PCC Update

June 13, 2007

 

 

Cowboy Logic: "Some people get lost in

thought because it is unfamiliar territory."

 

 

My BIF Report --

 

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) attracts some of the sharpest and most progressive minds in the beef industry.   It celebrated its 40^th anniversary last week as it met in Fort Collins, Colorado.   The very first BIF meeting also took place in Colorado (1967).   In the beginning, it seems to have been very much producer driven.   The industry, at that time, needed to develop ways to measure and improve animal performance.

 

It is absolutely amazing what the industry has accomplished in the past 40 years.   One of our greatest accomplishments is the development of Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs).   EPDs continue to be the absolute best animal selection tool the beef industry has ever had.   They work!   Unfortunately, EPDs have been improperly promoted and improperly used.   EPDs are an excellent tool, but when improperly used they can cause more harm than good.   For example, if producers continue to select for more and more (or less and less) of a certain trait, they will eventually go past optimum.   I think the beef industry went beyond optimum in several traits many years ago.   In some cases, it went well beyond optimum – and has not slowed down one bit.

 

It was good to get reacquainted with old friends at the BIF meeting.   It was good to meet a few new friends at the BIF meeting.   It was good to find out what the latest hot topics of discussion are.   It was good to discover that many of the “right” questions are finally being asked – questions about cow size, cow efficiency, cow adaptability, optimum levels of milk, antagonisms between traits, adapting to changes within the industry, etc, etc.

 

HOWEVER…  I will probably never be able to talk my wife, Deanna, into attending another BIF meeting.   She perceives the BIF meeting as a place where highly educated people come together to show each other how smart they are.   Unfortunately, the perception of a few others that I visited with isn’t much different from Deanna’s perception.

 

What started out as a producer-driven organization has evolved into an academic-driven organization.   Most of the presentations came from people in academia – and they were difficult for the average cow-calf producer to understand.   That is assuming, however, that Deanna and I are somewhere near average.   Perhaps we are way below average and don’t know it.   As a hands-on producer, I don’t really care about all the research details and mathematical formulas.   I would much rather the speaker cut to the chase – and share his or her conclusions and opinions.   In other words, I want a take-home message – something I can think about, discuss with my neighbors, and/or put into practice.

 

I don’t remember the exact breakdown of people who attended this meeting – but I’m pretty sure academics (researchers, extension workers and professors) made up the biggest portion, followed by breed association people, AI companies and seedstock producers.   Only 9% of those in attendance were commercial cow-calf producers (the backbone of the beef industry).   There was talk from the podium that we need to figure out ways to get more commercial producers involved.   It ain’t gonna happen until some changes are made.

 

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the six and one half minutes they gave Steve Radakovich, a cow-calf producer from Iowa, to speak.   Steve said, “The seedstock industry has historically given the cow-calf producers what they have needed IN EXCESS.   If a little is good, more must be better!”    I just about stood up and gave Steve a standing ovation.   Steve ended his VERY SHORT presentation by saying, “The one big injustice of the seedstock industry is evaluating and supplying over-managed, over-fed, fossil fuel dependent bulls to cow-calf producers who are forced to survive on solar energy and low-cost production.   The future of beef production will be determined by the ruminants’ ability to adapt to limited solar-produced forages.”    Later, I told Steve that I thought his message was spot on.   He said, “That means there are at least two of us who are a half bubble off of the status quo.”

 

In my opinion…  if the BIF board of directors really wants more cow-calf producers to attend the annual BIF meeting, they will need to provide more take-home messages.   I think it would also be extremely beneficial to ask more hands-on cow-calf producers to share their thoughts and opinions (and give them more than five minutes to talk).   Perhaps, the BIF meetings need to be divided into two separate segments – one for the folks in academia and one for the real-world producers.

 

Please don’t misinterpret what I am saying.   I have nothing against the research that is being done.   I think most of it will eventually prove to be valuable to the future of beef production.   I am just not capable of understanding and utilizing a good share of the information that was shared at the BIF meeting.