Why Optimizer?

The Optimizer Advantage

The American Salers Association Optimizer composite program offers a means to manage percent blood in cowherds through the use of documented, quality composites complete with EPDs.

No Complicated Crossbreeding Programs

Optimizers allow a producer to use the same pastures to produce replacement heifers and steer progeny. No multiple pastures or complicated record keeping programs are required to keep track of breed percentage. Use an Optimizer bull on your Optimizer cow herd and roll on.

Advantages of Maternal Heterosis – The Crossbred Cow

The biggest advantage with heterosis is in the crossbred female. Many of these traits are small improvements but the cumulative effect is huge. An increase of 3.7% in the calving rate and an increase of 3.8% in weaning weight. An 17% increase in the number of calves born over the lifetime of the cow. The added benefit of cow longevity is increased by 38%.

More calves born, more pounds at weaning and cows that stay in the herd significantly longer, gives you 25.3% more pounds of calf weaning weight over the lifetime of the cow. Think about that for a minute. You could say that equates to 25.3% more dollars to your ranch.

Advantages of Maternal Heterosis – Running a Crossbred Cow

Managing Heterosis

Managing heterosis will lead to increased profits. Multi-breed rotational crosses take management to maintain maximum heterosis. Optimizer composites easily fit into most crossbreeding situations. On an unrelated cow, they transmit 100% direct heterosis. On a straightbred Angus or Salers cow, they will transmit 50% of the heterosis of a pure outcross.

A continual system of using Optimizer composites and mating them back to Optimizer composite daughters results in retaining 50% of possible direct heterosis and 50% of maternal heterosis. For weaning weight, there is a greater total impact from heterosis than what would be expected in crossing two pure breeds (100% direct heterosis, 0% maternal heterosis because maternal heterosis has a greater impact on weaning weight than does direct heterosis.

No amount of crossbreeding is going to make up for poor genetics in a cow herd. Select the best possible genetics you can and watch the improvement when you breed Optimizer composites balanced for maternal traits, performance and outstanding carcasses.

Our customers experience it firsthand. We oftentimes take it for granted. The benefits of having the Salers Optimizer as the foundation of your cow herd allow you to reap the many benefits of 2 very complimentary breeds in Salers and Angus. You have 2 maternal oriented breeds that together give you a cow that is unmatched for today’s beef industry.

Heterosis and hybrid vigor, I could give you the textbook definition and we could get technical, but let’s keep it basic. There are traits in the cattle business that have a low heritability (that portion that is inherited by offspring) such as fertility, that are critical to the success and profitability of your operation. Low heritability means we could select for them for a lifetime and only see slight improvements. They only transmit so much of that trait genetically. But, only with heterosis can these lowly heritable traits see drastic improvement in a shorter period of time.

I’ll give you an example with one of our customers. They had 1250 straightbred commercial cows and were getting right at an 86% breed up pretty consistently. They began using Salers and Optimizer bulls and saw this improve to 95% in a relatively short period of time and continue to stay there in the mid-90s for breed-up as they converted the entire cow herd to Optimizer. That is an additional 112 calves.

If my order buyer is right, at $2000 per head this fall, that is an additional $225,000. Now, not every calf may make it to weaning, but you can do your own math and see that it is still a significant number. Maybe you don’t have 1250 cows. Maybe you have 100. Regardless, 9 more calves is still a significant amount of money. 500 cows – 45 more caIves. Whatever your numbers are, I don’t know of any ranch that wouldn’t be happy with 7-10% more calves being sold off the ranch. That lowly heritable trait of fertility saw big benefits with our Optimizer genetics – crossbreeding and heterosis.

The benefits of Heterosis are often traits that are seen over time. Longevity. Salers cattle have inherent longevity and that is even more enhanced with heterosis. We just sold 14 and 15 year old cows this last fall. Cows that were bred but old and worth a lot of money, so we decided they didn’t owe us anything and we could part with them. I’m guilty of wanting one more heifer calf out of these cows to save those heifers with that added stayability and longevity.

Carcass Traits

You can enjoy the benefits of Salers being one of the highest marbling Continental breeds, and when crossed with high marbling Angus, will give you a true advantage in Marbling along with an improvement in red meat yield and Yield Grade.

So, Keep your mind open, not your cows! Step up to use the Optimizer cow in your cow herd when you rebuild your cow herd numbers. Add those inputs that will make life easier and improve your cow herd. You’ll be glad you did. Just ask our customers.

The beauty of the Optimizer is there is no complicated crossbreeding program, requiring multiple breeding pastures with separate breeds to make replacement heifers and other pastures and breeds to make your steer progeny. No complicated record keeping to keep track of breed percentage in your cross. Use an Optimizer bull on your Optimizer cow herd and roll on. We add new inputs all the time. You can reap the benefits of being able to get fantastic females and great steer progeny with the Optimizer.