Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with Sarah Jones of Red Hill Farms based in Tennessee. Hays and Jones talk about Inherit Select by Zoetis, which provides accurate insights on the potential of commercial crossbred replacement heifers in a matter of weeks for more informed selection and mating decisions.
At Red Hill Farms, Jones said genetic testing has been utilized for over 15 years.
“We will not purchase a bull if it has not been genomically tested, and we use genetic testing on all of our replacement females, and the bulls we sell are all genetically tested as well,” Jones said.
Inherit Select by Zoetis has been very popular with customers of Red Hill Farms, Jones said, because it allows producers to know more about their cow herd.
“More and more of our commercial cattlemen are using Inherit Select and genomic testing, genetic testing, for testing their cow herds and their replacement females to learn more about their cow herds,” Jones said. “We see more and more of our customers doing so, and once they test for the first time, it brings excitement to them, and they want to do more testing.”
By using Inherit Select, Jones said commercial cattlemen can learn the exact percentages of British and Continental breeds that are present in their herd. Jones said this information can help them decide which bulls to purchase to improve heterosis.
“If they have issues with growth traits, or carcass traits or reproductive traits, all those can be identified by doing some testing and learning more about their cow herd,” Jones said. “Our customers are using Inherit Select so they can have a more profitable cow herd in the future.”
At Red Hill Farms, Jones said genetic testing has allowed genetic progress to advance by identifying the best traits to benefit the ranch herd as well as the herds of customers across the country.
“I will say that Inherit Select testing has helped our customers by allowing us to help them identify where their weaknesses are and then help them make bull selection decisions based on their strengths and weaknesses,” Jones 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.
