ation, AAA has provided breeders with new EPDs for foot structure, hair score, pulmonary artery pressure, a maternal economic index, an all-purpose economic index, and now teat, udder, and functional longevity. Despite all the tools we were provided with from 2013 to the present, we still had trouble answering how the udders are and how well the daughters stay in the herd. Those are two things that are understandably extremely important to the commercial cow-calf pro- ducer. In late May, we finally filled out the entire range of all the possible maternal selection tools we could have asked for to breed a more efficient and profitable female. The guesswork has been removed. From my perspective, it has taken away any excuses for not breeding a better female. If a herd of cattle is severe- ly lacking in one or more maternal areas, it is simply because the breeder has not prioritized those areas. There is no more excuse that they “didn’t know” and only because they didn’t care. The tools are in place to continue this exponential rate of genetic progress, driven largely by genomic testing and complement- ed with comprehensive data collection. As a breeder who made significant data contributions to the re- search population of cattle that developed all of these new maternal tools, I find little fault with them. They appear accurate in ranking within our herd. The tools have long been in place to push for greater quality on the terminal side, as that is what the industry prior- itized and what data was easily collected. Maternal data is much more complex to collect. As I sit in meet- ings today and hear that we need to expand the na- tion’s cow herd, I know we have the tools in place to make significant maternal efficiency gains because of breeders and researchers who prioritized the mater- nal side of the equation to help breed a better female. I also know we can do this without any sacrifice to end product merit. As rosy as things look for the en- tire beef industry, I couldn’t be more excited about the prospects of the cow-calf producer moving forward these next five years if they don’t rest on their laurels.
12 TH ANNUAL FALL SALE | SMITHS GROVE, KY | OCTOBER 27, 2025 19
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