I had a great Christmas, and a pile of neat presents... with one exception! I’m penning a letter to complain about it.

“Dear Santa, I wrote you over three years ago that I wanted a thin body and a fat bank account for Christmas. Well, you got them mixed up again! And don’t give me that same tired old bs that—“it’s Bush’s fault.”

“Lucky for me, my family and friends showered me with more gifts than I deserve. It’s obvious I’m going to have to lose my pot belly and chubby cheeks without any grants or help from you.” Nichols’ Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving celebrations are not limited to immediate families. When you marry a Nichols, your family grows exponentially as everyone is included.

For our last Christmas feast I slow roasted a 16 pound boneless Prime Rib. That huge rib eye was likely cut from a big steer that was raised on grass by his mother, fed ethanol by-products in the feedlot and weighed about 1500 lbs.

As the local cowpokes welcomed in 2012, they held their glasses high, hummed the last bars of Auld Lang Syne— and returned their conversation to “how big is big?” They weren’t discussing the size of Iowa State’s guards and tackles, the rare steaks they’d just eaten, or even body parts. They were discussing “cow size and feed efficiency.”

Why? Almost every symposium or publication has at least one article or animal scientist’s presentation about cow efficiency, residual feed intake (RFI), and mature size. The internet blogs are filled with self-appointed experts’ personal opinions.

As cow/calf producers search for new ways to increase efficiency and profitability, don’t forget there are many years of research that prove the easiest, quickest, and least costly way to increase feed efficiency, fertility, and profit is to utilize heterosis.

Select Composite Sires for profitability, and utilize their hybrid daughters in your herd. They will wean 1.5 more calves in their lifetime. And their calves will weigh 18% more than their straight bred contemporaries.

Several years ago Dr. C. J. Brown at the University of Arkansas weighed each calf at birth and every 28 days thereafter for its entire life. Dr. Brown was a gifted scientist who never used a five syllable word if two syllables would suffice. I asked him, “after years of weighing cattle, what mature size cow was most efficient?” He quietly replied, “a 5-6 body condition score cow that weighs the same as her steer calf when he reaches Choice grade. I’ve never seen research or actual field data that could dispute him.

Realizing phenotypes were insufficient predictors of genetic merit, we have been very involved in DNA discovery and validation the past several years. DNA genomics has just become available to the beef/dairy industry.

My best gift in 2011, next to the good health of my family, employees, and friends was the supplemental Angus Sire Summary ranking for RADG feed efficiency EPDS. RADG (EPD) is a combination of genomic DNA and quantitative rate of gain data. Nichols sires ranked 1st, 2nd, 7th, 11th and 12th.

Nichols customers are our friends. We’d like to be your friends too. Fire up your pickup and join us for Phyllis Famous Chilli Soup and the kick off of Nichols Farms 2012 Private Treaty Bull Sale Saturday, January 28.

j. david nichols

Our Email Addresses

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dave@nicholsfarms.biz

rossh@nicholsfarms.biz

phyllis@nicholsfarms.biz

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