BAR JR GELBVIEH FEMALES
MATERNAL STRENGTHS
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
Gelbvieh naturally exhibits strong maternal traits, that is the reason we selected the breed from the beginning. With a earlier maturing female with a shorter gestation period you get reduced chances for dystocia problems. The calves jump up after birth start nursing and growing. Gelbvieh females are terrific milk producers with plenty of fat in the milk for superior growth on the cow. We select our Bar JR cows to have terrific udder structure and we strive to have 75% of our females with 75% of their EPDs in the top 35% of the Gelbvieh breed and they must wean a calf with at least 50% of their body weight.
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
The docility of Gelbvieh and especially Bar JR Gelbvieh cattle leads to the superior performance activity we see in the cattle. They stay relaxed and continue eating/growing/producing strong healthy calves. The other positive is the reduced number of dark cutters as the calm attitude carries over there too. Docility is a strong safety element on the ranch; less people and animals getting hurt therefore reduced doctor and vet bills, less facilities needing repaired therefor reduced maintenance costs. The bottom line is improved with calm quieter cattle and handlers learn to work quiet and slower and the task get done quicker.
CARCASS QUALITY
DOCILITY Performance & Profits
STAYABILITY & FERTILITY
At Bar JR Gelbvieh we pay close attention to tenderness and all of the carcass traits our animals are near the top of the breed in Yield Grade, Ribeye, Carcass Weight, and Fat. We DNA test most of our animals for Tenderness, as we feel it to be an important characteristic for superior quality beef. We have raised a number of purebred Gelbvieh individuals with a 10 for Tenderness. The Bar JR Gelbvieh herd is made up of 65% of the herd with a score of 6 or higher for TENDERNESS. Go to Gelbvieh.org and check out the numbers.
STAYABILITY & FERTILITY
STAYABILITY & FERTILITY
STAYABILITY & FERTILITY
A long known component to successful livestock production is stayability due to the cost of developing the female. If your cows stay in the herd longer producing top quality offspring then production costs are reduced. Gelvbieh cattle are noted for there maternal strengths and stayability is a major component. Bar JR Gelbvieh produces some of the breed leading females for fertility and longevity. Our heifer pregnancy and PG30 ranking are terrific as well as the stayability rankings.
FAQs
STAYABILITY & FERTILITY
FAQs
How do you get your cattle so calm? We never give them a chance to not trust us. We respect them and they respect us. The Gelbvieh breed is naturally docile we reinforce that trait with low stress cattle handling procedures, facilities designed for low stress handling, and we cull any animal that shows aggression.
What is your selection process for sires? We develop an up to date detailed EPD spreadsheet on each female and each possible sire. We color code each trait for it's ranking within the breed. The EPD and DNA values for each female are analyzed for her strengths and weakness. We then select a sire that complements her strengths and upgrades her weaknesses. The Tenderness DNA values are carefully considered.
BAR JR FEMALES
The Cornerstone to Superior Quality COWS & BULLS
The Bar JR breeding program has a strong emphasis on balanced traits trying to avoid extremes without balance on the other end. We target having 75% of our herd with 75% of their EPD traits in the top 35%. We put major importance on the female side as they are the cornerstone of producing superior quality cattle. Cattle that will work along the entire beef industry spectrum (calving, on cow performance, feedlot growth and efficiency, carcass quality and pounds, along with terrific replacement females. Bar JR Gelbvieh utilizes an extensive AI program with a 2 cycle synchronization / detection process followed by 30 days with the cleanup bulls. Ranch manager Mary Hill views and reviews the genetic traits (GE-EPDs, EPDs, DNA data, carcass data, and mating histories) during the sire selection process. The calving season begins the 2nd week of April and is kept to under 60 days; producing great uniformity in our calves. The cows calve outside in the elements with a watchful eye if the weather gets extreme. Each calf is weighed and tagged within 12 hours of birth and evaluated by our ranch veterinarian, Dr. Jeanne Rankin, who developed our animal health protocols. DNA samples are collected at birth to aid in future matings, replacement females, and bull selections. The calves are evaluated at branding (mid June) and during AI season as everything is seen multiple times daily. We weigh them again at weaning tracking production and making comments about mating outcomes. We have watched the research pertaining to performance and docility conducted these researchers Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Heather Burrow, and Dr. Ron Randel. "We found the craziest animals (temperament score 5) had the lowest average daily gain. Conversely, the calmest animals had the highest average daily gain," said Grandin. Dr. Heather Burrow, head of the research lab, said that "poor temperament reduces profitability of cattle through increased production costs as well as poor performance. These cattle take more labor to gather and work, are harder on facilities, and increase the risk of injury -- to the cattle and to the people handling them." The first U.S. research on tenderness was done in 2004, as a cooperative study between Texas A&M and Mississippi State University. Dr. Ron Randel (Texas Ag Experiment Station, Overton) said the correlation between high exit speeds (leaving a chute) and toughness was substantial. Earlier work done by Randel and other Texas A&M researchers showed that wild cattle eat less and gain less, but this study was the first in the U.S. to show a strong correlation between temperament and meat tenderness. We take great pride in breeding people friendly low stress cattle and we keep them that way with our working facilities and low stress handling procedures.
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DOCILITY & PERFORMANCE GO HAND IN HAND "poor temperament reduces profitability of cattle through increased production costs as well as poor performance. These cattle take more labor to gather and work, are harder on facilities, and increase the risk of injury -- to the cattle and to the people handling them." Dr. Heather Burrow