How are we a week away from August?! I know it’s crazy but if you have a catalog deadline in October, November or December, your DNA samples need to be in test or already done. Please reach out to me if you have questions or to strategize on best way to get this completed so we are not up against a deadline. Reminder, there’s no “expediting” DNA testing through ANY Association. We need to give ourselves at least 8 weeks from the time the sample enters into testing to have GE-EPDs. More animals are being tested than ever before, at some Associations as many as 3,000 per week so let’s get it done early if possible.
Sale Transfers
– If you have not sent me your sale transfer information from this spring, let’s aim to get that into us so we can submit them to the association since guidelines indicate transferring within 60 days is ideal.
DNA Testing Materials
The preferred method of DNA sampling continues to be the Allflex Tissue Sampling Units (TSUs). For Simmental members, ASA continues to hold steady at $22.00/box of 10 plus shipping costs. Let me know how many and I can coordinate placing an order for you. For all other breeds (or Simmental members if you get in a pinch) Data Genie has TSUs available for the same price as ASA, plus shipping. If you find yourself in need of an Applicator let me know, we will try and find a deal for you. It is best to get your TSUs requested now if you’re going to be working calves this fall, don’t wait. They do not go bad if stored at room temperature so no worries if it’s a few months until you use them. Better to have them on hand when needed than to have to pay exorbitant expedited shipping costs.
Simmental Members
Annual Service Fees (ASF) has been invoiced to your accounts as of July 1, 2024 to remain active members these dues must be paid by October 1, 2024. Log-in to your ASA account and pay the balance due or let me know if you would like an emailed copy of the invoice so you can print and mail a check for payment.
Fall Herds
– We need to report weaning weights and update disposal codes for calves that are not being kept in the herd. If you need a template let me know or just send me the data you have and we’ll get it reported/updated. Check for an email from Heidi this past week.
– Mature Cow Weights and Body Condition Scores (BCS) should be collected within 45 days of weaning. It is not critical to weigh the older cows each year, but IT IS important to capture a weight on the first calf heifers after they’ve weaned the first calf. Older females can be weighed every few years to ideally have 2-3 weights taken over their productive life. If you need a copy of the BCS guidelines let me know.
– Fall THE enrollments deadline to adjust your inventory is August 15, 2024. Send over any females which have been culled along with the reason code.
Spring Herds
– If you have completed calving, please gather the calf records and let’s go ahead and get them reported into the database. There’s no time like the present. If you’re planning on shipping in DNA samples then we must report all calves to the association prior to sending DNA and each female enrolled on THE either has to have a calf reported or reason why she didn’t calve (productivity code) for the given year/season.
– Reminder – for birth weight measurements, if you use a hoof tape instead of a scale we need to know that so we can record the weight type as “T” for tape.
– DNA samples should be collected as soon as possible if you plan on participating in Calf Crop Genomics (CCG). A reminder, the participation requirement is to submit a sample on at least 90% of the calves that are reported to the association for that season. For example, if you have 110 females enrolled in spring THE, 10 cows did not calve for various reasons (no calf reported), 50 dams had heifer calves and 50 dams had male calves. ASA is either going to require you to submit 90 samples or greater if you’re sending in both sexes at the same time OR if you are splitting shipping DNA in between males and females they would then require samples on >45 males and >45 females. This becomes very important!!!! so please collect samples on ALL calves and then once we’ve tallied up the numbers and can go through the data if you have enough samples, you can elect to not test a few if they are not needed.
Red Angus Members
EPD Evaluation Update (from Red Angus eNews 7/17/24)
As of July 15, DMI EPDs were transitioned from the CSU evaluation to the IGS evaluation. Due to this transition, the DMI EPDs will currently be updated on a monthly basis rather than the quarterly basis in which CSU traits are traditionally updated. Another difference is that the IGS evaluation includes genomic information for the DMI EPDs. This means that some animals may have experienced a change in their EPDs due to this additional information. However, the accuracy of DMI should increase, specifically on animals who have been genotyped. If you have any questions or would like further explanation on this adjustment, please contact Dr. Lindsay Upperman, director of breed improvement, at 940-387-3502, Ext. 29 or lindsay@redangus.org.
THR Fee Increase
Effective July 1, the Total Herd Reporting fee increased from the $27.50 fee to $28 annually per active cow (16 months or older). This was voted on by the RAAA board of directors in May 2024 to help with the ease of association accounting, as well as member accounting purposes to allow for even division by four when THR is billed in four installments. Spring 2024 THR was billed on July 12 at the new $28 amount along with annual membership dues.
Data Reporting Reminders
Fall Herds
– Mature Cow Weights and Body Condition Scores (BCS) should be collected within 45 days of weaning. It is not critical to weigh the older cows each year, but IT IS important to capture a weight on the first calf heifers after they’ve weaned the first calf. Older females can be weighed every few years to ideally have 2-3 weights taken over their productive life. If you need a copy of the BCS guidelines let me know.
Spring Herds
– If you have completed calving, please gather the calf records and let’s go ahead and get them reported into the database. There’s no time like the present. If you’re planning on shipping in DNA samples then we must report all calves to the association prior to sending DNA and each female enrolled on THE either has to have a calf reported or reason why she didn’t calve (productivity code) for the given year/season.
– DNA samples should be collected as soon as possible on calves and you can store at room temperature until you’re ready to move forward with testing.
Angus Members
Data Reporting Reminders
Fall Herds
– Mature Cow Weights and Body Condition Scores (BCS) should be collected within 45 days of weaning. It is not critical to weigh the older cows each year, but IT IS important to capture a weight on the first calf heifers after they’ve weaned the first calf. Older females can be weighed every few years to ideally have 2-3 weights taken over their productive life. If you need a copy of the BCS guidelines let me know.
Spring Herds
– If you have completed calving, please gather the calf records and let’s go ahead and get them reported into the database. There’s no time like the present. If we submit a registration on a calf prior to 4 months of age it’s $12.00 and 4-10 months is $14.00. This can reduce the cost of registration quite significantly.
*We encourage you to order your AI certificates on bulls you do not own once you’ve decided to move forward with registration, this prevents delays and lengthy suspends.
Don’t forget to send flush dates for each ET mating along with whether it was conventional or IVF.
– DNA samples should be collected as soon as possible on calves and you can store them at room temperature until you’re ready to move forward with testing.
Industry Tidbits
Beef Blueprints: The Role of Phenotypic Data in the Age of Genomics Ryan Boldt, Lead Geneticist for IGS answers these questions
A fellow colleague and friend, Dr. Ashby Green was featured and honored for his many contributions to the beef industry over the years in Working Ranch Magazine back in the November/December issue.
The American Simmental Association is searching for their next Visionary. Read more about the Executive Vice President role here.
As always – reach out via email, text or phone for more information on any of the above.
datageniellc.com 