Imagine you are pulling onto a two-lane highway, at the outset of a journey home. Along the highway are four traffic lights through which you must pass to reach your ultimate destination. The goal is to cover the distance safely and not run through the red lights. If you ignore the red lights in order to speed to the finish line, you risk getting into an accident. By driving the speed limit, and obeying the traffic lights, you are more likely to arrive safely and on schedule.

This highway, and its four traffic lights, provides a good basis to analyze the decisions we make in raising cattle. Our destination (or goal) is to maximize profit potential by building the optimal balance of economic traits demanded by the marketplace. To achieve the goal, each trait should be addressed in order of importance to commercial cattlemen. To continue with the example, the four traffic lights in this scenario are: 1) maternal function, (2) early, rapid, efficient growth, (3) red meat yield, and (4) carcass quality. As a traveler along this road, your aim should be to pass through each “traffic light,” in sequential order, with a game plan that provides for the highest probability of success over the long term. To do so requires an honest evaluation of your herd so that you can make improvements where you need them the most. In order to make this assessment, it is important to ask yourself the following questions in this order; they are:

MATERNAL FUNCTION
Am I raising the right replacement females for my operation? Do they calve and breed back on schedule? Do they give enough milk to raise a big calf, plus have sound teats and well-attached udders? Are they “easy keepers” and have the ability to maintain body condition on rangeland? Are they moderate in size, structurally correct, feminine, docile, and have longevity?

EARLY, RAPID, EFFICIENT GROWTH
Are my weaning weights acceptable? Are the post weaning gains good enough? How efficiently do they convert feed to gain in the feedlot?

RED MEAT YIELD
Do my cattle produce carcasses with acceptable size, dressing percent, yield grade, red meat yield, and cut-ability?

CARCASS QUALITY
Do my cattle produce carcasses with acceptable quality grade? Is the meat consistently tender and tasty?

If the answers to these questions point to needs in any area, you can address them by selecting sires that exhibit strengths in those areas. EPDs (Expected Progeny Differences) provide a powerful way to accomplish this. It’s also a good idea to couple EPDs with information derived from Performance Testing, Progeny Testing, Ultrasound, and Visual Evaluation. And, when making these decisions, always keep the traffic lights in mind. You should not speed by maternal function in order to first correct red meat yield. Over-emphasis on muscling can compromise the maternal function of replacement females, the foundation of all good herds. Needs should be addressed without compromising the goodness that already exists. Every mating is a corrective mating - constantly striving to improve the optimum balance of economic traits.

You must pass through each traffic light only after it turns green - begin at the first light and work your way forward. To ignore any of these “traffic lights” is the same as speeding for the sake of simply arriving ahead of schedule. If your focus is only on the near term (i.e. maximizing one or two traits at the expense of the others) there will be pitfalls. The focus should be on achieving the optimum balance of all economic traits. This approach will allow you to improve the quality, consistency, and value of your product as well as the long-term profitability of your operation.

This approach takes time and a focused commitment, but the rewards are certain. As with most things in life, the answer lies in not how quickly you get there, but rather in the means by which you arrive!