Standards of Excellence.

We are raising the Bar! Satisfaction starts with a quality product that meets your expectations. To be sure our bulls work for you, we have outlined the following Standards of Excellence.

1. Disposition – wild cattle are unacceptable! Cattlemen and their families do not deserve the risk that comes from “rodeo stock”.

2. Conformation – physical appraisal is important to avoid phenotypes that profile so well but disappoint you from other angles.

3. Soundness – Cattle must have a solid foundation. We are really developing athletes, not couch potatoes. You don’t see many crippled heifers go on to be 12 year old cows! MBA will also NEVER trim feet. We will not excessively feed and we will never sell foundered bulls.

4. Fertility – Nothing else matters if you don’t have pregnant cows. Angus, Gelbvieh and Simmental are strong in fertility. In the hybrid form, they are even better.

5. Teat and Udder Quality – Bad uddered cows are not tolerated.

6. Milk – Optimum is best. Deficiencies in milk can result in poor performing “hairball” calves. On the other hand excessive milk results in high maintenance costs, longer post-partum intervals and lower stocking rates.

7. Calving Ease – While some breeds provide introductory training (or a master’s degree!) as a veterinarian, this is not an interest of ours. Real cowboys don’t like to pull calves and neither do we. MBA uses a 1-5 scoring system; 1 = no assistance; 2 = hand pull; 3 = hard pull; 4 = Caesarean; 5 = abnormal presentation. The three keys to improving calving ease (reducing dystocia) are to properly develop heifers, neither overfeed or underfeed pregnant females and use sires with appropriate Calving Ease EPDs. More emphasis should be place on the Calving Ease EPD when breeding heifers and less when mating cows. The Angus, Gelbvieh and Simmental breed associations provide Calving Ease EPDs which we use in our selections.

8. Birth Weight – There are 20 different factors that can have an impact on birth weight. The birth weight of the calf has a moderate positive correlation to weaning and yearling performance. That means that calves with larger birth weights tend to have larger weaning and yearling weights. However, birth weight has a high negative correlation to calving ease. You will notice only a few pounds difference in the Birth Weight EPD between the bulls you are interested but may notice large differences in the actual birth weights. This again illustrates the huge effect environment has on birth weights. The birth weight is incorporated into the Calving Ease EPD and the EPD is a better predictor of calving ease than actual birth weight.

9. Weaning Weight – growth is important as many producers sell calves at weaning or shortly after. However, pushing for huge weaning weights usually results in excessive costs that are not recovered by the added pounds. MBA bulls deliver this optimum level but we also provide some higher growth bulls for producers who need or desire the extra performance.

10. Development Test – Recommended length of feed test is 140 or 160 days by the Beef Improvement Federation. A few producers will advertise much shorter tests which can produce extreme results, such as ADG of 8 lbs! MBA yearling bulls have completed a minimum of 140 day gain test.

11. Yearling Weight – is the result of both pre-weaning and post-weaning performance. It is positively correlated to both mature size and carcass weight. Optimum levels of size can help avoid discounts and excessive costs. The Yearling Weight Ratio is the best measure for comparing growth of calves within the same herd.

12. Frame size – is used as a tool to predict mature size. Bigger is NOT better. Frame scores of 5 and 6 are usually optimum for most environments and breeding programs.

13. Yearling Scrotal – Again, optimum is best and is related to semen producing capacity and age at puberty of female sibs and progeny. Feeding excess energy can reduce both semen quality and serving capacity. Research shows this is probably due to excess fat deposition in the scrotum, insulating the testes and increasing testicular temperature. The excess fat deposition can result in very large scrotal measurements, which are not true genetic differences.

14. Slick Hair – MBA continues to select for slick haired cattle. Although employed by some seedstock producers, MBA will NEVER clip our cowherds in the spring to save them from the effects of fescue and the Midwestern heat. This management practice is unacceptable and results in reduced adaptability.

15. Breeding Soundness Exam – As if these bulls are not tested enough, we subject them to the BSE! Each bull must pass with adequate scrotal size, morphology, motility and reproductive examination.

16. Longevity – Replacement cost are HUGE. The Stayability EPD is expressed in percent, defined as the probability that daughters entering the herd will stay in production through 6 years of age. Stayability is currently the best indicator available for measuring reproductive performance. Cows that stay in the herd longer tend to be more profitable; there is simply more time to spread out the substantial cost of getting her into production. Because a bull is usually 10 years old or older before his Stayability EPD gains any accuracy, we must use the other indicator traits such as fertility, soundness, performance, teat and udder quality, disposition, etc. in making our breeding decisions. Currently it appears that bulls that excel for Stayability are NOT extreme bulls within their respective breeds. Gelbvieh and Simmental breed associations calculate Stayability EPDs. As soon as they are available in the Angus breed, we will use them as well.