OUR PROGRAM

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• HISTORICAL
• PRODUCTIVITY
• BREEDING BULLS
• DUAL PURPOSE
• CONSISTENCY
• COLOR PATTERN
• POLLED
• GENETIC PURITY
• TERMINAL AND MATERNAL
• VISUAL APPRAISAL OR EPD
• GENETIC TESTING
• SOUTH AFRICAN
• TEMPERMENT

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HISTORICAL: We became interested in purebred cattle following our purchase of Yankee Creek Ranch in 1978. After researching the various beef breeds, we chose Simmental. Through the use of Simmental bulls, the weaning weights of our commercial cattle increased significantly and the half blood cows were the best replacements. We then began to focus on fullblood Simmental and then on polled fullblood Simmental. Even though we didn’t participate in shows, we were caught up in the large framed, show type animals that were typical of the French and Swiss bloodlines. We ended up with a herd of 300 registered fullblood Simmental in the mid 80’s.

We became interested in the Fleckvieh breed in the mid 1980’s. The change was precipitated by two events. First, we experienced an unusual drought. We did not have sufficient stored water in our lake to properly irrigate our pastures and hay fields, See the picture of our lake in the About Us section. The snow pack that provides the water to the irrigation districts that irrigate the lower part of the ranch was lacking. During this time period, we observed that the commercial herd and the fullblood Simmental herd experienced a noticeable weight loss. At that time, we were experimenting with a few full Fleckvieh females that ran with the Simmental herd. In the short grass conditions, the contrast between the Fleckvieh cows and the Simmental and commercial cows was startling; the Fleckvieh cows didn’t show the loss of condition that the rest of the herd did. The Fleckvieh calves maintained their normal growth rate. This precipitated our decision to cull all the French and Swiss fullblood Simmental genetics and focus on German and Austrian genetics that are identified in North America as Fleckvieh.

Another reason we culled the Simmental cattle was that the market in the western United States for anything that had Simmental genetics started deteriorating. The market for traditional Simmental commercial and breeder bulls essentially disappeared. Commercial bull buyers wouldn’t look at a Simmental bull because of calving difficulties and it took too long to finish for slaughter. The trademark of the Simmental breed, a spotted color pattern, was the kiss of death at a bull sale or to a buyer at the ranch. Most of the remaining Simmental breeders in the West have moved to red or black Angus Simmental cattle. We have recently observed a resurgence of interest in the Fleckvieh breed in the west.

We noticed early on and continue to observe that Fleckvieh cattle are more fertile, calve easier, live longer, are more moderate in frame, are more muscled, have more capacity, and are an easier keeping animal than were the Swiss and French strains of Simmental cattle. The calving difficulty we and others experienced using Simmental disappeared when we switched to Fleckvieh.

The genetic foundation of our herd comes from Helga 103D and GB Cameo 101C, both of whom were purchased from Nick Berjian in 1982; HFC Miss Tino Unipolled 748J, purchased from Soderglen Farms at the dispersal sale in 1983; and two Wellhouse Kestrel x Cherry's Heidi daughters purchased from Little Pipestone Ranch in 1985. Both of these produced their last calf at 17 years of age. Along the way we purchased other foundation animals as well as bred quite a number of our own. Each of these females, and their progeny have formed the backbone of our Fleckvieh herd.

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PRODUCTIVITY: We strive to produce large capacity females that will breed a year after birth, have their first calf at 2 and calf each year thereafter for approximately 15 years. They have to get by eating only grass. Fertility is a primary goal.

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BREEDING BULLS: In addition to striving to produce the few bulls that will advance the breed, we want to produce easy calving bulls that the commercial and purebred industry needs to maximize the production of red meat. These bulls need to be fertile, have natural fleshing, have as rapid a growth rate to a year as reasonably possible, and have a moderate mature frame size and weight.

There is a tendency among many seed stock producers to over feed bull calves in an almost competitive race to produce the bull with the biggest weaning and biggest yearling weight. We have not engaged in this race because over fat bulls have lower fertility as well as hoof and leg problems. Who wants a bull that weighed 1600 pounds at a year but can’t breed a cow when you get him home. The research on this issue is addressed in an article written by Heather Smith-Thomas appearing in the September 2005 issue of Western Cowman, titled “Fat & Fertile?” Click here to view the entire article.

