Maternal heterosis borne by complementary crossbreeding is tough to beat for leveraging production efficiency and economic potential in commercial cow-calf herds.

Consider a 14% advantage in first-calf weaning rate at 2 years of age (see Table 1). That’s the difference between Hereford-sired, black baldy females and commercial Angus females in the American Hereford Association’s (AHA) ongoing cooperative research project with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). It is designed to quantify the differences between breeding either Hereford or Angus bulls to commercial Angus cows over time and retaining replacement heifers.

“In a 100-head cow herd, that’s 14 more calves. If you put a $2,000 price tag on each weaned calf, that’s $28,000. That’s $280 more per cow. That’s a lot of dollars,” says Dan Shike, lead project researcher and interim head of the UIUC department of animal sciences.

Plus, 18% more of the Hereford-sired females bred back on time for their second calf.

The study began with 600 commercial Angus cows. Half were bred to six different Hereford bulls; the other half to Angus bulls. All bulls used represented the top 15% of each breed for its maternal and terminal indexes. This is a fall-calving herd. Results so far underscore the significant advantages enabled by Hereford genetics and maternal heterosis.

“I’m not looking for the cow that wins in one year. I’m looking for the cow that wins over her lifetime and stays in the herd, stays in production, because she has some built-in fertility, some resilience, which leads to longevity,” Shike says. “They wean more calves, and more of them breed back. That’s Hereford genetics; that’s maternal heterosis.”

More efficiency and fewer inputs

“The baldy female, in my opinion, is second to none as a replacement female, from the milking ability we get from the Hereford and the carcass merit to sustainability,” says Paul Koffskey, Groendyke Ranch manager, Nash, Okla. “If you’re not using that to your advantage, I think you’re leaving money on the table.”

Koffskey was no stranger to Hereford genetics and heterosis when he came to Groendyke Ranch several years ago. At the time, ranch owner, John Groendyke, said his goal was increased ranch efficiency. Keep in mind the ranch runs about 2,000 commercial cows across four ranches in three counties. The cows are all Angus — 75% black and 25% red. These days, Hereford bulls breed about 80% of the cows.

“There’s got to be a cow. In my opinion, with the rising input costs, whether it be feed, fertilizer, labor or whatever, the cow has to be as efficient as she possibly can, whether it be weaning half or more of her body weight, having a calf every year or breeding back to have a calf at the same time every year and maintaining a BCS (body condition score) of 6 or better with no inputs other than during the winter time,” Koffskey says. “That’s what you’re after, and I guess you could probably call that intensive management, but it should be with the input costs we have now days.”

Thinking back to the UIUC study, Shike explains feed efficiency of the Hereford-sired baldies so far accounts for a savings of $90 per head per year in feed costs, compared to their straight black counterparts. That’s with hay priced at $150 per ton.

All of that helps explain the enviable market for the baldy replacement females Groendyke Ranch is quickly building, at least in general terms. More specifically, the customer base is growing because Koffskey matches bulls to individual cow groups of 50-100 head based on whether they’re building replacements or terminal calves. He is also a stickler for using bulls with complete genetic evaluation data.

“I can prove in black and white what those traits mean to us when I’m putting those bulls with different groups of cows. It’s a hugely successful tool to use,” Koffskey says.

Groendyke Ranch was named the AHA Commercial Producer of the Year in October. The audience saw a video during the award presentation, providing an overview of the ranch and its cattle.

“That group of black baldy heifers you saw just weaned their second calves at 215 days actual age. The steer calves weaned at 665 pounds and the heifer calves at 655 pounds,” Koffskey told the crowd. “The breed-back was 97% on a 45-day breeding season. How much more efficient do you want to be? It’s all because of the Hereford influence.”

From the first year Groendyke Ranch incorporated Hereford bulls to the third year, Koffskey says weaning weights increased 62 pounds. He explains, “Some people may think that’s not a lot, but on 2,000 calves, you do the math, and it’s all because of the Hereford advantage. There’s no question about that.”

Most producers would rather have more pounds to sell than fewer, of course. But the cost of added pounds is also part of the equation.

Greg Thoma, AgNext director for agricultural modeling and lifecycle assessment at Colorado State University, used data from the UIUC study to conduct a lifecycle assessment for a 1,000-head operation over 10 years. The model considered a 1,000-cow commercial Angus herd using Hereford bulls and retaining its own replacement heifers or using Angus bulls and retaining its own replacement heifers.

Although weaning weights were heavier in the Angus-sired scenario, increased fertility, breed-back and longevity meant more weaned calves over time in the Hereford-sired model, which yielded 45,728 more pounds of steers and open heifers to sell.

For instance, 13% more of the Hereford-sired females in the UIUC study remained in the herd as 4-year-olds, compared to the straight black group (Table 2).

“I’ve seen the difference in other breeds that we have tried to use, whether it’s a terminal cross or not. And by and far, the Hereford breed is, hands down, way above it,” Koffskey says. “Whether you put a Hereford bull on the black cows, red cows, Charolais cows or whatever, I don’t think you get that sort of hybrid vigor explosion with any other genetic cross.”

Shane Bedwell, AHA chief operations officer and director of breed improvement, points out Hereford genetics provide additional heterosis due to the fact they are the least related of the Bos Taurus breeds, as documented by the Meat Animal Research Center (MARC).

“Heterosis and hybrid vigor on the black-hided cow or the red-hided cow, in my opinion, is a genetic explosion, whether it’s a steer or a heifer, whether they’re going to the feedlot or they’re being retained as bred female, as we do,” Koffskey says.