The Bull Master

I’m no expert on genetics.

I know the results I need from the genetics of my cattle, but I don’t know which genes provide those results.

I need a calf to hit the ground with vigor, ready to nurse that critical first colostrum.

I need that calf to grow from her mother’s milk along with the grass the ranch grows.

That means I need the cow to provide enough milk every day for nine months.

I need the calf to store some fat in his muscles so the beef is marbled and cows that feed the calves before they store fat in their own bodies.

I need calves that provide consistent beef year after year so my customers get what they expect.

I need heifers that breed as yearlings and cows that breed back every year.

I need cattle that have solid legs so they can travel up and down hills, yet they must remain calm in the corral so my fences remain upright and I remain out of the hospital.

That’s all.

The problem with this list of characteristics is that some qualities compete with others.

A big calf might be able to withstand March winds, but only if he doesn’t get stuck in the birth canal on the way out.

A cow that provides lots of milk while she raises her calf might not be able to eat enough grass to stay healthy and breed again next year. A cow that doesn’t breed back doesn’t stay at A Land of Grass.

She trucks right over to McDonald’s and I lose money on my years-long gamble that she will help pay the ranch bills.

I ask a lot of my cows and they do most of the work around here, but they are only half of the equation.

My bulls provide the other half. I ask a lot from their genetics, too.

It’s time to buy bulls before breeding season begins in June.

I get nervous about picking out bulls so I pick up the phone.

My personal Bull Master always answers.

He knows genetics and family trees better than Ancestry.com.

He understands the limitations on my ranch – the cold winds blowing across prairie in the spring and the short growing season for nutritious grass.

He also knows I mostly sell beef instead of weaned calves and he watches how bull sellers manage their genetics.

Best of all, he looks down the road several years instead of focusing solely on next year.

So we pick bulls to breed for small birthweight calves that will grow into moderate-sized heifers that will provide a moderate amount of milk for their calves and stay in my herd for a long time. The beef remains a consistent byproduct of a healthy cow herd every year.

When I say we pick bulls, I mean he picks bulls and I choose from within his selection.

For several years now, his choices came from a single ranch that raised bulls with the pedigree and conformation that fit the conditions at my ranch.

Then the manager changed.

The other day, I perused their bull catalog. Aghast at what I saw, I dialed the Bull Master.

Bewildered and confused, I stuttered: “What happened to their bulls? They’re all growth. Where’s the maternal side?”

The Bull Master remained calm in the face of my hysteria.

“We don’t even need to go to that sale,” he replied.

Fortunately, the Bull Master had seen this wreck coming and had been watching other breeders.

We will visit some bulls up north in person later this week.

As I hung up the phone, I realized I have an accountant, attorney, veterinarian, a couple of mechanics and a doctor.

I probably need a psychiatrist, but I don’t have one of those.

It sure is nice to have a Bull Master, too.