SUPPLY
CATTLE TALK
Typically, the English breeds —Hereford, Angus and Red Angus
are identified with siring calves that are more maternal in nature
and more efficient in terms of cow size for the Gulf Coast area when
compared to their mates out of Exotic breed bulls. This cross could
potentially sacrifice performance to the Exotic x F1 mating; however,
typically, the females out of these crosses are more marketable as
replacements. In recent times, there has been a push to utilize Exotic/
English cross bulls — SimAngus, LimFlex and Maine-Angus — on
cattle, especially in the Midwest, to try to capitalize on the benefits
that both the Exotic and English breed bulls bring to the table. Using
these crossbred herd bulls in the South has not been as popular, but
we are seeing more of these composite type bulls used in southern
herds. The Exotic/English cross bulls definitely provide multipurpose
genetics to be considered when selecting a breed to mate the herd.
Regardless of what breed or breeds you pick for herd bulls,
there is one tool that cattlemen should use in the selection of herd
bulls — Expected Progeny Differences. EPD’s are the cowman’s way
of looking into the historical records of a bull’s lineage and estimating
the genetic performance that the bull will provide to progeny when
compared to another bull. These EPD numbers must be used with
either breed averages or in comparison with the EPD’s of another
bull of the same breed to discern an evaluation on the performance
advantage the bull provides genetically. However, EPD’s cannot
currently be utilized to compare bulls across breeds. For example, a
Charolais EPD cannot be compared to an Angus or vice versa. With
that in mind, let’s look at a comparison o