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Selection begins with an honest assessment of where your cattle are currently in terms of the performance measures that are important to you. Do you want to increase weaning or yearling weights? Do you need to improve end-carcass quality? Is calving difficulty a problem in your herd? What are your goals for improvement? Once you determine where your cattle  currently are in relation to your goals, you will have some direction to guide selection of breeding stock. You can then look for sires that excel in the traits that you want to improve. A word of caution: Avoid any single-trait selection as it can lead to unintended consequences. For example, focus solely on increasing weaning weight will likely cause an increase in birth weight. Any selection decisions should be balanced to consider all important traits. The use of selection indexes can aid in this balance.

As per the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB), a semen straw has the bull's name with country and registration number. For example, 840003205704153 RMD-DOTTERER SSI GAMEDAY-ET is the bull's registration number and registered name. The 840 at the beginning of the registration number means that the animal is wearing a U.S. radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and is likely registered in the United States, and the leading two 0’s may be omitted to save printing space on the straw. Additionally, the straw has an NAAB Uniform Code that identifies either the production center where the semen was produced or the organization that is marketing the semen, breed code, and bull identification (ID) number within source organization. In this example, the NAAB Uniform Code is 7HO15167. The first number 7 is the stud or marketing code for conventional semen marketed by Select Sires; HO is the breed code for Holstein, and 15167 is the bull ID number assigned by Select Sires. All assigned NAAB codes must be reported to NAAB and enrolled in the cross-reference database. Straws with the CSS logo have been processed according to the strict quality and biosecurity requirements of NAAB’s Certified Semen Services (CSS) program. Each straw includes even more traceability information, and more examples and details can be found at www.naab-css.org/naab-uniform-coding-system or at the educational website www.usacattlegenetics.com/bulls-for-ai/read-us-semen-straws. Additionally, NAAB has a database that contains the codes for each AI source organization. (Updated April 10, 2023)

Faculty at many U.S. agricultural universities offer classes on cattle handling, optimizing pastures, artificial insemination (AI), and grazing management, especially across the western and southwestern United States. For example, Extension faculty at the University of Idaho offer the Lost Rivers Grazing Academy each year, which is a national award-winning pasture management program. They also offer classes in beef quality assurance, which often includes proper handling, and AI courses are taught annually.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also conducts several educational programs across North America. Stockmanship and Stewardship is a unique 2-day educational experience featuring low-stress cattle handling demonstrations, Beef Quality Assurance educational sessions, facility design sessions to best run your operation, and industry updates. Beef Quality Assurance is a nationally coordinated, State-implemented program that provides systematic information to U.S. beef producers and beef consumers of how common-sense husbandry techniques can be coupled with accepted scientific knowledge to raise cattle under optimum management and environmental conditions.

If you have an interest in attending specific training, please email me (scottj@uidaho.edu) with details, and I will connect you with Extension faculty or organizations in the United States that can meet your needs. (Updated August 10, 2023)

The current requirements for importing livestock genetics products into various countries around the world can be found on the website of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/export/iregs-for-animal-exports/ct_iregs_animal_exports_home. Scroll down the page to the green box "IRegs for LIVE Animals"; then select the desired country from the dropdown menu. Information is arranged by species. If you have additional questions, please contact one of the livestock exporters listed in the online USLGE member directory.

Recently an Idaho feedlot owner expressed concern over the lack of immunity that some groups of calves seemed to have when entering the feedlot. Calves from some ranches had nearly a 4% death loss with a fairly high percentage of the calves in the group requiring treatment, but others had less than 1% death loss with few being treated. Often the blame is placed on the vaccine, but research indicates that lack of immunity can be attributed to several factors that include vaccine handling, nutrition, and stress at the time of vaccination.

Key points to remember in handling vaccines include storing them at the proper temperature, keeping them cool throughout use, keeping them out of the sunlight, only mixing modified-live vaccines as needed, and administering them as directed on the label. All vaccinations should be given in the neck region of the animal.

Stress at vaccination time can significantly reduce immune response to a vaccine. Stress can be caused by a variety of conditions, such as excessive heat or cold, lengthy separation from the cow, or rough handling. You may not be able to control the weather, but timing of processing and vaccination might help prevent excessive conditions. As you gather calves for processing, do so slowly and quietly whether done on a calf table or at the end of a rope. Allow young calves to move at their own pace and stay paired up with their mothers. Separation time from the cow should be minimized as much as possible. Sorting pairs into smaller bunches that can be worked in 3–4 hours can be worthwhile. Keeping calf stress minimal allows them to develop an adequate immune response, which will pay dividends to the producer in the form of more healthy calves and to the feedlot with fewer dead calves and fewer treated for sickness.

Springtime has rolled around again, which means branding and vaccination time for many producers. Vaccine mishaps at branding time occur much to frequently. Often the job of administering vaccines is given to the least experienced person on the crew with little thought given to training. I recommend that managers/crew bosses take time before each branding to review the following proper vaccine handling practices with their help:

• Read and follow the label for each vaccine. Administer according to label instructions. The label is the law.
• Keep vaccines cool and out of direct sunlight, even during branding time.
• Use a subcutaneous injection if allowed by label.
• Administer vaccines in the recommended injection triangle in the neck.
• Label syringes to avoid mix-ups when refilling.
• Mix modified live vaccines as needed, one bottle at a time. Never mix more than can be used in 1 hour as the efficacy will begin to decline. Throw away any leftover modified live vaccine. 
• Use a transfer needle when mixing modified live vaccines.
• Never combine different vaccines.

Although being on the roping end is generally much more exciting and fun at a branding, vaccine handling and administration is too important to leave entirely to a rookie. Take the time to provide proper training and oversight. A review of these simple practices can help to ensure that this important job is done correctly, thus providing the best chance of protection against disease for the cattle.