Our vision is to serve our clients by assisting them in increasing the genetic impact of their “success” in their breeding programs.
When the whole is considered, the cow is the undisputed champion of human food production. She produces the most nutrient dense foods known to humankind namely beef and milk. She does this by consuming plant material that human beings can’t digest. Much of the plant material she eats can be grown on land that is not suitable for tillage and the production of human edible plant material such as grains, fruits, vegetables, and oil seeds. Furthermore, she adds vital organic matter and fertility back to the soil through the urine and manure that she excretes.
Better cows are those that produce more milk and beef while requiring less resources such as feed, water, labor, and fuel. Cattle with greater productivity use a higher percentage of their needed resources to produce human food instead of using the resources simply for body maintenance. Cows with longer lives and better health and reproductive performance reduce the amount of resources required for nonproductive animals such as replacement females, sick animals, and open cows.
In both the dairy and beef industries, we have many traits (PTAs and EPDs) that can be selected for in the pursuit of building better cows. Without a logical breeding approach there can be unintended negative consequences from selection. We strive to avoid preconceived notions of how much emphasis to place on certain traits. At ProGentus, we believe that the most important trait to select for is profit.
For dairy cattle, we’ve developed a genetic ranking called Profit Per Animal Per Year (PPAPY) that gives appropriate weight to all available PTAs by accounting for feed, labor, health, and breeding costs of both heifers and cows, milk and calf income over the lifetime of a cow, and cull cow income.
For beef cattle, we’ve aligned with Leachman Cattle of Colorado to utilize their $Profit, $Ranch, and $Feeder rankings. We feel that this system does a superior job of accounting for the income and costs of beef production.
We are available to help you develop a program to produce the most profitable replacement dairy heifers, replacement beef heifers, or feeder calves for your operation. Contact us today.
Our team can provide consultation on a custom embryo program that results in genetics that create value for producers and provide solutions that ultimately maximize profitability.
