April 11, 2008

In this issue …
Both boards to meet over next 5 days
Next up for LIMS: Spring heifer exposure, fall progeny reporting
Plan ahead for successful contemporary groupings
Tips for polled, color tests
AI sires, ET donor dams need parent verifications
Consider routine DNA sampling
‘Seal the deal’ with proper transfers
Send AALF entries to ACS
Enter regional shows by May 1
NALJA’s summer newsletter is on its way
What’s news?
Limousin sales, events

The North American Limousin Junior Association (NALJA) Board of Directors will gather for its spring meeting tomorrow and Sunday (April 12–13) in Denver, Colo. NALJA members can contact Cori Harrison to suggest agenda items or share their input via the NALJA member survey in the “Juniors” section of the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) Web site.

The NALF Board of Directors will gather for its spring meeting Tuesday and Wednesday (April 15–16) in Denver. NALF members can contact any Board member or Kent Andersen in the NALF office to suggest agenda items.

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NALF will produce online yearling-heifer–exposure inventories for the spring-calving herds in the Limousin Inventory Management System (LIMS) beginning May 15. Breeders will have until Aug. 15 to volunteer exposure data for evaluating genetic differences in heifer pregnancy.

LIMS – including its optional system for collecting heifer exposure and pregnancy data – is one of several projects the NALF Board approved in response to the Limousin Visions Symposium. The symposium’s breed-improvement initiatives will help Limousin breeders further enhance genetic merit for grade, growth, fertility and docility.

The symposium identified heifer pregnancy as a high-priority trait for data collection and genetic evaluation, and NALF strongly encourages LIMS participants to report exposure data.

To prevent NALF from marking fall-calving cows in their inventories as “inactive,” LIMS participants also must report at least one of the following for each of those cows by July 15:

• a calf record;
• a reason for no progeny reported; or
• a reason for disposal (for cows removed from the herd).

A tool in the LIMS section of the secured, members-only portion of the NALF Web site is available to help accomplish that task. Members can access the tool by logging into the member site, clicking the LIMS button near the top of any screen, then selecting “No Progeny Reporting.”

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To do a better job of serving commercial customers, Limousin breeders must continue to prioritize producing cattle with documented quality and predictability. Consider the following points when developing a more comprehensive performance program for your herd.

• A contemporary group includes calves of the same sex and percentage-blood category, born within 90 days of one another, that you managed together. Designate contemporary groups using “creep” and “no creep” codes and breeder-management codes when submitting performance data so it will contribute to the calculation of expected progeny differences (EPDs). Obtaining valid comparisons between animals in a group is essential to formulating reliable EPDs.
• You should weigh and evaluate all calves in a weaning group on the same day, when the youngest calf is at least 160 days old and the oldest calf is not older than 250 days. You must take yearling weights and other yearling information at least 140 days after weaning and when the animals are between 330 and 450 days of age. Use the date-calculation wheel and instructions provided in your NALF Members Manual. If there is a 90-day age range among cattle in a given group, there is only one possible date to collect weaning data and keep all of the animals in a contemporary group.

Find more tips in the “Successful Performance Program” section of the sire summary.

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To ensure you receive results for coat-color and polled tests as quickly as possible, follow a few simple instructions.

• Provide your complete member name, address and member number on the sample-submission form.
• Use the complete registration number and tattoo exactly as they appear on NALF paperwork.
• Print all information clearly.

MMI Genomics runs color and polled tests every week. Samples must arrive at the laboratory by Monday to be included in that week’s testing. Results generally are available by Friday of the next week. Breeders therefore should allow at least three weeks for the whole process of sample submission, testing and reporting.

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Artificial-insemination (AI) sires born after Jan. 1, 2002, must have a DNA type on file and be parent-verified via DNA-typing, except in cases where a parent is dead and no sample is available for testing. Blood-typing then may be used. Contact the NALF office if you have questions about sires born before 2002.

All AI sires must have a protoporphyria (“proto”) genotype on file at the NALF office. Offspring of untested AI sires are ineligible for registration until the sire’s genotype is determined.

Breeders must sire-verify donor dams via DNA before embryo-transfer (ET) calves can be parent-verified and registered. Before collecting and mailing samples from ET calves to MMI Genomics, contact the NALF office to verify the sires and dams have the proper tests and to obtain the case numbers, which also are available through the “Animal EPD Search” tool on the NALF Web site.

Further, recipient-cow information is required for ET calves to qualify to be in contemporary groups. A recipient’s ID, breed code and birth year must be on the ET application for registration.

Note that MMI Genomics can run parentage, coat-color and polled tests for a single animal from one FTA card.

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Breeders who sell animals that eventually might be used for AI or ET should consider collecting DNA samples for them first. Oftentimes, after a breeder sells a bull or cow, the buyer collects semen or eggs; but the proper DNA tests never were done. Then the sire, dam or purchased animal itself is dead or sold by the time the buyer tries to obtain parent verification.

Given the ease of collecting DNA samples on FTA cards and the fact samples can be stored unrefrigerated long-term, it just makes sense for serious seedstock producers to develop DNA-sampling protocols for those animals that are likely to be propagated widely.

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Transfers are the lifeblood of NALF’s commercial programs. They provide the association with contact information for Limousin users so it can keep breed information before them throughout the year in the quarterly Bottom Line newsletter, Limousin World commercial cattleman’s issue and other vehicles. The success of the LimMark tagging program also depends upon properly transferred bulls. Submit your transfers in a timely fashion so NALF can add value to your seedstock sales.

