Best Bulls for 2012

Breeding cattle is a numbers game. From birth to first calving a herdsman keeps track of a set of statistics for each animal and reports the information to the national herd record keeping organization for that breed.  For the Limousin breed we send our stats to the North American Limousin Foundation in Colorado. You can find out all about them at www.nalf.org.

Last week NALF announced the top ten herd sires for 2011. The list is developed from tracking the information on the sires of calves that won top honors in the show ring that year. The show ring evaluates animals based on the statistics associated with each animal and also their carcass merits.  Raising a show winning heifer or bull calf is therefore a juggling act between stats and looks.

LimFlex is a Limousin Angus Crossbred

These bulls in the top ten list are all AI sires, that is to say they are sires used for artificial insemination. Their breeders thought enough of them as calves and young bulls to promote them at shows and in breed publications hoping that breeders would use them as sires. Most of them were also blue ribbon show calves. As a breeder you purchase semen from these bulls and use it to artificially impregnate your cows. The breeder's goal is two fold. First, you hope that you made a good decision in choosing a bull to use with a particular cow so that you will get a  great calf.  Second, you hope that the bull will make the top ten list and thus increase the value of its progeny.

BTAP Juliette,  daughter of Top 10 Sire Mags The General

I was thrilled to see that two of my soon to calve heifers' sires made the top ten list this years. That means their selling price just about doubled!  They are both due to calve this spring and should command a very good price as proven mothers with calves at their sides. Since I own both of these heifer's mothers and can "make" more calves from them, it makes sense to sell them know while the market is strong.

BTAP Vera B, daughter of Top 10 Sire Wulfs Sirloin

These are both very sweet girls and I'd love to keep them, but taxes must be paid, and next years hay purchased and so it goes. Hopefully they will calve easily and be ready to sell in June. I'll keep you posted.