The best cattle

[coppertop]

I have always expected my replacements to produce as well as their mothers by the time they are three. I give them some slack as a first calf heifer but they need to pick up the pace the following year. If their dam is a good milker, fertile etc., and they are bred to the right bull they usually do keep up with their mothers, in my opinion that is how you build a real herd.

cowman, I don't know about you and your younger women, faster horses, old whiskey etc. Hopefully its only something you reference on paper and aren't trying to put it into practice...could be bad for your health in more ways than one !!

[smcgrath76]

The classic breeding conundrum. Younger animals should have more genetic potential for the traits you are interested in than your older animals. This means you are making progress. Unfortunately the only way to measure some traits, such as longevity is to wait. This is not a good way to make progress in a species that already has a long generation interval.
Conversely, if seedstock breeders are trying to make rapid progress, they should maintain a younger herd. Exactly the opposite for a commercial producer who is trying to reduce cow depreciation costs.
Not sure what the answer is for each individual operation. Basically I think it boils down to what your individual goals are.
I agree 100% that we have focused on easy to measure / output traits. Weight, milk are good examples. Breeds are moving towards collecting, analyzing and using more input data all the time, but it is certainly not easy. Eg: Heifer Pregnancy Rate, Stayability/Survival, Mature size/Maintenance Energy Requirement, Health

[grassfarmer]

smcgrath76, "Conversely, if seedstock breeders are trying to make rapid progress, they should maintain a younger herd. Exactly the opposite for a commercial producer who is trying to reduce cow depreciation costs."
I think that coupled with your latter comment about focusing on the easy to measure/output traits highlights the problem I see in the beef industry here.
The majority of seedstock herds are focussing on more production/ feedlot traits to get bulls with impressive EPD numbers on their sale bulls. Fair enough,that is afterall what a lot of bull buyers base their buying decisions on. But by selecting for this type of cattle they are supplying commercial buyers with bulls that will not supply the low maintanence, reduced depreciation cow.
I wish producers would differentiate more between maternal and terminal sire traits. High performance growth traits certainly have their place on the terminal sire side but every breed, including the "maternal" ones are selecting for the same high performance traits.