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Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey

California’s approximately 660,000 head of beef cattle are highly dependent on range bulls used to produce offspring that can perform across the state’s diverse ecological regions. Bulls need to be functional on rugged coastal landscapes, rolling foothills, deserts, and in high-elevation terrain. Fe...

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Autores principales: Banwarth, Megan R, DeAtley, Kasey L, Gifford, Craig A, Schohr, Tracy K, McFarlane, Zachary D
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9680856/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36425845
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac138
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author Banwarth, Megan R
DeAtley, Kasey L
Gifford, Craig A
Schohr, Tracy K
McFarlane, Zachary D
author_facet Banwarth, Megan R
DeAtley, Kasey L
Gifford, Craig A
Schohr, Tracy K
McFarlane, Zachary D
author_sort Banwarth, Megan R
collection PubMed
description California’s approximately 660,000 head of beef cattle are highly dependent on range bulls used to produce offspring that can perform across the state’s diverse ecological regions. Bulls need to be functional on rugged coastal landscapes, rolling foothills, deserts, and in high-elevation terrain. Few data exist that indicate factors related to selection, maintenance, and longevity of bulls used in rangeland landscapes. Objectives herein, were to assess factors influencing bull purchasing, management, and culling decisions of California beef producers. Surveys were mailed to the California Cattlemen’s Association membership (N = 1,410) with ~ 16% response rate (N = 227). Mean age and years of bull selection experience of respondents was 61 ± 1 yr and 27 ± 1 yr, respectively. Respondents managed cattle on a total of 694,949 hectare of owned, private leased, and leased public rangelands in California and surrounding states. Cow–calf herd size was 333 ± 92 head and bull battery averaged 18 ± 2 head with average bull longevity of 5 ± 1.3 yr. The average price paid for bulls in the last 2 yr was $5007 ± 163.33, while the highest price paid in the last 5 yr was $7291 ± 335.40. Survey responses were used to define current factors driving management after purchase and for subsequent breeding seasons. After bull purchase, 48% of producers turned bulls out directly with females, while 52% held bulls until the following breeding season. Additionally, most producers (70%) did not manage bulls to reduce condition after purchase. Semen quality analysis, a major component of a breeding soundness exam, was evaluated annually by 45% of respondents, while 20% of respondents never evaluated semen quality. Respondents indicated bull age (35%) and structural soundness (29%) as the most common factors for culling bulls. This research shows that despite the variability in operation demographics, there were similarities in beef bull selection and management across the state. Additionally, these data suggest the need for additional research focused on bull selection and management to maximize producer investment in reproduction.
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spelling pubmed-96808562022-11-23 Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey Banwarth, Megan R DeAtley, Kasey L Gifford, Craig A Schohr, Tracy K McFarlane, Zachary D Transl Anim Sci Special Topic California’s approximately 660,000 head of beef cattle are highly dependent on range bulls used to produce offspring that can perform across the state’s diverse ecological regions. Bulls need to be functional on rugged coastal landscapes, rolling foothills, deserts, and in high-elevation terrain. Few data exist that indicate factors related to selection, maintenance, and longevity of bulls used in rangeland landscapes. Objectives herein, were to assess factors influencing bull purchasing, management, and culling decisions of California beef producers. Surveys were mailed to the California Cattlemen’s Association membership (N = 1,410) with ~ 16% response rate (N = 227). Mean age and years of bull selection experience of respondents was 61 ± 1 yr and 27 ± 1 yr, respectively. Respondents managed cattle on a total of 694,949 hectare of owned, private leased, and leased public rangelands in California and surrounding states. Cow–calf herd size was 333 ± 92 head and bull battery averaged 18 ± 2 head with average bull longevity of 5 ± 1.3 yr. The average price paid for bulls in the last 2 yr was $5007 ± 163.33, while the highest price paid in the last 5 yr was $7291 ± 335.40. Survey responses were used to define current factors driving management after purchase and for subsequent breeding seasons. After bull purchase, 48% of producers turned bulls out directly with females, while 52% held bulls until the following breeding season. Additionally, most producers (70%) did not manage bulls to reduce condition after purchase. Semen quality analysis, a major component of a breeding soundness exam, was evaluated annually by 45% of respondents, while 20% of respondents never evaluated semen quality. Respondents indicated bull age (35%) and structural soundness (29%) as the most common factors for culling bulls. This research shows that despite the variability in operation demographics, there were similarities in beef bull selection and management across the state. Additionally, these data suggest the need for additional research focused on bull selection and management to maximize producer investment in reproduction. Oxford University Press 2022-10-05 /pmc/articles/PMC9680856/ /pubmed/36425845 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac138 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Special Topic
Banwarth, Megan R
DeAtley, Kasey L
Gifford, Craig A
Schohr, Tracy K
McFarlane, Zachary D
Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title_full Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title_fullStr Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title_full_unstemmed Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title_short Bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of California: a producer survey
title_sort bull selection and management in extensive rangeland production systems of california: a producer survey
topic Special Topic
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9680856/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36425845
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac138
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