Buying Time? shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com February 24, 2015 • Page 5 Why You Should Buy, And Not Raise, Replacement Heifers By Rita Brhel P&D Correspondent Most cow-calf beef producers can relate to anxiously waiting until the last of the replacement heifers have calved, being on guard day and night in case one of them should have trouble and need assistance in pushing out her calf. The customary approach to bringing in new cows to an existing herd has been for producers to raise their own replacement heifers, but beef genetics specialist Matt Spangler wants producers to consider a new approach to adding replacement heifers — buying them. “Medium- and small-size producers need to think about what makes the most sense for their operation,” said Spangler, who works at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He spoke on this topic at several events this winter, including beef seminars at North Platte, Nebraska, and Clay Center, Nebraska. “Commonly they try to ride the fence and produce both market and replacement animals. Unfortunately this can create inefficiencies.” What Spangler has found is that by trying to raise their own replacement heifers, producers who produce primarily market calves have significant difficulty in balancing the maternal and terminal genetics in their herd. “If your cows excel in the same areas your bulls do, you are not maximizing profitability,” he said. “Trying to be ‘all-purpose’ inherently reduces efficiency and reduces profitability.” That, and most cow-calf producers don’t realize that they can purchase replacement females for far cheaper than it takes for them to develop their own replacement heifers. “I would encourage producers to honestly evaluate what it truly costs to develop a suitable replacement,” Spangler said. By purchasing replacement females, cow-calf producers can focus on bull trait selection to fit only one breeding objective: that of the market calf, which are very different than the traits selected to raise replace- ment heifers. For example, producers of market calves are looking for growth rate and carcass quality, whereas producers of replacement heifers are looking for fertility and calving. The idea of selecting specific traits for bulls that are very different than the traits selected for cows is something that dates back to the 1970s. The trend has faded away over the decades as breeds were developed to excel at both terminal and maternal traits, and because some bulls can pass on traits idea for both terminal and maternal lines. But what Spangler is seeing in recent years is a deficit in maternally oriented replacement females. Breeding an all-around good bull to a herd of mediocre cows does not produce as marketable calves as breeding an exceptional terminal bull, or even an all-around good bull, to a herd of cows whose genetic traits predispose them to excel at mothering. There are also differences in what bulls and cows bring to maternal traits. For example, culling open cows is not the same as selecting genetics for fertility, because the fertility genes primarily come from the bull. So bulls selected for terminal, or market, means are not the same bulls as would be selected to produce replacement females. “That makes bull selection easier, because you’re selecting on a smaller number of traits, and allows you to make improvements more quickly in your herd since your selection criteria are more focused,” Spangler said. In actuality, cow-calf producers who choose to add a replacement heifer program are diversifying their operation as much as they would be if they added an enterprise completely outside of beef, such as corn or sheep. Therefore, for a market producer to try to raise his own replacement heifers, it’s spreading resources, time and energy over two separate Cedar County Land For Sale 357.83 Acres, More or Less Located on Highway 12, 2 miles North of Fordyce, and 1 Mile East Legal: The West Half of the Northeast Quarter (W1/2NE1/4), the northwest quarter (NW1/4), the Northeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter (NE1/4 SW1/4), and the West half of the Southeast Quarter (W1/2SE 1/4), all located in Section Twenty (20), Township Thirty-two (32) North, Range One (1) East of the 6th p.m., Cedar County, Nebraska, less highway. Please call Archbold Law Office, LLP at (402) 373-4240 to receive a bid package. Interested parties should submit a bid in writring, no later than noon, on March 6, 2015. Sellers: Gerry J. Hochstein and Frances M. Hochstein The owners have the right to reject any and all bids. enterprises, rather than specializing in one. “Except here, we’re talking about an enterprise that has beef cattle, but deciding to truly excel in one component of beef cattle production instead of trying to do both,” Spangler said. ——— For more information, see: http://beef.unl.edu www.nbcec.org www.beefefficiency.org Photo: Rita Brhel “Full Service Farm Equipment” East Hwy. 50, Yankton, SD 