The $Profit index is an economic breeding value (EBV) created by the Leachman cattle company as a way of identifying top breeding stock which make the most profit.
The system assumes that the average commercial bull will have 100 progeny, as well as assuming that 30% of heifers will be retained. The simulation model then factors in all of the effects on both income and expense to come up with a net profit figure for each bull.
For example, a $10,000 $Profit bull compared with a $6,000 bull is $4,000 difference, or $40 per calf.
Comparison
Lee Leachman finds striking comparison between his $Profit Index and the ICBF’s €uro-Star indices.
“We all select for something. It’s what we believe will make us money, or what we can sell. Everywhere in the world we breed the cattle that way.
“The [€uro-Star index] is a good idea and it’s a very similar idea to what we are doing, at the core of it.
“If we step back, and say if we did the financial analysis, and we own that animal from when the cow gets pregnant until that animal is in the box leaving the packing plant, on every trait we talk about is there a way we can go? Usually there is because it affects the revenue or the cost.
That’s what your index is trying to get at. We have the same thing.
“That’s what your index is trying to get at. We have the same thing.
“Most of the indices that are available in the US only look at a very small part of the puzzle. Like $Beef would be an index that you see here. Well $Beef doesn’t look at any of the cow traits. All it looks at is carcase weight, growth rate, a small bit on feed cost and looks at marbling and muscle.
“It looks at no fertility, milk, calving ease or any of those other traits. So we sit back and say it’s good at what it does, but we try look at the index differently and try look at the whole scope, which is also what your index is trying to do."
Lee stresses that cow size has to make up a big portion of any index, due to the cost that cow carries.
Maximising carcase
“Here’s the challenge. The guys here that want to maximise carcase, they get great big cows. Your model over there is going to charge you for the cost of keeping the cow. If you don’t count the cost of the cow it works great, but if you count that cost you don’t want a great big cow. What you really want is a small cow and a really heavy muscled calf.
“Your index is putting a big premium on muscle. The European breeds relatively speaking are at the top. It doesn’t really like the terminal European breeds, Charolais and Limousin, because the cow size isn’t right. It likes the Salers, Parthenaise and Aubrac because it’s finding the smaller cow that has the muscle, that’s what it’s following.
“The index that you have, the bulls that show up good on that will make good cows. Your DNA testing is going to work it’s just going to take time to accumulate more data, every day it’s getting better.”
Read more
"Do you really care about the breed or do you care about making money?"
What is a high marbled carcase worth to you in the US?
Leachman herd, part I: Maintaining a 365 calving interval with 10,000 cows
Leachman herd, part II: Performance testing 3,000 bulls in three months
Leachman herd, part III: 'A smaller cow is good financially and on emissions'
The $Profit index is an economic breeding value (EBV) created by the Leachman cattle company as a way of identifying top breeding stock which make the most profit.
The system assumes that the average commercial bull will have 100 progeny, as well as assuming that 30% of heifers will be retained. The simulation model then factors in all of the effects on both income and expense to come up with a net profit figure for each bull.
For example, a $10,000 $Profit bull compared with a $6,000 bull is $4,000 difference, or $40 per calf.
Comparison
Lee Leachman finds striking comparison between his $Profit Index and the ICBF’s €uro-Star indices.
“We all select for something. It’s what we believe will make us money, or what we can sell. Everywhere in the world we breed the cattle that way.
“The [€uro-Star index] is a good idea and it’s a very similar idea to what we are doing, at the core of it.
“If we step back, and say if we did the financial analysis, and we own that animal from when the cow gets pregnant until that animal is in the box leaving the packing plant, on every trait we talk about is there a way we can go? Usually there is because it affects the revenue or the cost.
That’s what your index is trying to get at. We have the same thing.
“That’s what your index is trying to get at. We have the same thing.
“Most of the indices that are available in the US only look at a very small part of the puzzle. Like $Beef would be an index that you see here. Well $Beef doesn’t look at any of the cow traits. All it looks at is carcase weight, growth rate, a small bit on feed cost and looks at marbling and muscle.
“It looks at no fertility, milk, calving ease or any of those other traits. So we sit back and say it’s good at what it does, but we try look at the index differently and try look at the whole scope, which is also what your index is trying to do."
Lee stresses that cow size has to make up a big portion of any index, due to the cost that cow carries.
Maximising carcase
“Here’s the challenge. The guys here that want to maximise carcase, they get great big cows. Your model over there is going to charge you for the cost of keeping the cow. If you don’t count the cost of the cow it works great, but if you count that cost you don’t want a great big cow. What you really want is a small cow and a really heavy muscled calf.
“Your index is putting a big premium on muscle. The European breeds relatively speaking are at the top. It doesn’t really like the terminal European breeds, Charolais and Limousin, because the cow size isn’t right. It likes the Salers, Parthenaise and Aubrac because it’s finding the smaller cow that has the muscle, that’s what it’s following.
“The index that you have, the bulls that show up good on that will make good cows. Your DNA testing is going to work it’s just going to take time to accumulate more data, every day it’s getting better.”
Read more
"Do you really care about the breed or do you care about making money?"
What is a high marbled carcase worth to you in the US?
Leachman herd, part I: Maintaining a 365 calving interval with 10,000 cows
Leachman herd, part II: Performance testing 3,000 bulls in three months
Leachman herd, part III: 'A smaller cow is good financially and on emissions'
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