This past week, Pharo Cattle Company® finished the spring sale season with their annual bull sale in Burlington, Colorado.  Our pre-sale speaker this year was P.J. Budler, a world-renowned cattle judge and geneticist who shares many of the same philosophies as Kit Pharo.  We’ve heard Kit talk about the importance of maternal traits so much, it’s as if he was the only one saying it.  It was refreshing to hear another voice with extensive cattle experience saying the same things.

P.J. now lives in Dallas, TX, but was raised in South Africa, so he still speaks with a thick accent.  He has traveled the world judging cattle shows of every breed imaginable.  He knows what works and what doesn’t.  He gave cow/calf producers a lot to think about with his presentation, speaking about the impact agriculture and flourishing rural communities have on national freedom.  

P.J. challenged producers to decide if they want a maternal herd or a terminal herd.  He listed the most important economic traits of a cattle operation.  Terminal, or “Turnover traits” like growth, muscle, milk and marbling, are important, but meaningless without profit traits as a foundation.  “Profit traits” are maternal in nature:  adaptability, functional efficiency, fertility and longevity.  They are the foundation for a profitable cow/calf enterprise.  A maternal herd will adapt to their environment and the nutritional changes throughout the year; They can travel, graze, calve, nurse and process forage efficiently; They can reproduce on time every year without help; And they have longevity, continuing to do all these things into their teenage years.  This is exactly the type of cattle PCC® has been producing for 35 years.

It is interesting to note that even the terminal producer needs cows with maternal traits as the foundation of his herd.  Unfortunately, most cattlemen are putting the heifer mates to those large-framed high growth terminal steers back in their herds instead.  A focus on terminal traits will increase the profitability of the feedlot and the packer; maternal traits will increase the profitability of the rancher.  With continually rising input costs, it’s time to decide who’s profit we’re working for.  I’ll see you next time on the Herd Quitter® Minute.