This reporter has savored a lot of great steaks in my years covering the beef industry. But the one Art and Merry Brownlee served up in the kitchen of their Ashby, NE, ranch house last summer was among the best - tender, juicy and, oh, so flavorful.
I complimented the couple on the quality of their beef. Art's response was: "Well, that's good to hear because that's what we're after here."
The Brownlees are working toward that goal in a non-traditional way for commercial cow-calf producers. Their herd consists of an Angus base and Braunvieh, on which they retain ownership of most of the calves. They use a combination of AI and pasture breeding on a total of about 1,400 of their own females annually - both heifers and cows - and they collect blood from the calves at processing.
Those smears, identified by the calves' tag numbers, will later be used to determine the parentage of selected animals that perform well or poorly in a number of quality and production traits. These traits include birthweight, replacement performance and carcass acceptability.
That data is used to determine future mating and culling decisions in their quest to maximize their herd's performance - on the range, in the feedlot and in the cooler.
Meanwhile, northeast of the Brownlees in Ainsworth, NE, Bob and Diana Sears are just beginning to use a new DNA-based test called the GeneSTAR Tenderness test to determine which of their breeding stock carry genetic markers for tenderness. The couple plans to use results of that test, in conjunction with another GeneSTAR test for marbling, to build a purebred Angus herd maximized for its potential to marble and produce tender carcasses.
The Brownlees and Sears are among producers on the forefront of utilizing DNA tools to help produce a higher percentage of better-eating carcasses, while minimizing "outs." Both couples say that while it's tough to quantify a payback in exact dollars, the accelerated level of genetic progress in their herds made possible by improved end-product predictability is certainly a positive factor.
Art And Merry Brownlee
The Brownlees are relative newcomers to the production side of agriculture, though Merry's family - the Shadbolts - has roots sunk deep in Nebraska's Sandhills. In fact, her family leased for 30 years the very acreage on which she, Art and their sons - Edwin (18) and Ethan (10) - now make their cattle living.
After residing in Omaha for 20 years, where Art worked with computers and financial cost analysis for what is now Qwest Communications, the couple moved to Ashby eight years ago. Before moving to the ranch, the Brownlees had backgrounded cattle and retained ownership through family members. Yet, Merry quips: "Moving here seemed like taking over a 747 in mid-air."
Art says the sum of their previous experiences has provided them with a non-traditional, analytical approach to the cattle business. Part of that approach is a heavy concentration on gathering and analyzing performance data.
The result, Art says, is they've found themselves "doing very much what purebred breeders do, even though we have a commercial herd."
For the past six years, the Brownlees have relied heavily on linear measurements of bulls and replacement heifers, and ultrasounds of their bulls for ribeye, marbling and backfat. For three years, they've used ultrasound to determine the optimal feeding endpoint for the roughly 1,100 calves on which they annually retain ownership. Four years ago, they began collecting DNA samples on calves.
"I think the days of the gate cut are basically gone," Art says. "The margin is whittled down so much in this business today that we'll all be forced to use these tools to build back the margin on the producer end."
The Brownlees AI about 1,000 females each year, not all of them theirs, before pasturing them in groups with four or five Angus and Braunvieh cleanup bulls each in a series of about 40 paddocks. They draw blood samples on all calves at processing, staining it on small blotter cards identified with each calf's ID number.
Art estimates that probably only 5% of those DNA samples will ever be used. But when the parentage of particularly good - or poor - performing females or carcasses is needed, they'll submit the cards of those individuals to MMI Genomics in Davis, CA. (MMI Genomics is a subsidiary of MetaMorphix, Inc., an ag biotech company that holds the rights to Celera Genomics cattle genome. Last June, MetaMorphix announced a $10-million agreement with Excel Corporation and Caprock Cattle Feeders to develop and implement economic selection tools that will allow cattle breeders and feedlot operators to meet consumer demands for consistency and tenderness.)
Art reports that 50% of the time one test will determine parentage. Otherwise, two tests are needed to reasonably assure parentage. Each test costs $15, which Art characterizes as an "investment" cost.
"At this point, I can't say it pays for itself, but as far as shaping your herd for the future, I don't find it outrageous," he says.
Art says his goal is to "find someone further down the line, either a harvester or retailer, who recognizes that outs cost them time and money and desire supplies that are beyond average."
Upon determining the parentage of a particular calf, Art says both the dam and sire of that calf are considered in their final decision.
"You have to ask yourself how much is due to the cow and how much is due to the bull? So we look at the cow's history. The analysis aspect of this is continuous because if you don't attempt to take everything into account, it's worthless," Art says.
He adds that through DNA typing and other management strategies, his cattle have performed better on quality-based marketing grids. Four years ago, he points out, they recorded 5% USDA Standards. In 2002, Standards were considerably less than 1%.
"We've certainly seen fewer discounts, but I can't say it's due solely to DNA typing because there are so many variables in this business," Art says. "But it does allow us to close another variable. The more you can close, the more accurate you can be in what you're trying to accomplish. Certainly, however, you have to consider other year-to-year factors - environment, feed quality, etc."
The Brownlees' carcass target is a USDA Choice. They strive to produce "a complete package that will give us the option of a Select or Choice grid," he says.
Art says one downside of DNA typing is the time interval between collecting samples and actual use in selection decisions.
"If you've got good - or poor - carcasses hanging in the cooler, it's generally been 2½ years since that animal was bred," Art says. "Still, if it's a bull we decide we don't want to keep, it allows us to cut at least one and maybe two years out of its production in our herd.
"And if it's a bull that works well with our herd, we can collect him. Even if he's dead, it gives us some insight into the bloodlines that work for us," he adds.