Common Ground
It all starts by defining your breeding objective.
March 21, 2025
The success of any cattle breeding program hinges on one crucial factor: a clearly defined breeding objective. Without a well-established goal, genetic progress can be inconsistent, and producers may find themselves chasing traits that don’t align with their long-term vision.
As I travel the country and talk to cattle producers, I think this is an area where a little more focus and attention could reap major rewards.
Operations vary greatly across this country and even within regions of the country. While “make money” is a commonly held goal with cattlemen, “how we make money” is the more elusive topic that takes planning and discipline.
In the world of Angus genetics, the American Angus Association offers a suite of dollar value indexes ($Values) to help commercial producers tailor their genetic selection to specific production and marketing goals — and make money. These indexes include traits that produce revenue (weight, quality grade, etc.) and some also consider the inputs that generate cost (feed intake, feet, reproductive failure, etc.).
The indexes start with a specific breeding objective and then apply national average economic statistics to appropriately weight things like carcass weight, cow maintenance cost and quality grade.
Understanding how the index breeding objective aligns or differs from yours, as well as considering differences in the revenue and expenses from your outfit, are key to making informed breeding decisions that fit with your operation’s needs.
The $Values are built on national averages, so your operation may require you to look at some of the individual component traits and establish independent culling levels on things like milk or mature size.
A breeding objective serves as a road map for your herd’s genetic progress. It should reflect your operation’s environment, feed and labor resources, management style, and market end point. Are you selling calves at weaning, developing replacement females or retaining ownership through the feedlot? Each decision affects which traits should be prioritized in your selection process.
- Maternal weaned calf value ($M) is based on a model where replacements are retained, and all cull females and male progeny are sold as feeder calves.
- Beef value ($B) is a terminal index that predicts profitability due to postweaning and carcass traits.
- Combined value ($C) is built with the breeding objective of keeping replacement heifers and feeding out the cull heifers and steer calves through the feedlot and selling them on a quality-based grid.
Using the right index ensures progress toward the traits most valuable to your operation.
Failing to define an objective can result in unintended consequences. For example, focusing solely on growth traits might lead to larger mature cows, increasing maintenance costs and potentially more open cows. Prioritizing calving ease without considering growth could limit pounds to take across the scales at weaning.
Solely focusing on cow traits could produce a calf that doesn’t fit the needs of the feeder, packer or consumer.
By establishing a clear objective, producers can balance multiple traits to optimize both performance and profitability while avoiding making a bull purchase that doesn’t fit the plan.
To learn more about $Values, I would encourage you to follow click here. Here you will find a detailed breakdown of each index, including the breeding objective for each and the economic assumptions that underpin trait weighting.
Ultimately, the most successful breeding programs are built on consistency and purpose. Defining your breeding objective and appropriately using the right Angus selection tools will help ensure genetic progress that aligns with your operational goals.
Help for defining breeding objectives click here.
Topics: Management , Association News , EPDs , Female Foundations , Selection
Publication: Angus Beef Bulletin
Issue: April 2025
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Current Angus Beef Bulletin
The April issue has a “Focus On Females,” including a special advertising section devoted to herds intent on providing the female foundation.
