This past week, the PCC® crew finished evaluating forage developed bulls for the November sales in Colorado, Nebraska, Montana and Alabama.  These bulls have been on grass all summer in a natural ranch environment.  Each one is evaluated and given a score on a 5-star scale for several real-world traits that directly affect the profitability of your ranch.

The first one is masculinity.  A bull should look like a bull having a short, thick head and neck with a pronounced crest.  This is a sign of early maturity that results in fertility, the most important trait in your cow herd.  Masculine bulls will produce feminine females that are ready to breed back on time year after year.

Thickness is a measure of width and depth of the carcass expressed across the shoulders, ribs and heart girth.  We’re not only looking for meat carrying capacity, but gut capacity as well.  That is the all-important factory where grass is turned into beef. 

Muscling is a visual assessment of the width of the back, bulge of the rump, and depth of the twist (that’s the area between the back legs).  We’re in the beef business, so we’re looking for bulls that express the ability to produce meat.

Each animal is given an overall rating for eye appeal.  A 5-star bull expresses all of the above traits in a visually pleasing package.

Hair coat and fly load are scored next.  A slick, shiny hair coat indicates overall good health.  It also reveals the oil secreted by each hair follicle which acts as nature’s fly repellent.  Because this is a heritable trait, a score is given regarding how many flies the bull is hosting compared to his peers. 

A foot score is given for the angle and shape of the toes.  This is vital for an animal that will soon weigh 2000 pounds and travel hundreds of miles each season.  A proper angle of 5 allows hooves to wear off evenly.   5 score toes are parallel without curling toward each other, or spreading too far apart.

A DP score is given for the amount of preputial skin showing outside the sheath as the bull moves about.  This is common among polled animals, however, too much flesh hanging out presents injury potential.

The last score given is disposition.  A nervous, high-headed bull that refuses to settle down when sorted off alone is given a low score.  If he is dangerous or aggressive toward the crew, he is immediately culled.  Both good and bad dispositions are heritable traits that will show up in the offspring.

After this, the bulls are sent through the chute for a fertility test and a measurement of hip height, ribeye area, and backfat thickness.

All this information, along with scores for Calving ease, fleshing ability, frame size, average daily gain, longevity, low-maintenance and grass-efficiency are provided in the sale catalog to help you make buying decisions.  Pharo Cattle Company® is unique in that they openly invite customers to watch this evaluation process.  These traits are scored with the customer’s needs in mind.  It’s just another reason why PCC producers are some of the most profitable in the world.  I’ll see you next time on the Herd Quitter® Minute.