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Workshop features beef reproduction techniques
Missouri
Beef herd owners can learn the benefits of breeding all their cows at once at a March 6 workshop at the University of Missouri's Thompson Farm.
The workshop, "Beef Reproduction, EPDs & Carcass Quality." will feature new research from the farm on synchronizing estrus in beef herds, and give participants a view of the future of the beef industry, said David Davis, farm superintendent.
Synchronized estrus allows one-day breeding, saving beef herd owners time and labor at breeding time and especially at calving time, said David Patterson, MU Extension beef specialist.
The practice also can help more herd owners use artificial insemination, allowing them to choose the best-proven genetics in each breed, he said.
Typically, artificial insemination requires that herd managers use various heat-detection techniques to discover when cows are ready for breeding. The labor and skill required for heat detection has kept many herd owners from using AI, Patterson said.
When cows have synchronized cycles, breeding time is determined by calendar and clock. Heat detection is not necessary. Research results at the Thompson Farm show this fixed-time AI can be as accurate as visual heat detection in getting cows bred.
Workshop speakers will also explain how to use Expected Progeny Differences in selecting sires. AI bulls have proven genetic records, compared with unproven young bulls often used in farm herds.
On-site registration for the workshop starts at 10:30 a.m. for the March 6 session.
At 11 a.m., Patterson will tell of his research at Thompson Farm and other MU Agricultural Experiment Station farms. In addition, farmer cooperators also have used the breeding system successfully.
After lunch, Sally L. Dolezal, genetic research director with the American Angus Association, will tell of selection tools. Her topic is "Using EPDs and $Values to Improve Your Cow-Calf or Seedstock Operation."
Presenters from the MU College of Veterinary Medicine will discuss the "Beef Quality Assurance" program.
Increasingly, participants in the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program have used synchronized AI to group calving dates. Buyers at Show-Me-Select sales have been paying premiums for those heifers, Patterson said.
The workshop fee is $10, which includes lunch and handouts. Although payment can be made at the door, Davis requests reservations be made by March 1 to allow an accurate meal count. Call Roberta at 660-895-5121.
A shorter version of the workshop, with beef reproduction and estrus synchronization reports, will be the evening of March 18 at the MU at the MU Forage Systems Research Center, Linneus. That program, led by Patterson, will start at 6:30 p.m.
Date: 3/4/04
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