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.

As managers of cow-calf production systems, we have available to us many different tools that may be used to accomplish tasks within our operations. Every tool, no matter what type, is designed for a specific purpose.

For cow-calf producers, it’s impossible to determine which of their heifers will become their most profitable long-term females simply by eyeballing them over the fence.