weaning weights range from 532 to 641 pounds.
Along with the replacement heifers, the stocker calves – the
steers headed for the feedlot – are backgrounded on grass for
70 to 170 days. The young cattle are supplemented on grass
with dried distillers’ grains.
“The stockers and replacement heifers provide a way
to vary the stocking rate on the farm,” says Davis. “If we
lack rainfall, we ship steers early to the feedlot and sell
extra heifers earlier, leaving forage for the rest of the herd.
Because we have converted the farms to novel fescue variet-
ies, the fescue is nontoxic, so we don’t have to worry about
grazing fescue in summer.”
Stocker cattle are sent to a Kansas feedlot at weights rang-
ing from 700 to 785 pounds. The Davises retain ownership of
the cattle through finishing, and they receive individualized
feeding and carcass data on the steers. Heifers not kept as
replacements are sold at local auction barns.
All breeding females are synchronized for timed artificial
insemination. Ten days after breeding, females are exposed to
cleanup bulls in single-sire pastures. The breeding season for
heifers is 45 days and 65 days for cows. “We cull females that
don’t settle during this time,” says Davis.
Other culling criteria include udder and foot structure,
disposition, calf performance, and frame score.
“We keep a close handle on frame scores of both cows and
August 2019 | Successful Farming at Agriculture.com 55bulls,” says Davis. “We avoid
extremes in either direc-
tion because we’re looking
for balance in the frame of
the cattle.” They look for a
frame score of 6 or lower.
“All our cattle are reg-
istered with the American
Simmental Association in
their Plan D program for
commercial cattle,” says
Davis. “As a result, we have
EPDs on all our cattle, and
we use these in our selection
and breeding programs.”
The Davises are position-
ing their operation to be a
source of three-breed-cross
females for other produc-
ers. Full transparency to
potential buyers is their aim.
To that end, their website
(jdaviscattle.com) contains
detailed information about
their herd management and
includes individualized data
for their cattle.
“We want to produce
high-value replacement
heifers as best we know
how,” says Davis. “Our faith
in God motivates us to do
our best.”HETEROSIS benefitsIn crossbred cattle, heterosis
gives a performance kick that
can amount to as much as 20%
more than the performance of
straightbred cattle.
“Heterosis tends to be most
evident in traits that have low
heritability,” says Jennifer
Thomson, beef geneticist at
Montana State University.
Such traits include reproductive
ability and longevity.
“As a result of heterosis, you
might expect to see a calving rate
increase of 4%,” she says. “From
two-way crosses, you can expect
to get one extra calf in the lifetime
productivity of the cow. That can
also come in the form of added
weaning weight of calves over the
lifetime of the cow.
“Maximum individual heterosis
can be achieved when you have
50% of one breed in a mix of other
breeds,” she says. “Maximum
retained or overall heterosis can
be achieved with a three-breed
rotational breeding system.”
The effective breed mixes can
include only British breeds, only
Continental breeds, a crossing of
British and Continental, and, of
course, the possible inclusion of
Zebu-influenced breeds.
“The idea is to select breeds
with complementary
characteristics that further your
selection goals,” says Thomson.
“The more dissimilar the breeds
are genetically, the more heterosis
will result from the cross.”LEARN MORE
Joe Davis
864/710-3626
[email protected]Jennifer Thomson
406/994-7434
[email protected]J. Davis Cattle steers that are headed
for the feedlot are backgrounded on
grass for 70 to 170 days and weigh
between 700 and 785 pounds.“Heterosis tends to be most
evident in traits that have
low heritability.”- Jennifer Thomson