The American Hereford Association has introduced the Maternal Advantage program to help genetically identify premium replacement females.
“This will give our customers the opportunity to build more recognition in identifying cattle that are superior in fertility, feed efficiency, profitability and docility,” said Kevin Schultz, Hereford breeder and member of the American Hereford Association board of directors from Haviland, Kansas. “It also helps me identify which of the bulls I sell can be part of the program. Of the bulls we sold this spring, all but two of the 115 bulls qualified for the program.”
This new female-focused program is designed to take advantage of hybrid vigor and maximize the Hereford genetics important for fertility, feed efficiency, profitability and docility.
“The Maternal Advantage program is a great tool for progressive producers to utilize for adding value to replacement females and aiding in promoting the industry’s most sought-after females,” said Trey Befort, AHA director of commercial programs. “We are excited to provide yet another tool to continue leveraging Hereford’s influence in commercial programs.”
Schultz said it’s important for him to help his customers identify the cattle they are raising that qualify for the program. Producers must verify that eligible females were sired by registered Hereford bulls. The bulls used in the herd must rank in the top 50 percent of the breed for Baldy Maternal Index if used on British-based females, or the top 50 percent of the breed for Brahman Influence Index if used on Brahman-based females. Befort said both of these maternally-focused indexes are geared to identify Hereford bulls that will be profitable when used in a rotation cross with mature commercial Angus-influenced or Brahman-influenced females. The two indexes carry significant weight on AHA’s Sustained Cow Fertility expected progeny difference, which predicts fertility and longevity of females. There is also an emphasis on growth, efficiency and end product merit for non-retained females.
“Each sector of the beef industry emphasizes a different thing, but as seedstock producers, it’s our job to provide the animals that can excel in the different areas,” Schultz said. “If we give our customers more knowledge to breed cattle with good performance in the feedlot sector and those cattle can also provide what the packer wants and ultimately what the consumer wants, then these kinds of programs are a success.”
Schultz said the Maternal Advantage program will take some time to get established and prove its merit. However, buyers who give the program a chance will buy more cattle—and pay more for them—because it will improve their bottom line.
Befort said cattlemen who take advantage of the program will reap benefits by adding hybrid vigor to their operation, gaining access to sire EPD summaries, adding market exposure and improving their replacement selection with the genetic improvement tools available. This is all in addition to gaining access to AHA resources, marketing and staff.
“In our commercial herd, longevity has been a driver. We have selected for longevity and fertility with the goal of keeping cows in our program for 10 or 15 years,” said Schultz. “All the qualifiers for this program should end up being cows like what we have in our commercial herd.”
Producers are able to input all the information on females who qualify for this program at www.hereford.org. If they meet all the set qualifications, the group will be identified with the Maternal Advantage program logo and listed on the female listings tab of the website.
Jennifer Carrico can be reached at 515-833-2120 or [email protected].
