We have the videos uploaded from the Field Day in case you weren't able to make it. Kevin address the reasons behind having this field day. He mentions that the two questions that customers asked most last spring were, "I have a baldy cow, now how should I breed her?" and "How do I read Hereford EPDs?" We put together an evening program to try to help with these questions.
Bob Weaber, PhD of Kansas State tackles the subject "Managing Heterosis". Dr. Weaber emphasizes that at the end of the day, overall profit of an operation is more important than premiums. He explains what research has shown again and again about cross breeding. He does a very good job walking through some money examples that show how much money can be gained by the added fertility of a cross bred cow. In a nutshell, many years of research shows that heterosis is worth at least $150/cow/year. In other words, an operation must be able to make a premium of $198 per purebred calf to justify not cross breeding in today's market.
Tyler briefly talks about how SHF breeds the cattle to help our customers increase their profit. Sure, simply adding another breed to your herd can make you $150/year. However, SHF has bred their bulls to further increase your profits by adding more growth, more carcass, and more calving ease than an average Hereford bull. We strive to help our customers benefit from Hereford influenced heterosis, while also giving them better calving ease and better carcass and growth than an average Hereford cross calf. He recites some customer data that shows that SHF's hard work at pushing carcass and growth genetics forward has paid off.
Shane Bedwell gives some insight on the American Hereford Association and EPDs. He talks about how the Hereford Association has worked to make EPDs as reliable as possible. Mr. Bedwell also talks about how different EPD Indexes are computed.
