Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to visit with with the Director of SimGenetic Development at the American Simmental Association, Luke Bowman, about highlights from the American Simental Association’s Fall Focus 2023 held in Denver, Colorado, at the end of August. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster is featuring comments from Bowman talking about Bovine Congestive Heart Failure.
“It was a watershed moment for the beef industry at Fall Focus,” Bowman said. “We always try to have a symposium based on science and current events in the cattle breeding world to give to our members and commercial cattlemen who can attend the national event held in different regions around the country every year.”
To be able to discuss the topics covered at Fall Focus 2023, Bowman said, and to have so many experts in the room was exceptional. One of the big topics covered at the event, Bowman added, was bovine congestive heart failure.
“Cattlemen in general and probably all livestock breeders select for extremes rather than optimums, so we want to maximum the absolute number of pounds we sell at weaning time or sell at slaughter time because that yields more dollars,” Bowman said. “However, what we are doing is we are getting these cattle to perform like racehorses, and they absolutely outperform and grow like crazy, but are all of the rest of the organs keeping up with them? We don’t know. So, if their hearts can’t keep up with all this maximum growth and fat they are putting on at the late stages of the game at the feedlot, they literally have heart attacks and die.”
Other topics included the importance of crossbreeding, which Bowman said is essential for calf vigor. Crossbred cattle, Bowman added, seem to be “thriftier” and survive the feedlot experience at a higher and more successful rate than straightbred animals.
“We found that a straight, full-blood Simmental is not applicable to today’s industry; however, a composite Simmental is extremely applicable,” Bowman said. “We want cattlemen to think about that as they are breeding cattle going forward.”
While some breeds are easier to raise and market, Bowman said they are not always the thriftiest.
“We ultimately know coming out of this symposium is that hybrid cattle are just going to survive better,” Bowman said.
One of many advantages of Simmental genetics, Bowman said, is the ability to thrive in high altitudes.
“Simmental cattle were established in Switzerland in the Alps,” Bowman said.
Because of the background of the Simmental breed, Bowman said these cattle are able to adapt well to high altitude conditions compared to other breeds.
“As fall calving season arrives, it is a good time to consider what your bull purchases are going to look like this fall for turning out sires in November and December,” Bowman said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
