Fertility is the number one trait linked to profitability for cow-calf herds. It’s also of low heritability and sometimes difficult to assess, depending on your record-keeping system.

Artificial insemination as a regular practice may seem out of reach on your operation, but this floor- and ceiling-raising technology is more affordable and easier to access than ever before.

Crossbreeding beef cattle boosts performance and productivity by mixing genetics, leading to better weaning weights, reproductive efficiency and overall herd health. Often, the practice is reserved for females, but more seedstock and commercial producers are turning their eye toward males to identify potential benefits and profit opportunities.

Efficiency is efficiency, right? Turns out, it’s probably not that simple. Efficiency in a feedlot and at the cow-calf level are two very different things.

As we near the feedlot fall run and cow-calf producers market their calves at the highest prices received to date, every additional pound of gain has greater profit potential.

The podcast team is back in the studio for two interviews you don’t want to miss. Lee Leachman of Leachman Cattle Company shares with Tyrell his insight on genetic profit data that has been a foundation for his seedstock herd. And David visits with David Anderson, Texas A&M ag economist, on beef demand index strength in 2024, and profit goals with today’s high cattle prices.

“Genetic improvement” is a term with far-reaching implications, uniquely and individually defined by those in the beef industry.

Crossbreeding isn’t a new technology. We’ve known about it and have been doing it for ages. Yet, crossbreeding remains a severely underutilized tool industrywide, with less than 50% of commercial operations using it meaningfully.