If you could keep an exact copy of your most valuable bull or elite cow, would you? Let’s say your top-producing animal died tomorrow: Would you shed a few tears and conjure up a few cuss words, or would you simply redeem the animal’s cell line and produce another?

Embryo transfer (ET) is the process of removing one or more embryos (fertilized eggs) from the reproductive tract of a donor female and transferring them to one or more recipient female.

Over the last three-decade to four-decade period, the beef industry has witnessed marked changes in a number of economically important traits. Many of the changes that have occurred are due to improvements in phenotypic evaluation and reporting, and in the implementation and use of genetic selection tools such as expected progeny differences (EPDs).

Prepartum, postpartum nutrition play vital role in rebreeding success Success factors vary from farm to farm, but every operation benefits from cows you can return to healthy reproductive status soon after calving, resulting in an increased pregnancy rate and a heavier calf weaning weight.

The decision to retain or buy heifers is a yearly dilemma; how they are developed will have a huge impact in your cow herd. The research clearly demonstrates that heifer development has both immediate and lasting effects on profitability and cow longevity.

DNA markers have come a long way in the past decade, moving from a one-marker single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) test to tests that now simultaneously involve tens of thousands of markers. Scientists have learned a lot along the way, and the technology is starting to come of age.

Over my veterinary career, I have heard not only producers but also animal scientists and veterinarians repeat statements they have heard somewhere along the road that just aren’t true. Below are the first five of my top 10 beef cow-calf nutrition myths. Click here to read the last five of the top 10 beef cow-calf nutrition myths.