Serving the Bos indicus Cattle Industry of America | September 2013 Brangus Issue Briggs Ranches 10th Annual Santa Gertrudis Bull Sale 75 “Ready to Work” Gert Bulls Sell! 200 Select “Star 5” Commercial Females Sell! Friday • October 18, 2013 • 11a.m. These Star 5 heifers sell bred to Angus Bulls. All of these heifers will be sorted into uniform groups. Beef Bulls To Fit Any Program Guest Bull Consignors: Corporron Acres Harris Riverbend Farms John Martin Ranches 36th Annual Tri-Star Santa Gertrudis Sale Saturday • October 19, 2013 • 11a.m. An offering of performance proven genetics from three of the most respected and consistent programs in the industry...featuring Briggs Ranches, Corporron Acres, All sale events at Briggs Ranches, and Harris Riverbend Farms Facebook Page E-mail Joe Jones: Bloomington, Texas facebook.com/briggsranch [email protected] Briggs Ranches PO Box 1417 • Victoria, Texas 77902 (361) 573-7141 • Joe Jones, manager (361) 897-1337 • cell (361) 550-0994 Traylor Division San Roque Division San Carlos Division (Bloomington, Texas) (Catarina, Texas) (Rio Grande City, Texas) THE EAR SEPTEMBER 2013 | 1 I will admit that I am not as familiar with the origin and performance of the Brangus breed as I am with some of the other Eared breeds and that is mainly because of where I was raised and am now located in South Tex- as. We have a few Brangus breeders in this part of Texas, probably more Brangus bulls than one would expect, and it is a popular breed throughout the Southern US. Columns 6 Have You Heard...the Truth 8 The Science of Bos inducus 8 Genomic technology is useful for improv- Features ing beef cattle. It’s easy to become over- whelmed when thinking about genomics 14 Genomics & Beef Cattle because the process involves thousands to Breeding, Beyond 50K! millions of genotypes known as BIG DATA; therefore, it is important to understand that 18 Angus/Red Angus to Bran- the results of the process is improving the gus/Red Brangus in Three accuracy of an animal’s expected progeny difference (EPD) as to be able to rank ani- Generations mals for selection. 24 All You Ever Needed to Know About Semen Collection 14 Departments 19 Beefmaster Headlines A recent bylaw change approved by the membership within the International Bran- 28 Braford Headlines gus/Red Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) has now provided a new opportunity 28 Brangus Headlines to add new genetics to the gene pool. The new rule allows for the use of Brangus/Red Red Brangus Headlines Brangus crossed with Angus/Red Angus, 36 with the resulting progeny then top crossed two more generations with Brangus/Red 38 Santa Gertrudis Headlines Brangus to be registered as Brangus/Red 40 Simbrah Headlines Brangus. 18 Other 40 Industry News The WHY, HOW, WHEN and much more of 44 Bos inducus Bulletin Board Semen Collection. Topping the list of rea- sons are genetic insurance, expanding the 46 Advertiser’s Index influence of the bull’s genetics and proving, testing or sampling sires. 47 Calendar < On the Cover: “Young Herd Sire Prospect” - Photo taken at Salacoa Valley Farms in Fairmount, Georgia by Nancy 24 2 | SEPTEMBER 2013 THE EAR THE EAR SEPTEMBER 2013 | 3 OctOber 3, 2013 REQUEST YOUR SALE CATALOG TODAY! 10:00AM BURTON COLISEUM COMPLEX LAKE CHARLES, LA Performance updates for the program bulls are available at www.brafords.org under the Genetics tab. Also selling registered females as well as some quality commercial females. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: UBB OFFICE: [email protected] Sale Consultant: Jim Harvey: 863-697-6624 ADAMS RANCH HEIFERS New this year: Offering 55 head of Adams Ranch Braford heifers calving to Adams Ranch AB Bulls. To calve January-March. PLUS Selling 12 head of elite Registered Braford breed leading females and embryos. 'RQ·WPLVVWKLVRSSRUWXQLW\ Sells as Lot 57 | PH FUTURE 470 P53B Sells as Lot 59 | HR HAMMER 827 BW BM WW YW M TM CW FAT REA MARB BW BM WW YW M TM CW FAT REA MARB -0.1 1.5 11 19 5 10 20 0.09 0.23 -0.08 0.3 2.6 13 24 5 11 23 0.02 0.24 -0.03 MARK COWAN [email protected] | 903-495-4522 TREY KIRKPATRICK [email protected] | 979-324-5518 RICHARD HOOD [email protected] | 979-224-6150 Sells as Lot 39 | HR ROY 7152 Sells as Lot 34 | LSS MR MAV 205 BRAD WRIGHT BW BM WW YW M TM CW FAT REA MARB BW BM WW YW M TM CW FAT REA MARB [email protected] | 979-219-4599 -0.3 1.6 13 28 2 8 28 0.12 0.25 0.08 0.2 2.7 13 14 4 11 12 0.08 0.14 0.13 www.aspenedgemarketing.com 4 | SEPTEMBER 2013 THE EAR THE EAR SEPTEMBER 2013 | 5 Have You