Of the 10,000 cows at the Leachman ranch, a total of 2,000 bulls will be offered for sale each year – the breakdown being:
1,600 Stabilisers. 350 red and black Angus.A further 50 Charolais cattle.Lee Leachman said: “We have 48 herds that raise bulls for us. We have about 500 cows [on our farm]. The other 48 herds have about 9,500, so we have about 10,000 cows in total.
"We typically AI them all once, then we put clean-up bulls out and we DNA-type all the calves.
"We have people all over the country calving at all different times.
“They send us the bulls typically at weaning. The bulls then get evaluated. Then we measure feed conversion, how fast they grow, measure their frame, measure the scrotum and conduct an ultrasound for carcase traits.
If the highest bulls in my model aren’t here, I’m going to go use someone else’s. If the highest ones in the model are here, I’m going to use mine
"We put all that in our model and say which ones make the most money. Then we pick those and use them back in the system.”
The Leachman operation pays no attention to single-trait sire selection, instead trying to get the best all-round bull which excels in a number of traits. This includes using the best of what they can find from other herds.
“If the highest bulls in my model aren’t here, I’m going to go use someone else’s. If the highest ones in the model are here, I’m going to use mine. I test as many as I can.”
All the measurements from birth to slaughter are inputted to the Leachman company’s $Profit index. This index is built from the company’s own data which it has collected for over 10 years.
The ranch now has 78 feeding bunks installed which can measure about 800 bulls at a time
“We really started doing what we’re doing now in 2008. We would have measurements in the database for somewhere around 3,000 bulls in the last three months alone. We’re measuring how much they’re eating and how much they’re gaining on an individual basis.”
All bulls are brought in after weaning at about seven to eight months of age. Here, they are built up on feed before being added to the testing area.
The ranch now has 78 feeding bunks installed which can measure about 800 bulls at a time. The latest addition of 24 bunks cost in the region of $210,000.
“They’ll gain between 1kg and 1.5kg a day from a mixed ration of silage, chopped hay, flaked corn and wet distillers. We weigh the bulls every week and they stay on test for 70 days.
"The bulls are just over a year when they come out and then they go back on the normal ration. In the test yard they are eating a ration that is 35% grain. Ration in the feedlot is 85% grain. You can’t feed a bull 85% grain – you’ll ruin his feet. We keep them on this ration all the way up until we collect the yearling data and then we’ll switch them. We take slaughter weight and cow weights after that.”
Performance tested bulls on the Leachman ranch.
Speaking on the current calf crop in test at the moment, Lee said the top bulls are hitting under 4:1 feed conversion (lbs), with the weaker ones hitting 10:1.
“You have bulls that are eating about 14lb/day and they’re gaining over 4lb. In chickens and pigs, all they’ve selected for in 50 years is that and they made huge differences. What did they change? Their meat yield has gone up and their feed efficiency has improved. What did they mess up? Their taste has gone bad. We can’t compete with them on cost, so we make the best product we can make, which is high marbling, and make it as cheap as we can.
Around 30% of the bulls born and tested at the ranch are culled all the way along for one reason or another. Lee has a clear aim to increase muscling and carcase weight while maintaining marbling at the top level.
“If you measure muscling along with marbling you should be able to increase muscling over time while maintaining marbling if you measure it all. That’s what EBVs are good at; the only way you can do it is with EBVs. You can do all sorts of things with EBVs but you have to make sure your selection is balanced.”
Read more
Leachman herd, part I: Maintaining a 365 calving interval with 10,000 cows
Of the 10,000 cows at the Leachman ranch, a total of 2,000 bulls will be offered for sale each year – the breakdown being:
1,600 Stabilisers. 350 red and black Angus.A further 50 Charolais cattle.Lee Leachman said: “We have 48 herds that raise bulls for us. We have about 500 cows [on our farm]. The other 48 herds have about 9,500, so we have about 10,000 cows in total.
"We typically AI them all once, then we put clean-up bulls out and we DNA-type all the calves.
"We have people all over the country calving at all different times.
“They send us the bulls typically at weaning. The bulls then get evaluated. Then we measure feed conversion, how fast they grow, measure their frame, measure the scrotum and conduct an ultrasound for carcase traits.
If the highest bulls in my model aren’t here, I’m going to go use someone else’s. If the highest ones in the model are here, I’m going to use mine
"We put all that in our model and say which ones make the most money. Then we pick those and use them back in the system.”
The Leachman operation pays no attention to single-trait sire selection, instead trying to get the best all-round bull which excels in a number of traits. This includes using the best of what they can find from other herds.
“If the highest bulls in my model aren’t here, I’m going to go use someone else’s. If the highest ones in the model are here, I’m going to use mine. I test as many as I can.”
All the measurements from birth to slaughter are inputted to the Leachman company’s $Profit index. This index is built from the company’s own data which it has collected for over 10 years.
The ranch now has 78 feeding bunks installed which can measure about 800 bulls at a time
“We really started doing what we’re doing now in 2008. We would have measurements in the database for somewhere around 3,000 bulls in the last three months alone. We’re measuring how much they’re eating and how much they’re gaining on an individual basis.”
All bulls are brought in after weaning at about seven to eight months of age. Here, they are built up on feed before being added to the testing area.
The ranch now has 78 feeding bunks installed which can measure about 800 bulls at a time. The latest addition of 24 bunks cost in the region of $210,000.
“They’ll gain between 1kg and 1.5kg a day from a mixed ration of silage, chopped hay, flaked corn and wet distillers. We weigh the bulls every week and they stay on test for 70 days.
"The bulls are just over a year when they come out and then they go back on the normal ration. In the test yard they are eating a ration that is 35% grain. Ration in the feedlot is 85% grain. You can’t feed a bull 85% grain – you’ll ruin his feet. We keep them on this ration all the way up until we collect the yearling data and then we’ll switch them. We take slaughter weight and cow weights after that.”
Performance tested bulls on the Leachman ranch.
Speaking on the current calf crop in test at the moment, Lee said the top bulls are hitting under 4:1 feed conversion (lbs), with the weaker ones hitting 10:1.
“You have bulls that are eating about 14lb/day and they’re gaining over 4lb. In chickens and pigs, all they’ve selected for in 50 years is that and they made huge differences. What did they change? Their meat yield has gone up and their feed efficiency has improved. What did they mess up? Their taste has gone bad. We can’t compete with them on cost, so we make the best product we can make, which is high marbling, and make it as cheap as we can.
Around 30% of the bulls born and tested at the ranch are culled all the way along for one reason or another. Lee has a clear aim to increase muscling and carcase weight while maintaining marbling at the top level.
“If you measure muscling along with marbling you should be able to increase muscling over time while maintaining marbling if you measure it all. That’s what EBVs are good at; the only way you can do it is with EBVs. You can do all sorts of things with EBVs but you have to make sure your selection is balanced.”
Read more
Leachman herd, part I: Maintaining a 365 calving interval with 10,000 cows
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