Analyzing your cow-calf production system includes taking a look at:
- The genotype of your cattle
- Your production environment
- Fixed resources and management
- Economic factors such as input cost and marketing endpoints
How these components interact in your production system should determine the most Economically Relevant Traits (ERT) to your operation. The ERTs of significance to your operation should impact your selection and mating program. When considering what the most ERTs are to your operation consider the following questions:
- If you sell all calves at weaning each year, is your ERT weaning weight? pounds of calf weaned per exposed female? or pounds of calf weaned per acre of pasture utilized in your production system?
- If you retain ownership of calves through finishing and sell fed cattle on a carcass value basis, are your ERTs traits such a marbling and hot carcass weight or pounds of carcass produced per acre utilized in your production system?
By design, the questions force producers to consider input costs relative to the value of calves marketed at various endpoints. Analyzing the components of your production system should force you to answer questions about efficiency and profit margins beyond just targeting a level of production. For example: If I plan to sell my calf crop at weaning and identify a 600 pound weaning weight level of production as my objective. Am I more profitable when achieving this objective from a cowherd with a 1250 pound mature weight, or a 1500 pound average mature weight? Am I more efficient and profitable when achieving this objective from a cowherd averaging a 95% calf crop weaned or an 85% calf crop weaned?
Obviously, there is more to the profitability/efficiency equation than production levels alone. This is the point of assessing ALL the components of your production system.
The Blueprint For The Future Beef Conference – Part 2 will be held at the Totusek Arena on the OSU campus May 22 and 23, 2024. The conference will feature key industry leaders addressing topics such as gene editing, land stewardship and how they identifying the ERTs of their respective operations. If you have questions about the conference please contact me at mark.johnson@okstate.edu.
Registration for the conference can be done at: Cattlemen’s Conference (cattleconference.com)
