12/29/08 Calm cattle

More and more emphasis is being placed on the beneficial value of calm temperaments in cattle. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with some comments about this bovine trait. Cattle with calm temperaments have been shown to have a higher economic value to producers as compared to wilder cattle. An Iowa Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity showed a $62.19 per head advantage for the most docile cattle over the most aggressive steers in the evaluation. The calm temperament group also had twice as many prime and premium choice quality grade carcasses than the more excitable steers. Years ago cattle ranchers and producers didn't have these types of facts and figures to work with, but did know the time and nuisance cost of repairing corrals and letting bruised body parts heal. But even at that the culling process for wild cattle wasn't that urgent  after all there was the excitement and entertainment factor to consider if there was at least a few rogue cows in the corral when they had to be worked. But eventually cattle were slowly culled from the herd if they could jump anything over a six-foot fence or break the top one or two rails on a five-foot fence as they went over and out of the corral. Cows were also candidates to get shipped if they mauled and mashed corral workers any more than two times per corral visit. Anything less than that they were just considered good mothers that would keep coyotes away from their newborn calves. Those are a couple of early unscientific methods of culling ill-mannered cows from the herd. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about some newer ways to accomplish this task. I'm Jeff Keane.