The herd bulls we have selected to use for natural breeding in the YCR herd are a great source of pride. Click here to view our bulls. While many breeders utilize bulls that are generally available through the use of an AI program, we believe that our efforts should be focused upon producing a product that is not commonly available that, in turn, can be used by a wide variety of seed stock producers and commercial producers.

Our use of walking herd bulls demonstrates our commitment to being a breeder of seed stock instead of a manufacturer of cattle. Our herd bulls provide continuity as well as enable us to breed for conformity and a consistent product in furtherance of our Serial Breeding^© program. This enables us to produce separate herds of 1/2, 3/4, 7/8, and even 15/16th full sisters.

We are presently using Walberg, Natural, Evan, and Missouri in this program. We will be testing several 2005 polled bulls in small herds in 2006.

We continue to focus our efforts toward breeding the great ones through this process.

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DUAL PURPOSE: While originally bred as a dual purpose breed in Germany and Austria, we focus on the genetics that will produce meat instead of high milk production. Even the low milk production Fleckvieh female, if there is such a thing, often produces more than sufficient milk to raise a calf.

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CONSISTENCY: There are considerable variations in Fleckvieh genetics. While this provides a useful and a very broad genetic base, some of these genetics produce great variations in the progeny by size, muscle pattern, structure, color, and some with the characteristics found in French and Swiss Simmental genetics. To attempt to eliminate these often unpredictable variations, we have developed and will continue to develop separate breeding herds sired by the same bull. We call this our Serial Breeding^© program. Like bred females will be bred to a second bull to produce another breeding herd, and so on. Some of the results are seen in the pictures below.

Consistent Results

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COLOR PATTERN: Yankee Creek Ranch is the source for solid colored Full Fleckvieh Fullblood genetics in North America. We have had a solid color breeding program in place longer than any other breeder known to us.

Because a broken color pattern is a disadvantage at sale time, we focus on the use of herdsires that are expected to maintain a solid red color pattern with as much pigmentation on the head as is possible. The facial pigmentation is not only a desirable cosmetic feature but also helps reduce the frequency of eye cancer.

Our “red factor” program is not based upon Angus genetics that many breeders in North America utilized to obtain a solid color pattern. We decided to use the genetics already existing in this breed instead of introducing the genetics of another breed. This maintains the highest amount of heterosis possible when our breeding bulls are crossed on the commercial commercial herds in North America than if a crossbred Angus x Simmental bull will give.

We started the search for our “red factor” animals many years ago with the purchase of many females that had a lot of pigmentation on the head. Then we added Lucy and Sybil together with herdsires such as Natural and Missouri. A few years ago we began to use Neutron, a solid colored son resulting from a mating of Natural and Sybil. Painter was added in 2004 and Rojo in 2005.

Some breeders question whether it is appropriate for a seedstock producer to include color as a consideration when formulating a breeding program. I conclude it is appropriate to do so. To access an article discussing this subject in greater detail than appears above, click here.

Foundation "Red Factor" Animals

Neutron	Natural
Missouri	Painter
Sybil	Lucy
Lady Blaze	Dutchess

POLLED: Yankee Creek Ranch is THE SOURCE FOR POLLED FULL FLECKVIEH FULLBLOOD GENETICS.

We are the oldest existing polled Fleckvieh breeder in North America and have the largest polled Fleckvieh herd.

We started breeding Polled Fleckvieh genetics in 1983. Thereafter, we focused our breeding program on the development of Polled Fleckvieh genetics and we will continue to develop these genetics in the future. We have now achieved our goal of producing Polled Fleckvieh cattle that are every bit as good and often better than the best horned cattle. It has been time consuming and expensive to accomplish this goal.

The worldwide interest in polled genetics continues to gain importance because of the time needed, expense incurred, and the economic losses resulting from dehorning. There is an ever increasing interest in animal rights, especially in the EU where a veterinarian is required to remove horns. Animal rights are expected to gain political momentum in North America and this will carry over to dehorning, if not the age old practice of declaring ownership by branding. The operators of commercial herds want polled cattle to breed to their herds, which are composed principally of Angus cattle in North America.

The variety of polled genetics continue to be very limited in the Fleckvieh breed. We continue to use the very best horned genetics to develop outcross genetics to our own herd. Each year the number of polled females in our herd has increased with a large percentage of them being descendants of HFC748J, our foundation polled female. We added new genetics imported from Germany in approximately 2004 through the addition of the Eisenherz and Emperor lines in order to further diversify our genetic base.

