Avoid Costly Bull Mistakes: Genomic Solutions for Smarter Ranching
Bull selection. It’s a process every rancher can relate to—whether you're buying a live animal or frozen genetics. It also comes with a mountain of decisions, risks and opportunities as producers sort through catalog after catalog each year.
“The first risk of bull selection is not clearly defining what you need in a bull,” says Marty Ropp, founder of Allied Genetic Resources (AGR). “The opportunity in bull selection comes in creating that definition and utilizing technology that allows you to precision mate your cows.”
Helping commercial cow-calf producers define their genetic goals and access precision breeding tools is exactly what the teams at AGR and Top Genomics aim to do through the RightBull program.
RightBull is a decision-making tool developed specifically for commercial ranchers. It matches bulls to a producer’s operation by evaluating the genomic profiles of their cows and then fitting them precisely to bulls from their preferred seedstock suppliers.
“We want to minimize the number of “bb” combinations for a suite of specific genes that have large negative effects,” says Ropp. “Then our team evaluates other factors to determine which bulls will move your specific ranch forward faster.”
Adding genomics into the selection process—alongside EPDs and visual appraisal—provides a new level of confidence and accuracy.
“This gives you a lot of confidence that you’re going to make decisions that will move you forward,” Ropp says.
While precision matings have long been standard practice for seedstock breeders, RightBull adapts the concept for commercial producers, with most managing cows in groups, not individually.
“Most commercial producers need tools that help make group decisions, not cow by cow,” says Ropp. “Many clients start by sampling about 25% of their herd. We recommend using younger cows so the data remains valuable for longer.”
The cost and time it takes to collect genomic samples is relatively small when compared to the long-term return that precision bull selection offers.
“If that bull doesn’t match your cows—or contributes to inbreeding—then that decision can genetically tie you up with too many wasted matings for three to five years on the calf crop and 15 to 20 years on your cow herd if you’re retaining replacements,” Ropp explains.
So, who stands to benefit most from RightBull? Any commercial producer who understands the long-term impact of bull purchases—regardless of herd size.
“There are lots of tools designed to help pick better bulls, but this one considers the genomics of the cow and genomic inbreeding—not just pedigree inbreeding,” says Ropp. “RightBull is designed for producers that want smart answers, not just more data and more questions.”
According to Ropp, it starts with three simple steps: sit down with the AGR team to define your genetic goals, genomically sample a group of cows, and identify which seedstock suppliers you want to work with. From there, you’ll receive a ranked list of bulls based on how well they align with your operation.
“Producers chose seedstock providers for many different reasons, so we don’t pit seedstock producers against each other,” Ropp says. “The first-choice bull in each herd will be a 100% match. There might be more than one. You choose the seedstock source, and we help sort through the potential sires to find those that best meet your needs.”
Precision bull selection is no longer reserved for seedstock breeders. With tools like RightBull, commercial producers can make smarter, faster genetic progress—without sacrificing time or adding labor.
“Bull buyers want more confidence and that’s exactly what this offers,” says Ropp.
Listen to the full conversation with Marty Ropp on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast.
