to match the proper sire with the cow herd or vaccinate with a scour prevention vaccine. Hopefully these important management decisions including proper health and conditioning, a dedicated routine of cleanliness, […]
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What makes a bull impactful? What makes him valuable? Ask these questions to any producers or stud company and you will likely get an assortment of different answers. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find some commonalities and basic markers to help you answer that question as it applies to your own operation.
It’s fair to say that high impact, high value bulls are those who improve genetics and economics. Those who are considered in the top 1% of their respective breeds according to genomics tend to excel in both of these. But of course, at the rapid pace of genetic progress the ideal and top 1%s for any given trait or overall index is a revolving door. What you need is to find sires who match your criteria at any given point. Selecting bulls who follow the patterns of breed and type index leaders in relation to your specific needs and goals can, however, help your cows at least trend towards those elite ideals.
Publisher of American Cattlemen and American Dairymen magazines. Founded over 30 years ago, Twin Rivers Media serves the information and marketing needs of America’s beef and dairy producers.