Yankee Fritz was our first useful polled; we continue to use him AI. He has outstanding calving ease performance. Fritz is a Siegfried son out of HFC748J. Yankee Walberg is a polled C&B Western son out of a polled cow sired by Yankee Hans, going 3 generations back to HFC748J. The polled genetics of Yankee Nitro, added to our bull battery in 2006, go back to Emperor. Nitro is sired by the performance horned bull, Natural, out of Lucy. Yankee Enterprise, sired by Expert out of MRLN Sybil, was also added in 2006. We will continue to test breed yearling polled bulls to determine if our newly developed genetics make an improvement.

There appears to be confusion about the breeding of polled cattle, and particularly about polled Fleckvieh, how the polled traits develop, as well as the percentage of polled offspring that are expected to result from various horned, homozygous polled, and heterozygous polled crossings. There is also confusion about the significance of the scurred gene, as well as whether even a homozygous smooth polled animal may produce a scurred animal, and the scurrs even turn into horns. This and more is explained in the attached article first appearing in the August 1998 issue of Simmental Country, titled The Inheritance of Polledness. Click here to read the entire article.

However, there are some items briefly addressed in the article that bear mentioning.

CHANGES: The most reliable time to inspect an animal for the polled characteristic should be at about a year of age or older. Observations or representations made regarding the condition of the animal at a time prior to a year should be viewed with caution because there is a risk that the condition will change. A smooth polled animal at 7 months of age, for example, can grow scurrs and small scurrs can develop into horns. The shape of the skull between the ears is a feature that can aid in predicting the outcome. The flatter the head between the ears, the more likely the animal will develop scurrs or horns. The more peaked or rounded the skull is, the more likely that the animal will continue to be smooth polled or the scurrs won’t grow large. Bull calves are more likely to change than heifers.

ALTERATION: Never modify, remove, or attempt to alter any scurrs or other growth where horns would normally appear on an animal that is not horned. The size and shape of scurrs is important to polled breeders. When any growth has been removed or altered, the animal must be classified as horned and the classification remain until the animal produces a polled offspring when bred to a horned animal. Genetic testing may be available to demonstrate the animal is polled. Genetic testing may be available to determine the polled feature, even after any growth may have been removed.

We will continue to emphasize the polled characteristics in our breeding program. Because of the limited variety of quality polled genetics as of the time of the writing of this section, we will continue to add the occasional horned bull to the mix because of the quality and greater genetic diversity available with horned Fleckvieh.

Revised 10/1/07

Polled Yearling Hefers from a Transplant Group in 2002
Four Polled Calves born in 2006.

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GENETIC PURITY: All of the animals in our herd are Full Fleckvieh Fullblood genetics. We focus on maintaining genetic purity in our herd in order to maintain the advantages of these genetics. By maintaining this advantage, we are producing animals for a purchaser that will create a greater degree of hybrid vigor than will exist when a purebred, or bred up animal would be used. From our experience, the commercial cow resulting from crossing a Full Fleckvieh Fullblood bull on a female of another breed is better than we have seen from using a purebred or fullblood Simmental. The Fleckvieh commercial cross is the best commercial replacement cow we have seen.

There have been various definitions of the Fleckvieh breed in North America. Some define the breed as Full Fleckvieh Fullblood. Some say 100% Fleckvieh or 100% Full Fleckvieh Fullblood. These have various meanings to various breeders. The definition we use when we say Fleckvieh combines all of these but goes a step farther. Our definition of Fleckvieh requires that all of the animals in the pedigree can be traced only to German or Austrian Fleckvieh genetics. Also, there cannot be any genetics, no matter how remote to the animal, from another breed or grade animal. This cannot be a head in the sand inquiry, but must be a due diligence inquiry. If any reader can identify any animal that we have or use in our herd that does not satisfy this definition, please let us know. Click here to view a recent article entitled "What is a breed?" found in the July 2006 issue of BEEF. See also the description of a Simmental found at the American Simmental Association and the article published by Oklahoma State University, Department of Animal Science, entitled "Breeds of Livestock." www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/

Many commercial and purebred breeders have responded to the unprecedented success of the Angus Breed’s Certified Angus Beef^® promotions. As a result, the herds and breeds that weren’t black, such as the Simmental breed, have incorporated black Angus genetics in their animals to such an extent that heterosis has been lost. Studies demonstrate that the lifetime productivity of crossbred cows exceeds that of purebred cows by at least 20%. Three generations of Angus bulls will result in 15/16 Angus cows and 87% loss of hybrid vigor. Clint Peck's article in Beef entiltled, "Guarding Heterosis" supports the concept of using outcross genetics to gain the benefit of heterosis. Click here to view the article. The use of fullblood Fleckvieh bulls on the black cattle in the USA will significantly increase the production of these animals.

