Bos Sire’s Genetics

Today’s cattle industry is full of distractions and marketing tools. But someone who relies on cattle production as in income will know that fertility is one of the most important traits there is.

Sadly, academia teach that hormonal fertility is lowly heritable, even though anyone with common sense would disagree.

But, everyone in the cattle industry agrees that for a cow to breed she has to have the body condition to be able to do so. As Johann Zietsman points out, the ability for a cow to have the body condition in her environment to be able to breed is highly heritable.

Sadly, we have learned that some of the best genetics in the world actually come from older bloodlines of cattle. Before supplementing cattle with feed became a normal practice and modern “tools” such as EPD’s became used in breeding decisions, cattle producers had to rely on cattle that could raise a calf with only what the environment in front of her provided.

As Johann Zietsman points out, many of today’s most profitable genetics come from breeds that have not been “improved” by today’s practices and technologies.

Identifying Sustainable Genetics can be complicated, but we have learned that they share certain characteristics.

  • Hormonally balanced according to Jan Bonsma’s principles

  • Short or Moderately framed with a larger spring of rib

  • Typically lower egg count in embryo production

  • Higher marbling

  • Easy fleshing

    Which all leads to higher fertility with lower costs of production - profitability.

If a cattle breeder intensely focuses on breeding for fertility for many generations while decreasing the amount of feed and hay they supplement their cattle with, the breeder will hopefully start creating highly fertile animals that are perfectly adapted to their environment.

Or if a breeder starts with a large number of head and continues to cull aggressively against bad fertility for many years and generations, the surviving cattle should also be sustainable genetics.

The breeders we represent are the breeders who produce cattle today that cattlemen produced many decades ago, which are cattle that are adapted to Mother Nature.