Discussing Calving Ease Bulls with Brady Blackett - Are They Worth the Hype?
Calving ease is often a topic of discussion among bull buyers. No one wants to pull calves at night, but has the trend to lower birth weights hampered performance and profitability? Registered Angus producer Brady Blackett believes the implications are now evident that it has. “I think it’s probably been within the last couple of years that I particularly started to notice it being an issue,” Blackett said. “But I think it probably stems back a lot further than the last couple years as truly potentially being an issue.”
What is Calving Ease?
While there is a purpose to buying a calving ease bull, Blackett believes producers should consider the long-term implications of selecting low birth weight, over growth and performance. “How have we come to this point where we are putting a premium on calving ease over some of the other traits that quite frankly, should be important to us?” he said.
Cows bred to calving-ease bulls often have a shorter gestation time, which results in lower birth weight. But smaller calves often struggle to grow and perform efficiently. Lower weaning weights can lead to increased time at the feedlot, prolonged puberty, and even shortened fertility.
Blackett even argues that birth weight holds little correlation to calving ease. And birth weight EPD’s hold even less correlation to actual birth weight.
“The definition of a calving ease bull is very broad, and it really depends on who you talk to,” he said. “I’ve got guys that come to our sale and they will only buy a bull that’s marked in the catalog as a heifer bull. And I have other guys that come and look at a purebred Angus bull that’s got a plus two birth EPD—they won’t blink an eye putting that bull on their heifers.”
He noted the latter customer pays more attention to the actual birth weight, which may only be 70-pounds. And they realize that a plus two EPD is only two pounds over average. “They tell me they don’t see a difference. And myself, I don’t see a difference either. I don’t have any problems breeding heifers to bulls like that,” Blackett said.
General conversations at sale time indicate that producers have differing opinions, may be based upon their age. Blackett said he hears from older ranchers that they have no interest in or physical ability to check cows at night. This makes them want a bull that offers low birth weights and stress-free calving conditions.
Younger producers, on the other hand, comment that they get paid by the pound and expect calves to start big enough that performance isn’t lost. Still, the market indicates that producers across the board find more value in bulls with lower birth weights and lower EPD’s.
“I particularly noticed it this year as I paid attention to sales that are both smaller in scale, and some of the larger seedstock sales that I watched on Superior in different places,” he said. “As I watched these lower birth weight bulls come in and sell at a premium over bulls that, quite frankly, I felt were better bulls and worth more money.”
Long-term effects of calving ease bulls
Aside from vague definitions of the trait, Blackett believes the bigger issue is selecting on calving-ease for multiple generations. Most producers will buy a calving ease bull for their heifers, then use the same bull on their cowherd in later years. Even more common, though, is breeding selection to achieve calving ease year after year. This pattern can cause issues in future generations because cattle aren’t able to grow and develop at the same rate due to decreased size at birth.
“I was guilty of following that trend myself for a while in how I was breeding a particular little bunch of cows,” Blackett said. He started to notice poor structure issues because the cows were finer boned and more feminine in their phenotype. They struggled to handle their environment and their calves failed to develop large enough reproductive tracts to mature and breed early enough.
“A few years back, I noticed that I was struggling to get some of the more calving-ease type females that I was raising to reach puberty soon enough to actually be able to get them bred that first year and get them off on the right track. And I think it goes back to the way I was breeding them,” he said.
Because the females were smaller in size and behind in their development from a shortened gestation, they were unable to perform at the same level and pace of their herd mates. Blackett has seen the same problem in bulls, too.
“The common mistake that I'm seeing amongst seedstock producers, with these calving-ease bred bulls, is they're over feeding them trying to get them to catch up or, you know, be adequately sized to make a sale. And that's impacting the fertility and longevity of that bull,” he said.
More than once, Blackett has heard a customer request a calving ease bull, only to complain about lower weaning weights later on. “They all expect these low birth weight type genetics to just explode with growth,” he said. “I think we're doing a disservice trying to market these bulls as low birth weight on top of the power genetics in the growth that they're supposedly supposed to live up to. I don't think they'll ever grow into their numbers, to be quite honest with you.”
What are calving ease bulls really worth?
Producers have believed in calving ease for so long, though, that they continually place more value on birth weight EPD’s than long-term profit potential. Blackett has seen it happen at other sales and experienced it himself.
“The best bull in our sale was a Black Magic bred bull. His birth EPD was in the fives. He had a 90-something pound individual birth weight. And Jim Felton actually came in and just completely stole him. He said ‘I hate to tell you this, but I stole that bull from you. The people at your sale do not understand what they just missed out on. And I'm going to take him and I'm going to breed him and I'm going to sell bulls out of him’,” Blackett said.
The same incident also happened at a large bull sale in Montana. Blackett recalls the bull entering the ring and selling for thousands of dollars less than he was worth. “I remember at one point the auctioneer stopped the sale and said ‘What are you guys not seeing in this bull?’,” he said. “Based on the videos I watched and pedigrees and so forth, that was a bull I would have bid on and bought.” The bull had a 90-pound birth weight and high EPD, which flagged him as not being a calving ease bull in the buyer’s eyes.
There is no question that low-birth-weight, calving-ease bulls have a place in the herd. They are a great choice for breeding heifers and providing a stress-free lifestyle during calving season. But producers should consider what makes a bull a genuine calving-ease bull and how that will affect their herd performance in the years to come. Blackett continues to remind producers that EPD’s are an estimation, and are never completely accurate. As many producers convert heifer bulls to the cow herd in later years, the low-birth genetics can cause detriment to long-term performance and growth.
“It's affecting the whole supply chain of the beef industry by doing that. When you turn those two-year-old or even three-year-old bulls back into your herd and you're not breeding them to your heifers like you originally bought them for, you're putting those genetics right into your main cow base. I think that’s a dangerous effect,” Blackett said.
Brady Blackett is a 3rd Generation Cattleman. His grandpa gifted him his first heifer calf at the age of 2 and that was the beginning of his love for the cattle industry. At the age of 16, he talked his dad into letting him take the truck and trailer and attend a seed stock dispersal sale. He emptied his bank account that day and came home with his first purebred Angus pairs. Sixteen years ago he partnered with other seed stock breeders in Utah to establish the Intermountain Genetic Alliance Bull Sale. The sale is held annually on the first Saturday of March in Nephi, Utah. He recently co-founded a new hydroponic business called GrowBox whose focused on growing premium livestock feed. Brady is married and has three wonderful children who keep him busy and broke chasing them to football games, wrestling tournaments, and soccer games. He is passionate about the cattle industry and is hopeful to make an impact and leave it better than he found it for the next generation.