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TERMINAL AND MATERNAL: There are two extremes. The usual bell curve applies. The terminal cross animal usually has a larger but acceptable birthweight, optimum growth within the frame size desired, as well as a higher yielding carcass that will probably grade average. The maternal type has a lower birth weight, better calving ease, and moderate but acceptable growth characteristics. These two extremes can be identified in the various Fleckvieh genetics. We take these differences into account when planning our long term breeding program, as well as the individual breeding each year. There is a place for each extreme in the breed and for commercial applications.

“Better than 50% of the fed cattle are coming up light in the muscle department,” according to research contained in a February 2005 article in Beef, authored by Wes Ishmael. Click here to view the entire article (.pdf format). The average rib eye in commercial herds is 12.3 square inches. To produce a low percentage of YG 4 steer carcases, with a rib eye average of 14.1, the rib eye of the bull needs to have a yearling ultrasound scan of at lease 15.9 square inches. Only 3% of Angus sires qualify. Only 9% of Simmental sires qualify. We have two Fleckvien herdsires that were ultra sound measured at a year. As you might expect, being sired by Natural, Neutron has a 16.2 square inch rib eye. Evan 440L has a 15.9 square inch rib eye. Both will sire bulls that will add muscle to your calf crop and put money in your account at sale time.

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VISUAL APPRAISAL or EPD: We view the Expected Progeny difference figures as but one factor to consider in the breeding or selection process. It is our opinion that a visual evaluation is more important than the epd figures. Breeders should pay more attention to the suggestions outlined in the books and lectures of Jan Bonsma.

An article appearing in the May 2005 issue of the Western Cowman, authored by Heather Smith-Thomas, titled “Computer Cows” May Crash, generally reflects our view of the proper use to be made of the epd figures. Click here to access the article. In sum, the epd figures are only one factor to use in the breeding process.

In the market place of the world, with genetics coming from a number of countries, EPD, EBV and other graphic evaluations are a more important consideration than they otherwise should be. It is not practical or often possible to do a personal inspection or even have someone whose judgment you rely upon make an independent inspection and report to you. Photographs generally don’t disclose many of the traits we look for when making a visual appraisal.

The EPD figures produced and published over the past several years by the American Simmental Association and the Canadian Simmental Association have been inaccurate. In short, the epd for Angus cattle being used to upgrade the purebred Simmentals were incorporated essentially at par from the Angus epd figures into the ASA database while imported cattle were started at zero or some other arbitrarily selected number. This enhanced the Angus genetics and disparaged the Fleckvieh genetics. In 2005, a process was initiated to utilize information from the performance records of other breeds and countries of origin for imported genetics. The results show improvements in the SA influenced genetics but appeared to ignore information on the imported genetics from other countries.

Breeders may wish to refer to the South African Breedplan EBV numbers and compare the SA figures with the ASA figures for commonly used sires. By comparison, you can make your own evaluation of the ranking of these animals as well as get an evaluation of the sires not used in SA. Click here to view the SA figures.

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GENETIC TESTING: Starting in the 1980’s researchers made considerable discoveries with the focus being on the improvement of the carcass, particularly in marbling or quality grade as well as tenderness. Click here to read the article titled “Working Towards a Consistently Tender Steak” written by David Elstein, ARS, appearing originally in the February 2005 issue of Agricultural Research. An updated system is expected soon according to a note written in the October 2005 issue.

The use of these genetics will enable the producers to identify genetics that will enable them to produce beef cattle that will be better selected by the consumer.

When we first wrote this section of our website in 2003, we opined that “[i]t is likely that order buyers, feed lots, and packers in the future will require that their purchases be produced by animals with favorable [genetic testing] results.” See the above Drover’s article and an additional article titled “Fat Disposition – Associated Production Efficiencies & Carcass Value.” The latter article concludes that the

Knowledge generated out of all this research is that different genotypes have phenotypic traits that can be managed to extract the most economic value available to individual animals. Armed with this knowledge feed lot management can be tailored to optimize each genotype of cattle within feedlot groups, all the while maximizing production efficiency.

Knowledge generated out of all this research is that different genotypes have phenotypic traits that can be managed to extract the most economic value available to individual animals. Armed with this knowledge feed lot management can be tailored to optimize each genotype of cattle within feedlot groups, all the while maximizing production efficiency.

