Each spring and each fall, as sale season commences, commercial cattlemen find themselves with more opportunity to add bull power to their operations. With so many genetically unique, environmentally adapted seedstock producers to choose from, what can you do to make the best decisions for your operation? We asked American Angus Association regional managers Reese Tuckwiller, Casey Jentz and Radale Tiner.

Step 1: Identify goals

We can’t get where we want to go in life if we don’t have a road map for how to get there. Similarly, it can be difficult to accomplish our goals as cattlemen if we don’t have our primary goals in mind.

“Are you selling calves at weaning? Are you retaining ownership? Are you keeping any replacement heifers?” asks Reese Tuckwiller, regional manager for Region 1, urging producers to identify whether they are where they need to be on weaning weights. “You can’t predict what you can’t measure … You need to start a baseline there.”

Once your goals have been established, visit with breeders to gather further information.

“Try to get to know your seedstock supplier. If you’re shopping around for a new bull, don’t be afraid to do some herd visits and talk with them. Pick up the phone and find out what their current goals are, and see if they align with yours,” advises Casey Jentz, regional manager for Region 4. “Commercial producers really come out ahead when they have a seedstock producer who knows what they need and breeds cattle for their needs. It really can put them in the driver’s seat from a commercial standpoint.”

Step 2: Analyze the data

When it comes to deciding — based on data — which bull is the best fit for your operation, there are a handful of tips to keep in mind while perusing sale books.

“If you’re not in the business and you don’t know what all those numbers mean, it really helps when those sale books identify where bulls rank and assign a percentile ranking from 1 to 100,” says Tuckwiller, adding that it will allow you to find bulls in the range of what you’re looking for as far as traits like calving ease, weaning weight or yearling weight. “Higher is not always better for certain traits.”

For new producers to the Angus breed or established cattlemen looking to add new genetics to their herd, the American Angus Association website holds a wealth of information regarding upcoming sales and breeder listings.

“There’s no better place than www.angus.org  to find all the sale books,” says Jentz. “You can see books from all across the country, every different operation with different priorities and different goals, and you have those at your fingertips. There’s not a better place to steer a commercial guy of what’s out there.”

Putting information directly into the hands of producers, the Association website offers multiple methods for cattlemen to sort sale books. As an example, potential buyers can sort sale books on www.angus.org  by criteria, including whether the digital sale book includes expected progeny differences (EPDs), or by state.

Producers on the hunt for Angus bulls can also select whether a sale book includes videos or additional supplemental materials. Just in case you’re on a timeline, sale books are even searchable by date.

Accessing all of this information is simple enough. With an existing Angus account, producers just need to sign in and visit the sale books page. From there, every sale book is available for viewing at your fingertips.

According to Jentz, there are plenty of people who love the printed sale book. But, with where the industry is growing online, there’s no better place than the sale books page on www.angus.org.

Step 3: Be flexible

The biggest thing to keep in mind is to have a plan.

That can include the type of bull you’re using, or the budget you have and what your operation needs in the future. Not only from an environment standpoint, says Jentz, but including your goals and what you’re looking to do.