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The show-me-select replacement heifer program: Adding value to beef herds in Missouri
The Missouri Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program was designed to improve reproductive efficiency of beef herds in Missouri and increase individual farm income. During the past 18 years, 822 farms enrolled 122,970 heifers in the program. Regional extension livestock specialists work closely with the 243 veterinarians involved with the program state wide. State specialists provide program support to regional extension field staff and participating veterinarians. The marketing component of the program facilitated the sale of 30,539 heifers in 141 sales from 1997 through sales in 2015. These sales generated interest from 9,484 prospective buyers that formally registered to buy heifers, and 3,366 individuals that purchased heifers from the various sales. Heifers from the program have now sold to farms in 19 states. Collectively, 141 sales have generated $42,984,650 in gross sales. A Tier Two classification was created recently that distinguishes heifers from genetically superior high accuracy sires. Using data from the Fall 2015 sales, in which Tier Two heifers sold, we may consider opportunities for producers to add value to their heifers as a result of improvements in genetic merit. Using the average sales price of Show-Me-Select qualified heifers carrying a natural-service sired pregnancy as a baseline sale average we can make the following comparisons to determine the relative added value that resulted from improvements in genetics of the heifer and/or the pregnancy the heifer was carrying:
1) Show-Me-Select heifers carrying natural-service sired pregnancies sold for an average sale price per heifer of $2,242;
2) Show-Me-Select heifers carrying AI-sired pregnancies sold for an average sale price per heifer of $2,437, adding $195 per heifer;
3) Tier Two Show-Me-Select heifers carrying natural-service sired pregnancies sold for an average sale price per heifer of $2,371, adding $129 per heifer; and
4) Tier Two Show-Me-Select heifers carrying AI-sired pregnancies sold for an average sale price per heifer of $2,664, adding $422 per heifer.
The Missouri Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program is the first statewide on-farm beef heifer development and marketing program of its kind in the U.S. Impact on Missouri’s economy that resulted from the past 18 years of the Show-Me-Select program now exceeds $110M.
Keywords: Added value, Beef heifer, Extension program