In last week’s PCC Update, I compared maintenance requirements of the AI sires in the latest ABS and Genex catalogs to the bulls we will be selling in our three fall bull sales. Since most seedstock producers use bulls promoted and marketed by the major AI companies, I would consider those bulls to be status quo bulls.
There was NO comparison! Nearly half of the big-name AI sires only have 1-star for low-maintenance – meaning they are in the bottom 20% of the breed. In contrast, 99% of the bulls that will be selling in our three Fall Bull Sales have 5-stars for low maintenance – meaning they are in the top 20% of the breed.
This week, I am going to compare calving ease of the same status quo Angus bulls to the Angus bulls selling in our upcoming fall bull sales. If profit is important, then calving ease is second only to fertility as far as being the most important trait to select for. It doesn’t matter how much growth potential a calf has if it is born dead. Dead calves have distressingly low weaning weights.
We rate the bulls we sell for calving ease with 1 to 5 “stars”. Our 5-star bulls are the absolute best, while our 1-star bulls are the absolute worst. We guarantee the calving ease of our 5-star bulls. I asked Tyson Pharo to rate the big-name AI bulls the same as we rate our bulls for calving ease. Let’s see how they compare.
AI Company (status quo) Bulls
1-star …… 17% (Absolute Worst)
2-star …… 10%
3-star …… 35%
4-star …… 26%
5-star …… 12% (Absolute Best)
Pharo Cattle Company Bulls
1-star …… 0 % (Absolute Worst)
2-star …… 1 %
3-star …… 10%
4-star …… 32%
5-star …… 57% (Guaranteed for Calving Ease)
As expected… there really is NO comparison. Over 60% of the big-name AI bulls only have 1, 2 and 3-star calving ease. In contrast, 89% of the bulls that will sell in our three Fall Bull Sales have 4 and 5-star calving ease. Fifty-seven percent will be guaranteed for calving ease. Where else can you find bulls that are guaranteed for calving ease? No one – and I mean NO ONE – sells as many bulls with genuine calving ease as we do.
NOTE: 2-star calving ease is breed average. That is what everyone else is selling. Many are promoting 2-star calving ease bulls for use on virgin heifers. We would never do that – unless they were going to be used in a fall-calving herd.