Heard.... Serving the Bos indicus the Truth Cattle Industry of America Welcome to our Brangus issue. You will find in The EAR Magazine these pages advertisements from the leading Brangus c/o AMS Genetics breeders across the nation, as well as other leading PO Box 10 Wheelock, TX 77882 breeders of Bos Indicus cattle. In addition we will feature articles on Genomically enhanced EPDs, Physical: some history on the Brangus breed, Brangus articles 10541 E OSR and news. By all means we hope you enjoy our focus Hearne, TX 77859 on the different breeds throughout the year. Our focus as a publication remains on Bos indi- Phone: 979/828-2722 cus influenced cattle. Our message is simple, in the Fax: 979/828-5532 global cattle industry, our kind of cattle are the driv- www.amscattle.com/the-ear-magazine/ ing force. Now we are aware that statement alone will shock many of the U.S. cattle producers and many of the publications that support the same. Let me share some facts with you. There are approximately 1.4 billion Brad Wright cattle in the world. Over 50% of those cattle, or 750 million, are produced Billing between the tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer according to the 979/219-4599 2009 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The average tempera- [email protected] ture and humidity in those locations requires Bos indicus genetics to thrive and in some cases, even to survive. If you expand the line both north and Mark Cowan south to include an area equal to I-70 through Kansas City, an area where Bos Advertising Sales 903/495-4522 indicus influence improves efficiency and adds pounds to weaning weights, [email protected] according to the FAO over 1 billion cattle out of 1.4 billion total are, or should be, carrying Bos indicus influence ranging from some to 100%. Richard Hood Those are pretty staggering numbers when you think about the global Advertising Sales cattle industry. They are also diametrically opposite to the feeling that pre- 979/224-6150 vails in the U.S. cattle industry. In fact, when analyzing industry on a global [email protected] basis, one might conclude that if you have no Bos indicus influence in your cow herd as a seedstock producer, you have no chance to compete. Just some Trey Kirkpatrick food for thought. Advertising Sales 979/324-5518 We look forward to serving you. [email protected] Mark Cowan Crystal Devoll Graphic Designer/Layout Artist 979/820-8358 [email protected] Member: Published on the first day of each month. Correspondence on all phases of the cattle business is invited. Publisher reserves exclusive right to accept or reject advertising or editorial material submitted for publication in The EAR magazine. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to : The EAR c/o AMS Genetics, PO Box 10, Wheelock, Texas 77882, 979-219-4599, FAX 979-828- 5532. 6 | SEPTEMBER 2013 THE EAR THE EAR SEPTEMBER 2013 | 7 The Science of Bos indicus THE ORIGIN AND featuring Dr. Joe Paschal Professor & Livestock Specialist Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service PERFORMANCE OF Corpus Christi, Texas Brangus Cattle I will admit that I am not as familiar with the origin and performance of the Brangus breed as I am with some of the other Eared breeds and that is mainly because of where I was raised and am now located in South Texas. We have a few Brangus breeders in this part of Texas, probably more Brangus bulls than one would expect, and it is a popular breed throughout the Southern US. My first exposure to Brangus cattle came when I was an under- graduate at Texas A&M University in the early 1970s. I part-time worked for a realtor who was in the Brangus and Brahman business. He had a herd of F1 Brahman x Angus females and some Brahman cows and was using a Brahman bull to produce ¾ Brahman ¼ Angus calves that could be bred to Angus to create first generation Bran- gus. The holy grail at that time was to produce a solid black, polled, 3/4 blood bull to mate to Angus cows. The 5/8 Angus-3/8 Brahman offspring of that cross are eligible for registry as purebreds in the International Brangus Breeders Association. The right one would (if I were to guess) have been worth a lot of money back then. I don’t know because the only one we had died at calving (due in large part to my ignorance of what we now call Large Offspring Syndrome), but I did save the cow. After 40 years I still remember her tag number, 638. The associa- tion still has an open herd book for qualifying Brahman and Angus and Red Angus foundation animals.