Trends in Beef Calf Lots by Single Breed Sire Groups Marketed via Video Auction from 2010 Through July 14, 2017

Objective: The objective was to characterize the potential change in the percentage of lots of beef calves sired by a single breed marketed via video auction from 2010 through July 14, 2017. Study Description: Information describing factors about lots sold through a livestock video auction service (Superior Livestock Auction, Fort Worth, TX) was obtained in electronic format. Sire breed of a lot was determined based on the description provided by sellers. All calves in a lot were sired by a single breed and a minimum of 50 lots were required for the analysis. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to determine an increasing or decreasing trend over time with a P≤0.05 considered significant. The Bottom Line: Producers marketing calves via video auction may be changing the genetics of their sires to use on a primarily black cow herd.


Trends in Beef Calf Lots by Single Breed Sire Groups Marketed via Video Auction Trends in Beef Calf Lots by Single Breed Sire Groups Marketed via Video
Abstract Abstract Objective Objective: : The objective was to characterize the potential change in the percentage of lots of beef calves sired by a single breed marketed via video auction from 2010 through July 14, 2017.
Study Description Study Description: : Information describing factors about lots sold through a livestock video auction service (Superior Livestock Auction, Fort Worth, TX) was obtained in electronic format. Sire breed of a lot was determined based on the description provided by sellers. All calves in a lot were sired by a single breed and a minimum of 50 lots were required for the analysis. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to determine an increasing or decreasing trend over time with a P≤0.05 considered significant.

Introduction
The average cow herd in the United States has shifted to be primarily black hided. In previous years, black hided cattle tended to sell for higher prices and many producers took advantage of this opportunity for a premium on their calves. The black hide color came from an increase in use of Angus genetics, which also allows calves to qualify for various value added or branded beef programs (Wessler, 2011;Eastwood et al., 2017). Producers use specific sire breeds dependent upon their production goals, available resources, and environment. As the cow herd has become primarily black hided, some producers may re-evaluate the sire breeds utilized in their cow herd, potentially to capture hybrid vigor in calves by use of other breeds. The objective of this study was to characterize the potential change in the percentage of lots of beef calves sired by a single breed marketed via video auction from 2010 through July 14, 2017.

Experimental Procedures
Information describing factors about lots sold through a livestock video auction service (Superior Livestock Auction, Fort Worth, TX) were obtained from the auction service in an electronic format. These data were collected for lots of beef calves with a single sire breed offered for sale from 2010 through July 14, 2017. The sire breed of a lot was determined based on lot description information provided by the seller and sales representative. For a beef calf lot to be included in a sire breed category, all calves in a lot must have been sired by a single breed. A minimum of 50 lots of calves were required for a single sire breed to be included in the analysis. Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia) were excluded from the study because of very few lots in this region.

Results and Discussion
There were 29,535 lots of beef calves offered for sale via 178 video auctions through Superior Livestock Auction from 2010 through July 14, 2017 and included in this analysis. The percentage of lots of beef calves sired by Angus bulls decreased (P<0.0001) from 2010 through July 14, 2017 (Table 1). Angus-sired lots, however, comprised the greatest percentage of single-breed sired lots marketed, ranging from 70 to 82% across all years ( Table 2). Percentage of lots of beef calves sired by Brangus, Charolais, Red Angus, and SimAngus bulls increased (P<0.001). However, there was no evidence of change (P=0.16) in the percentage of lots of beef calves sired by Hereford bulls.

Implications
Many producers have likely taken advantage of premiums associated with black hided calves but producers marketing calves via video auction may be changing the genetics of their sires to use on a primarily black cow herd.