Some calves come into this world with some assistance from pullers and chains. Others come in lightweight and they continue to be light at weaning.

Whether pulling calves or weaning small ones, these are just a couple issues that can be cleared up with making good decisions when selecting a herd sire.

At the recent Webster County Soils & Crops Conference in Marshfield, Mo., Gary Naylor, MU Extension livestock specialist, told producers that a good bull is worth half of their herd.

“On the other hand a bad bull accounts for more then half of your herd,” Naylor explained.

According to Naylor, after three generations a herd bull makes up for 87-1/2 percent of the herd.

“One of the best reasons to consider selecting a good herd bull is for overall herd improvement,” he said.

Naylor felt that if producers were pulling more then 20 percent of their calves then they have a calving ease problem and it should be addressed.

Other qualities to look at when selecting herd sires include, weaning weights, carcass quality and milk production.

“By decreasing weaning weights you will see an increase in the check at sale time,” Naylor explained.

However, according to him, producers need to be careful, it can cost a lot to get heavier weaning weights.

When it comes to carcass quality Naylor feels that producers need to know what kind of carcass they are producing.

“We can make a lot of changes if we zero in on carcass quality,” Naylor exp-lained.

As far as milk production is concerned Naylor said some herd don’t milk enough and others may milk too much.

“Not milking enough to sustain a calf is a problem just like a cow that milks too much,” he said.

According to him cows milking too much tend to have bag problems or utter problems.