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Show Your County Agent Efficiency In Feedlot Need For Cattle Profit Dear County Agent: With the tight economic scpieeze on feeding beef cattle, how can I breed my herd to be more efficient In the feedlott Cattle breeder Dear Cattle Breeder: It really does pay to select far feeding efficiency with feed as expensive as it Is now. Feedlot gain and efficiency of gain are moderately heritable traits, which means that fairly rapid progress can be made by electing for them. Both of the above mentioned traits are heavily Involved In the cost of feeding cattle for slaughter. Cattle that will gain fast and finish early will make a feeder more money because he has less Interest charged against them and he turns Ms money over quicker. Information on which to base efficiency selection is difficult to obtain, but most purebred cattlemen are testing tor rate of gain. You can buy bulls that are bred to gain fast and incorporate this trsit into your herd. Generally speaking, the fast gaining cattle are more efficient in converting feed than the slow gainers, because the feed used for maintenance Is less due to a shorter time In the feedloL When you buy performance tested bulls, get the ones that shows superior performance. Also be sure to select a bull with the other desirable traits you want in your beef herd. You may also want to test your replacement heifers for their performing ability. |