Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is featuring comments from the 2023 Beef Improvement Association annual meeting with a Beef Specialist at the University of Tennessee’s Genomics Center for the Advancement of Agriculture, Troy Rowan. Rowan’s research uses genomic and computational approaches to deliver tangible solutions to U.S. beef cattle producers while answering biological questions.
“There is one place where every commercial herd needs to be using genomic testing, and that is in sire selection,” Rowan said. “Sire selection is one of the most important decisions that a commercial herd makes year in and year out. It is a risky decision.”
Purchasing a bull means making an investment on future genetic potential of an animal, Rowan said, so it is important to make the best decision.
“In a one-bull herd, the last three bull purchases make up close to 90 percent of the genetics of that current calf crop,” Rowan said. “So, a good decision has a multi-generational impact, and it leaves a big footprint.”
Not making the best bull purchasing decision, Rowan said, can create problems for multiple generations.
“When we look and try to partition how much of the genetic gain occurred from the bull contributions versus female contributions in the commercial cow-calf industry, overwhelmingly, these bulls pull over their weight,” Rowan said. “Any tool we can use to make this decision more straightforward, more accurate, and optimal in the long run, we need to use it.”
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