Bulls backed by REAL WORLD COWS.
Many breeders in today’s world like to say they are top breeders of maternal genetics without the commitment to measuring it. It would be the same as breeding for performance without collecting weaning and yearling weights. We believe maternal function is defined by a combination of measurable and immeasurable traits. Are you buying bulls from a maternal and data driven herd? At Poss Angus, we are committed to producing bulls that will sire practical and problem-free females. Over the past eight years, through the enrollment of MaternalPlus, we have been able to provide a data driven cowherd, while adding cowboy common sense into this multi-faceted approach. With this new approach, we are better able to identify cows that are worthy of propagation or elimination. With this combination we are now offering a more predictable product for our customers.
With both approaches in progressing maternally relevant traits, we are relying heavily on both sides to not only make breeding decisions, but to make even more informed culling decisions. With a zero-tolerance for any cows that fail to meet our criteria of any of the maternal traits we measure, we are quickly bringing up the bottom end of a cowherd.
We have earned the MaternalPlus designation by meeting the national inventory reporting requirements, and providing not only ourselves but you the customer with the information needed to make effective selection decisions. This voluntary designation is designed to capture additional reproductive trait data and expand reproductive and survivability tools.
What data are we collecting and submitting to build the maternal EPDs at the American Angus Association? Udder Suspension and Teat Size. Udder suspension and teat size are critical for newborn calves to receive colostrum in a timely manner. The first day of a newborn calf’s life is essential to its future health and performance. Udder quality plays a large part in that calf getting its needed nutritional requirements. Every cow is scored annually for both traits. Claw and Angle. Foot quality is vital to the longevity and long-term productivity of a beef animal. Every cow is scored annually for both traits, and taken into effect. Heifer Pregnancy and Cow Fertility. Cattle reproduction is the largest economic driver of turning a profit in the cow-calf business. We are continually applying more selection pressure on our cowherd by mostly retaining females that are a product of conception in the first two cycles of the breeding season. All breeding data and ultrasound results are submitted annually. Docility. Like any other trait, we believe there is an optimum range for the docility level of cattle to make superior maternal females. Identifying and culling animals on both sides of the extreme and keeping the ones that fall in the middle is our goal. Cows that are mean and flighty are unacceptable for safety. Cows that fall short in mothering ability and require extra attention are not desirable either. All cattle are scored for docility as yearlings on the ranch.
What are the immeasurable traits of maternal function that we use cowboy common sense to track?
Mothering Ability. Not only do we not have the time or the want to do a cow’s job for her when she calves, but we understand that it is unacceptable for our customer’s as well. We have a zero- tolerance for cows that choose not to get their calves up and going immediately after they calve. Cows that mull or walk away from them are no longer accepted within our cowherd. Calf Vigor. We have come to the understanding that it is an almost perfect science, when calves need attention at birth because of lack of vigor, it is most likely to reoccur at some point in their life again. Calves that never receive their full amount of colostrum in a timely manner will most likely never reach their genetic potential. We have made an effort to identify calves that have lacked vigor at birth from different sire and cow lines in hopes of creating bulls that will sire calves with excellent vigor at birth. Fleshing Ability. Multiplying genetics that can easily hold their flesh throughout all phases of the year is a focal point of our cowherd. Like most of our commercial customer base, we expect our cowherd to forage and be self-sufficient without supplementation well into the winter months. With the fence-line weaning method used on our heifers they are kept on grass until early fall when they are then turned onto corn stalks until the early part of March. We use this period as a selection pressure to assist in identifying which females cannot thrive in tough conditions. Physical Analysis. Phenotype can be a valuable tool. At calving time, every female is evaluated. If a female is undesirable in any category, she is instantaneously removed from her group and culled. With this ability every female is identified on a single basis to make sure we are only replicating our best females. When selecting females for the replacement pen, wedge-shaped, deep ribbed females with a feminine design are an absolute must.
POWER equals
POSS
SCOTIA, NEBRASKA
5
AT THE RANCH
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