Remember, the Bottom Line goes to all commercial producers who have had a bull transferred to them in the last three years. Besides each issue’s current information about the Limousin breed and what it provides to the beef industry, the mailing panel credits the active NALF members whose transfers triggered the “subscription.”

Note: When transferring animals, be sure to include the buyer’s full name and address. Complete information not only guarantees your customers receive the Bottom Line, but it also ensures NALF can process the transfer correctly.

Promote your enterprise further by placing a “Breeder Spotlight” advertisement in the publication, which mails to nearly 11,000 addresses. For just $350 per year (four issues), you can speak directly to commercial cattle producers nationwide. Contact Frank Padilla in the NALF office to reserve your space.

If you want to add customers or influencers (such as veterinarians, feedyards, auction markets and Extension agents) to the Bottom Line mailing list, share their contact information with Bo Sexson in the NALF office.

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The All-American Limousin Futurity (AALF) will be Friday, July 18, in Sioux Falls, S.D., in conjunction with the National Junior Limousin Show and Congress (NJLSC). In addition to the traditional Limousin open show, which is one of NALF’s four major Medal of Excellence (MOE) shows, this year’s event will include the fifth annual Lim‑Flex® show and the third annual special fullblood show.

The April issue of the Limousin World included the AALF entry form, or breeders may request one by contacting American Cattle Services (ACS) at (580) 597-3006. Entry forms and fees are due to ACS by May 15. Juniors, take note: Entry in the NJLSC does not enter you automatically in any of the AALF shows.

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The Western Limousin Exposition (WLE) opens June 12 this year, and the Southeast Summer Classic (SSC) opens June 19. For the third year, the WLE will be in Klamath Falls, Ore.; and the Southeastern Limousin Breeders Association (SELBA) again will host the SSC in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Early entries for both MOE shows are due to NALF by May 1. Dave Berry, (360) 871-3642, is the regional contact for the WLE. Jonathan Perry, (931) 433-1895, is the regional contact for the SSC.

In addition, the Heartland Limousin Association (HLA) will host this year’s Heartland Regional Junior Limousin Show in Sioux Falls, S.D., July 11–12. To participate in the 2008 Heartland show, junior exhibitors must be from a Heartland state and be a 2008 dues-paying member of HLA. Juniors from non-Heartland states who have shown in a past Heartland show or are returning HLA members also are eligible to enter. Those early entries are due to NALF by May 1. For more information, contact Dean Summerbell, (612) 963-3799.

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Important rules and entry information for this summer’s national and regional junior Limousin shows are included in the summer 2008 NALJA News, which mailed earlier today. Read all of the rules thoroughly because there have been some changes, and carefully note the entry deadlines.

A printable version already is available in the “Juniors” section of the NALF Web site, which also includes the following features:

• NALJA Board of Directors information and application;
• NALJA Awards of Excellence application;
• Leonard and Vi Wulf Scholarship application; and
• Limi Boosters scholarship and grant applications.

All NALJA members 17 years or older are eligible to apply for a position on the association’s board of directors provided they will not turn 23 during the two-year term. All active NALJA members entering their freshman or sophomore years at four-year academic institutions and majoring in animal science or closely related fields may apply for the prestigious $500 Leonard and Vi Wulf Scholarship. Applicants for the $750 Awards of Excellence must have been 19–21 years old on Jan. 1, be in good standing with NALJA, and be active in some segment of the beef industry or enrolled in an agricultural major in college (previous recipients may not reapply).

Contact Kate Maher in the NALF office for more information. NALF must receive all applications by May 15.

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NALF has issued the following news release since the last issue of Partners:

• April 3 – Regional Limousin Show Entries Due May 1

Limousin news releases are archived in the Web site’s “What’s New” section. NALF encourages its members to share them with their local news outlets.

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April 11–12 • West Virginia Beef Expo Limousin Show & Sale, Weston, WV
April 12 • ROM’N Limousin Annual Bull Sale, Madison, SD
April 12 • Edwards Limousin Annual Bull Sale, Craik, SK
April 12 • Beef Business Bull Sale, Stanford, KY
April 13 • The Blue Ribbon Sale, Seminole, OK
April 13 • Berti Limousin Spring Turnout IV Sale, Sullivan, MO
April 18 • Virginia Beef Expo Limousin Sale, Harrisonburg, VA
April 19 • TLA’s Texas’ Best Limousin Sale, Decatur, TX
April 19 • Win Vue Limousin Farms Production Sale, Bulls Gap, TN
April 19 • Kentucky Limousin Ass’n Sale, Richmond, KY
April 20 • Great American Pie Limousin Sale, Lebanon, MO
April 22 • Bar JZ Ranches 56th Annual Bull Sale, Highmore, SD
April 26 • Deer Valley Farm Spring Production Sale, Fayetteville, TN
April 26 • O’Brien Farms Horse Sale, Carthage, MO
May 2 • Express Ranches Extra Value Grass Time Sale, Yukon, OK
May 3 • Kervin–Hall–Coyote Hills Annual Limousin Female Sale, Chattanooga, OK
May 4 • Northwest Female Sale, Madras, OR
May 6 • Plum Creek Limousin Main Event Sale, Philip, SD
May 10 • 16th Annual Ohio Valley Limousin Ass’n Sale, Mineral Wells, WV
May 17 • Circle L and Friends Sale, Burbank, OH
May 20–28 • 18th International Limousin Conference, Italy
May 31 – Southern Exchange Sale, Lancaster, KY