1-800-827-9700 • 605-665-3872 sales@koletzkyimplement.com • www.koletzkyimplement.com Retirement Machinery Auction JD 7220 Tractor, JD 7410 Tractor, JD 1760 Planter, CIH 1660 Combine, Timpte 50’ Grain Trailer, Landoll 6230 Disk Friday, March 6th, 2015 10:30 A.M. Auctioneers Note: Jeff and Cheryl have sold their acreage and are moving to Wyoming and will offer their equipment at public auction. This is an excellent lineup of equipment that is well maintained and serviced including tractors, combine, tillage equipment, livestock equipment and much more! Make plans to attend this auction today. Location: 27328 459th Avenue Chancellor, SD 57015. From Chancellor, SD 2 miles north on County Road #41 (461st Ave) 2 miles west on County Road #20 (275th St) and 1 ¾ miles north on 459th Ave or from Parker, SD 5 miles east on County Road #20 (275th St) and 1 ¾ miles north on 459th Ave. Tractors/Loader: John Deere 7220 MFD, 3,442 hrs, new rubber, new air seat, power quad, left hand reverser, 3 hyd, RW7220R036149; JD 7410 MFD, 9073 hrs, quad, RH reverser, 18.4-38, wheel weights, JD joystick, RW7410H010145; Miller PL3 loader, grapple, spear, new cutting edge, pins, bushings, rebuilt cylinders, work done by Miller (sold as option on tractor); 7410 mounts; JD 8450 3208hrs, quad, 3pt, pto, 4 hyd. new exhaust, new head, steering cylinders, all new AC, 20.8-34 rubber, cast duals, with 6 way Leon blade; JD 4430 529 hours on overhaul, 11,000 total hours, quad, 3hyd, lift assist, new AC, 18.4-38, front weights/rock box. Combine/heads: CIH 1660 3,989 hrs, Ag leader monitor, 24.5-32 tires, chaff spreader, through shop yearly. CIH 963 corn head, 6-30’s, completely rebuilt in 2014; CIH 1020 bean head, 3 rock guard. 2302 E. Hwy. 50 • Yankton 53rd ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE Parts Blowout MARCH Call Ahead: We’ll Have Your Order Ready To Pick Up 2nd to 7th • Planter Tru-V Disc Openers 3.5 mm (30% off list) • Best discounts of the year if merchandise is paid for by March 7, 2015 • 10% off filters ALL MONTH Lunch Served: Tuesday, March 3rd 11:00 am - 2:00 pm 15” 10-Gauge HD $22.95 (w/Disc) (Fits Kinze, JD, White, 6000-8000 Series) • Windrower guards slashed to $11.50 (w/disc) (NH, CIH, Hesston) • Krause & Landoll Razor Edge Disc Blades 22” 6 ga. $34.25 (w/Disc) 24” x 1/4” $42.75 (w/disc) • Stock parts 10% cash discount • Hyd. Hose Assemblies 25% off list Cas h • Oil & Grease 10% cash discount Carr & y • Farm Toys 10% cash discount Grain Trailer/Trucks: 2009 Timpte 50’ Ag hopper, new brakes/linkage, triple axle/tag, newer tires; 1999 Freightliner FLD120 semi, 3406E Cat, 13 speed, 968,000 miles, underhaul, 24.5 low pro tires; Ford 900 truck, 20’ Obeco steel box, twin screw, 5X4 transmission, 477 gas. Farm Equipment: 2014 JD 1760 planter, 12-30’s (only used 600 acres), flex, liquid fert, 3 bu. boxes, Precision clean sweep, Yetter trash whippers, MudSmith gauge wheels, nice; Landoll 6230 23’ disk, harrow; 1996 New Holland 664 round baler, auto wrap, kicker, (bought new); Knight 3300 feed wagon, scale, new augers/pan; Bobcat 7753 skidloader, 1,693 hours, bale spear, extra 80’’ bucket; JD 3970 silage cutter; 3 row; completely rebuilt; JD 590 grain cart; Gehl 1410 manure spreader, new apron, slop gate; Wil-Rich field cultivator, 31’ harrow; New Holland HT154 12 wheel rake (nice); JD MX7 3pt mower; New Holland 278 square baler, accumulator; Krause 4600 12rw cultivator; Great Plains 12’ grain drill; NH 1475 haybine 16’, updated sickle drives; Broyhill 60’ sprayer, new valves/plumbing/pump, New Raven 440 monitor; Pull type 150 gal sprayer, boomless tips; Roorda manure spreader; Parker gravity wagon, tarp, hyd. auger; Feterl 10X27 hyd. truck auger; Feterl 10X66 with swing hopper; Farm King snow blower; mower trailer; 3pt. bale mover; 80’’ bucket; rock bucket; 5’ hay pickup; 3pt 5th wheel; water tanks; tires, 3pt sprayer. Misc. Equipment: 1000 gal fuel tank, GPI pump; JD 80 gal hyd/motor oil stand (nice); Napa 5hp 80 gal. air compressor (nice); Magna Force air compressor; hyd. wire winder; Kimble grade 8 bolt bin; hammer drill; Ingersoll Rand 1 inch impact wrench; cherry picker; power washer; 20 ton press; saddle tanks, weight bracket; quick hitch; Knipco; wash bin; electric grease guns; tools chests; parts bin; more miscellaneous items! Livestock equipment: Verns Creep Feeder; Sioux Steel bunks; (5 brand new) Divine 10’ cement bunks; Sioux calving pen; 27 Behlen panels; 3 Sioux gates; 2 Wrangler horse stall fronts; coral panels; A-1 cattle fogger/tank; fencing equipment, posts (steel, wood, railroad ties); horse feeder; calf shelters; Sioux calf warmer. Feed: 300 ton corn silage; 150 ton oat silage; hay/straw round and square bales. Terms: Cash/Sales tax collected. Jeff and Cheryl Plucker Owners 605-310-2217 Joel A. Westra Broker Associate, Chancellor, SD 605-957-5222 Joel R. Westra, Broker, Beresford, SD 605-310-6941 Pete Atkins, Broker Associate, Tea, SD 605-351-9847 Mark Zomer, Broker, Rock Valley, IA 712-470-2526