#232 – Herd Building

by | Sep 8, 2026 | Herd Quitter® Minute | 0 comments

How important are growth EPD’s and big weaning weights? They are meaningless if they don’t result in more profit. For the producer building a cow herd, a profitable cow prospers on low-quality forage, calves easily, rebreeds on time and weans half her body weight, all without expensive inputs.

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Bull evaluations are finished in all five sale locations: Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama and Canada. The bulls are being cataloged in preparation for the fall sale season. One of the things we noticed at these events was the increased interest in the PCC® program. There was an uptick in attendance at all our bull scoring events.

More and more cattlemen are becoming concerned with the inefficiency of the super-sized, status quo genetics that have been popular. With rising production costs, they are beginning to pay more attention to profit per acre rather than pounds per animal.

If you are building your herd for the future, practical real-world traits take precedent. A profitable cow will process low-quality forage, calve easily, rebreed on time and wean half her body weight, all without expensive inputs. Fertility, fleshing ability, udder quality and calving ease become the qualities that drive profit, rather than growth. It doesn’t matter how much your calves weigh if they’re not profitable.

For more than 35 years, Pharo Cattle Company® has been helping customers implement traits and practices that result in a more profitable and enjoyable business. If you are building a cow herd, focus on genetics that generate profit without expensive inputs. I’ll see you next time on the Herd Quitter® Minute.

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