Our Approach
There are so many traits to select and emphasize when breeding cattle that it is not possible to make genetic improvement in every trait in each animal. Therefore, it is important to set minimum requirements that all cows and bulls must meet if they are to be used in the herd or sold as breeding stock. It is also important to set maximum allowances as over emphasizing one trait (e.g birth weight, yearling weight) will soon cause problems in your herd.
Therefore, we select cattle that are above breed average in as many traits as possible, but are not extreme for any one trait. There are also many traits that are inherited, but do not have records kept on them. Mothering ability, nursing instinct, calf vigor, length of pregnancy, etc are just a few. We select cows that rebreed every year within a short breeding season, have the pelvic structure required to easily deliver a calf, have a strong will to lie down and calve, get up and energetically take care of the calf. We want calves that are vigorous, get up quickly, have a strong instinct to find the udder, know how to pick up a teat and suck and seem to have good natural immunity.
We feel if we consistently retain animals with these characteristics as well as the desired measurable traits, we will produce seed stock that has a high value to our customers. Our goal is to produce animals that will improve your herd in many ways each generation.