Greetings!

I don’t think that anybody would argue the fact that the market for purebred Angus females has changed dramatically over the last 5 to 10 year period. You probably have opinions as to the causes in the changes in demand and thus value. Many have suggested that increased use of embryo transfer and a decrease in the number of new breeders coming into the breed are two key factors.

I have never studied the association records or attempted to obtain the information to determine if the emergence of new breeders has changed over this period. My gut feeling is that we have seen a decrease. What worries me more is with the current economic conditions, we may see even a more significant reduction in the number of purebred breeders over the next 5 year period. I believe this will be both as a result of a lack of new breeders and an increased exodus of existing breeders that may not have the extra income from other sources to support their “cow hobby.”

Concerning the use of embryo transfer (ET), I believe that association records would indicate that the numbers of registrations of ET progeny has increased significantly over this same time period. In addition, up until the break of the genetic defects, donor females had continued to increase in value. If you visit with managers of the operations that market considerable number of females, most indicate the same thing in that they can sell donors well but it is the other females that are hard to get marketed for any kind of a significant premium. The question I would pose on the donors is that if you study the sale reports – how many of those donors actually sell to breeders that are not in the group of larger breeders that trade money through their female sales?

I don’t want the tone of this article to be totally negative. I do believe there is still going to be opportunity for purebred breeders in the future. However, I think the business has changed and I don’t know if we are ever going back to where we were and if we do - it may take a long time to get there.

The demand for Angus bulls continues to be very strong and I believe it will continue to be that way for the breeders that have a good product and for those that do all the things that are needed to establish and maintain a good relationship with commercial cattle producers. However, if your business plan involves generating a significant amount of income from the sale of purebred females, then I encourage you to devote some time to evaluating this aspect of your business. I believe that many of us in the purebred business do not spend enough time with strategic planning and goal setting for our operations. In my opinion, any time spent in these areas over the next few years will be time well spent.

Randy Perry
WSAA Director