Because cattle with optimal marbling genetics shouldn’t require as many days on feed, producing seedstock with optimal marbling genetics has a real economic value. Click here to read the entire article. The results of genetic testing have been utilized by the most progressive seedstock producers and are now being utilized by producers of commercial cattle. Click here to read the article reprinted with the permission of Drovers, May 2007.

There are at least three vendors of these tools to beef producers. MMI Genomics, Igenity and GeneSTAR, marketed in North America through Bovigen, seem to provide comparable services. Their programs are explained on their respective websites. We started with GeneSTAR and continue to utilize this program to develop herdsires as well as females to utilize in a transplanting program. We expect that the research will continue in this area that will result in improvements in the existing testing and additional tests so that all producers can breed a better and more consistent product.

Updated 9/15/07

SOUTH AFRICAN. A number of breeders in North America imported embryos from South Africa into Canada over the past several years. The resulting animals have been sold to many North American herds. Some breeders have focused on producing straight South African genetics.

We decided to combine what we consider to be some of the best of the South African genetics with a small portion of our traditional German and Austrian based herds, using Evan 440L and Natural, both of whom are walking at YCR. Additional information on each can be found on their bull pages. Many of the offspring of each are polled, having bred to some of our polled females. Natural has produced a number of offspring that are solid colored.

Evan		Natural

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TEMPERMENT: My comments are limited to the Fleckvieh breed. This breed is seemingly docile, especially when compared to other breeds, some of which are known to be ill tempered. Temperament is a very important factor for a seedstock breeder to consider in developing a breeding program. Not only are ill tempered cattle dangerous to humans, but they don’t grade well, are difficult to keep in good flesh, and are prone to illness and injury. Accord-ingly, there is a sound economic reason to produce gentle cattle.

The temperament of a particular animal or group of animals is based upon hereditary and environmental factors. Breeders can control both by the proper selection of a bull and by regulating how the herd is handled. Environmental considerations are well known as they bear on temperament. If your cows are roughly treated, by the use of an electric prod, run on horseback, beat while in a crowding alley, or chased with dogs, they are going to be wild and unpredictable around humans. A badly treated and wild cow will teach her calf to act the same way. It may take a little longer to move a gentle animal the direction you want the animal to go but the wait is well worth it.

Temperament is also greatly influenced by genetics and there is a high degree of heritability. Some bloodlines that are in use in North America and elsewhere that are predisposed to being ill tempered have been identified in communications between breeders that have had the experiences.

When I first wrote the various sections of this part of our website, I didn’t include temperament as a breeding goal. We didn’t have ill tempered cattle in our Fleckvieh herd so I didn’t recognize that this was a problem. However, the issue has now surfaced in various discussion groups, I think in part prompted by the influx of different genetic lines imported from South Africa into North America. The only information the importers of SA embryos and that the purchasers of the resulting animals had was what was disclosed by the marketing efforts of the exporters and, in turn, the NA importers. Now that a bank of experience has developed and is being shared, the issue of temperament has risen to a higher level of recognition.

What follows is an incomplete list that has been assembled by our own experience and the communicated experiences of others. Anecdotal information is subjective and often demonstrated to be incorrect but it does bear mentioning. Bar 5 Big Deutsche: The off-spring of this bull have been described as wild and unpredictable. Siegfried: There is no consensus on this bull. Some assert that the offspring of Siegfried, such as 809G and Image produce wild offspring. Others state that they don’t have any such problems and the cattle are generally docile. We have used Siegfried and have not noticed that his off-spring are ill tempered and, indeed, are quite docile. Bold: There does not appear to be a dissenting vote on the ill tempered nature of Bold offspring and that the trait stays with the cattle where he may be a ways back in the pedigree. Canadian Neff: Some of these offspring are rank but not enough to make this a genetic trait for this line according to the information provided.

While the subject of some dispute, there are some lines of SA animals that are prone to being ill tempered according to some breeders with experience. One of the major South African importers in NA has identified some bloodlines that are thought to be “hot”, but I don’t think anyone in NA knows about these genetics to form a reliable opinion on this trait.

If you have identified other bloodlines or particular sires that have a mean streak, or disagree with what is written here, please let me know.

Finally, I would be remiss unless I reminded breeders that it is the gentle animal that gets you. Never put yourself in harms way. Always have an escape route.

Updated 7/1/07

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