WHY FEED EFFICIENCY? We feel that efficiency in all aspects of agriculture is going to be the key ingredient to success going forward. Cattle are no different. It has long been a trait that has been overlooked in the cattle industry. One of the factors being that it is so expensive to test for. At Byergo Angus we have made the decision that no matter the cost, we must collect this data for our customers. The commercial cowman cannot chance it, you just cannot buy bulls that haven’t been feed efficiency tested. As we look at feed efficiency, there are buzzwords that just seem to cloud the goal of the rancher. We have looked at a couple different buzzwords in the industry, RFI and DMI. They are confusing and as we examined these calculations, we found that RFI too many times identifies non-doers while DMI EPD is skewed too much towards no performance. Then we examined RADG (Residual Average Daily Gain) which looks at how an animal gains in comparison to the expected intake. We have found this to be the best EPD for Feed Efficiency at this point. With that said, we still wanted to do better. That’s why when we looked at all the data, we decided to not overthink the process. We asked, “What is efficiency to our customers?” The answer became clear--FEED CONVERSION and COST OF GAIN. By looking at conversion, we can still keep the dry matter intake in consideration while finding performance animals. Also, by doing this we are not picking a type and kind to be the most efficient but rather just following the data. SIMPLY PUT-THE ANIMALS THAT CONVERT THE BEST ARE THE MOST EFFICIENT! We have also seen in our cowherd that daughters of bulls that converted the best have been our longest lasting, fleshiest, most fertile cows. What will Feed Efficiency do for you? If you finish your cattle, you will save money and your bottom line will improve (in fact, this is the single most important factor whether you make money, yes, even more important than grid premiums). Days on feed, conversion, and quality pounds is where you make money feeding cattle. Also note, even if you sell your calves at the stockyards, somebody is feeding them and tracking them. If you retain females, this is where the most money can be saved in feed costs each year. We have also found that daughters out of the best converting bulls stay fleshier, are more fertile (probably because they are fleshier) and last longer. It is common sense: they convert grass to pounds easier so they are healthier, therefore last longer. How to read the sale book for efficiency? A special note is that industry average for conversion is around 6.5 to 1. AT BYERGO ANGUS - THE SALE BULLS AVERAGED 4.9 to 1. We have 0 bulls that are below industry average; we credit this to generations of selecting sires that convert well. It’s genetic! Each sale bull that has been feed efficiency tested has a chart with the following information:
Feed Conversion
Money Saved vs. Industry Average Feed Conversion Ratio
4.27
81.59
129.02
Conversion is the pounds eaten to pound gained. Lower is better. 6.5 to 1 is industry average. BYERGO BULLS AVERAGED 4.9 to 1.
Conversion ratio is a ratio compared to the other animals they were weaned with. (You can only compare feed efficiency within groups of cattle that have been together their whole life.) The higher the ratio, the better they did within their contemporary group. 100 is average. Anything above 100 is above average and on up. Cost of gain is how much it costs to put on a pound. The lower the better. Dollar saved is the savings to put on 600 lbs vs industry average.
Feed Efficiency Data Available Sale Day
14
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