Optimum versus Extreme Has our industry gone too far, again? A few years ago, I wrote a piece about “optimal” birth weights as we had noticed our industry using so many “extreme” calving ease bulls. Much of the industry has now realized that there truly is an optimal level of birth weight, as ultra low birth bulls generally sacrifice survivability, growth, thickness, bone, and overall do-ability. Now, we see a portion of our industry seeking maximum growth and carcass traits. We often see sale-topping bulls that are maximizing growth and terminal traits. Bulls boasting extreme $C Values (see my explanation of $C on page 19) are now idolized like the extreme calving ease bulls of a decade ago. So what is the danger of high $C? From our real- world, practical experience, we have found (as have many Angus breeders) there is a much higher fallout of these extreme growth and terminal-trait cattle than just good, solid growth cattle. What do I mean? We see more foot problems, increased structural problems, higher infertility, and a decreased “beef-type” look. Could this even be contributing to increasing levels of bovine congestive heart failure in what the USDA calls feeding operations of “well-managed, high genetic merit cattle”? I liken this “optimum versus maximum” debate to my dad’s General Lee car. The souped-up engine in this car has some 700+ horse power. It’s a great thing to have if you are racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats, but for Tingley, Iowa, it’s not real practical. In fact, the General Lee overheats when doing a basic task, like driving in a parade – the engine wasn’t built for going 2 mph, it built for extreme speed. My farm truck would get smoked by the General Lee on the Salt Flats, but my truck gets me where I need to go 365 days a year on the farm. No matter if it is on ice, in mud, driving slow walking cows down the road, or rushing through the bumpy pasture to administer treatment to a sick calf – in any of these scenarios the General Lee would fail. At Hoover Angus, we still like high performance cattle – after all, pay weight is the pay check for the vast majority of our customers. However, we believe that optimal is better than extreme and we strive to produce cattle that not only grow fast, but succeed at the normal, every day things our customers need their cattle to do – successfully get pregnant, hold up structurally, and be long-lasting, to name a few. As breeders have vastly increased genetic merit for growth and carcass traits, breeders must remain cognizant that we are not just creating 700 hp engines to run on gravel roads of rural America.
HOOVER LEGITIMATE C49 – Lot 52
HOOVER LEGITIMATE C49 Reg. 21048941
52 Bull
Tattoo: L/R C49
01/26/24
Woodhill Blueprint #
BW 89 ADJ. 205/WR 808/102
Myers Fair-N-Square M39
Myers Miss Beauty M136 Basin Rainmaker 4404 # Deep Creek MP Lass 933 # Mogck Bullseye # Miss Blackcap Ellston J2
Deep Creek Legitimate 203
Deep Creek Rain Lass 013
ADJ. 365/YR %IMF/RATIO
Hoover No Doubt
RE/RATIO SCROTAL
Blkcp Empress Ellston S164
Basin Excitement #
Blackcap Empress Ellston N86
Blkcp Empress Ellston D241
CED
BW
WW
YW
RADG
YH
SC
+4
+2.6
+78
20% +137
20% +.28
+.7
+.01
HP
CEM
Milk
Doc
HS
Claw
Angle
+14.0
+8
+25
+22
+.42
+.49
+.34
4%
MB
RE
Fat
$M
$F
$B
$C
+.79
+.89
25% +.012
+91
4% +106
25% +168 30% +309
15%
Dam
BWR 5-98
WWR
YWR
Sons @ Auction
Daughters @ Auction
Daughters In Herd
5-103
4-100
2-$5000
1-$4500
None
+ Retaining 1/3 revenue sharing semen interest. + C49 was a super calm bull on picture taking day! He’s a herd bull – he’s thick, got good muscle, and has lots to him! We recommend this stout bull be used on cows. + A maternal sister to C49 sells as Lot 116, and she has the 3 rd highest Functional Longevity EPD of any bred heifer selling today! + Dam S164 has a 361 day calving interval on her 6 calvings (a set of twins not included by the AAA in her ratios above). She has calved on or before her birthday every single year. + S164 is a 14 th consecutive generation Blackcap Empress Ellston female to be bred, born, and raised by the Hoover family! + S164’s progeny work for Lowell Pettit, Richard Allen, and Joshua Terveen. Joshua’s heifer was a photo feature and the #1 yearling weight heifer of our 2023 sale. + Grandam N86 moved up in time with every successive calving she had! She was an easy fleshing gal with a nice udder. + Great grandam D241 was a soggy ‘ole gal that ended her career with a 364 day calving interval on her 10 progeny and an average 103 WR on them. Two of her sons and daughters were photo features in our past sales. + D241’s dam, J353, was one of the best cows of her day – just ask Joy or David, they will remember this soggy cow that brought in a whopper of a calf every year. 1/3 Revenue Sharing Semen Interest Some bulls sold in this auction will have 1/3 revenue sharing semen interest retained by Hoover Angus, as noted in their footnotes. What 1/3 revenue sharing semen interest means: ❏ YOU have full possession and salvage value on the bull ❏ YOU have the rights to do what you would normally do with a bull that does not have 1/3 revenue sharing semen interest ❏ If you sell the bull, YOU receive all of the revenue ❏ Hoovers have the right to 1/3 the semen sales and certificate revenue from the bull if, some time in the future, semen sales become a possibility. ❏ If you wish to collect semen on the bull you purchase as an insurance policy for your own use, that semen is 100% yours, unless Hoover Angus contacts you and also wishes to collect the bull, either for within herd use, or to build a jointly-owned bank of semen for sale purposes.
YEARLING BULLS
25
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