The Next Generation - How delayed consequences of a single breeding decision can make or break a program
- Joshua Bedell
- Jul 6
- 3 min read
An angus cow is pregnant for an average of 283 days. Then she typically has less than 90 days to breed back and do it all over again while simultaneously raising a calf at side. Cattle breeding is an art and a science, but mostly it’s a game of patience.
Some breeding decisions are the result of a year or more of research. Then, you wait 9.5 months until you see the fruits of your labor - except, you don’t really. The story has really just begun.
Even after the calf is born, we can only make subtle observations about the animal in front of us. Many of which, will have no merit 6-8 months from now at weaning time. Once weaned, we can begin interpreting structure, soundness, and early growth ability but even then, none of these animals have even hit puberty yet. We see it all the time that sometimes the ones you love at weaning are no longer your favorites as yearlings. Once they hit 12-14 months, you begin to see more. Their skeleton is more developed, hormones have kicked in, and muscle is becoming more expressive. Yet even then, there’s much we don’t know.
As 2 year olds, most skeletal growth is complete, muscle is well developed and those first-calf heifers will begin calving themselves. Again, what do we truly know? It will be another 6 months until we know how the females performed as mothers. It will be another 4-5 years until we know if the females have adequate fertility and staying power to actually be profitable. The bulls on the other hand don’t truly reach their physical prime until around 5 years old. One could argue you may not know the true longevity potential for another 5-10 years after that……but let’s not get carried away.
In short, 1 breeding decision will have a minimum 7-year delayed result. 7 years until you see the full fruits of your labor or the consequences of your decision. This is the brutal reality of cattle breeding, and it means that every breeding decision has tremendous long-term implications for your program.
Today, as I look at our spring born calf crop I become excited. Our Connealy Gulfstream x KVAF Cuba’s Rampage ET calves look especially impressive (Figure 1). They are stout, attractive, and healthy. Gulfstream has a pedigree backed by productive good-footed & uddered cows and masculine sires. He himself is a brute. Our KVAF Cuba’s Rampage donor cow was posted about recently and I’d encourage you to go back and check her out. She is a proven productive mother, achieving Pathfinder status with a BW Ratio of 90 on 6 calves and a WW Ratio of 107 on 5 calves (6th was just weaned) establishing her as a real-world “Curve Bender.”
One of these Gulfstream x Rampage ET bull calves (not pictured) weighed 350 lbs at 55 days old, no creep & on rough pasture. He’s been gaining ~4.5 lbs per day. It would not surprise me if this group tops our sale next spring, but who knows!? Their journey has only just begun.
Breed wisely my friends.
Josh Bedell,
President & Owner
VICCI Cattle Co.
VICCI Cattle Co - Elite registered angus genetics. Bred without sacrifice, developed with your profitability as our obsession. There is no question, you CAN have MORE-QUALITY-POUNDS-EFFICIENTLY wrapped in an attractive and truly maternal package. NEVER SACRIFICE. #VICCI
Comentarios