Beefmaster genetics are tailored to the needs of the commercial cattleman. When Tom Lasater got involved with his family's cattle operation in 1931, he didn't set out to run a purebred operation. His only objective was to produce profitable cattle. Ultimately his common-sense approach to breeding cattle for profit led to the creation of the Beefmaster breed. He understood that "good genetics mean good economics."

There is a tendency in the purebred business to chase the latest fads that often have nothing to do with economics. The show ring, for example, has little if any relation to the real world of raising profitable cattle. Most show cattle have been raised completely out of their element and have been overfed. You wonder sometimes if these fat show cattle could survive a whole year without a bucket of grain in front of them every day. The shows may be fun to watch, and they are certainly fun to win, but they have little to do with raising the right kind of cattle. The show ring lends itself to the extremes. Functional cattle can't be great in just a few traits; they have to be good in every trait that is important to production (see The Six Essentials).

Focusing on any single trait is always a mistake, no matter what that trait is. One of the biggest pushes in the purebred industry for the past twenty years has been growth. Growth is fantastic. Who would complain about big calves at weaning? Bigger calves bring more money than smaller calves.

So for the past twenty years, huge changes have been made to the gene pool of the American cattle herd, but little attention has been given to the economic result of such changes. The selection of growth without regard to other important traits (in other words, single-trait selection) can be costly and disastrous. Extreme growth results in enormous cows that require large amounts of feed in order to be productive and fertile. More feed and open cows add up to less money in the pocket book. Here at the Lasater Ranch, we select for growth, within a multi-trait selection program that provides the proper checks and balances. By requiring an animal to exhibit each of the six characteristics essential for economic beef production, we avoid all the extremes.

The Lasater program is actually very simple. We want fertile, trouble-free cattle that will produce high quality calves year after year depending primarily on the resources our land can provide. That spells profit. The ones that can do it, we keep, and the ones that can't, we get rid of. It's as simple as that. The right kind of cattle are the ones that can do it all, but they are not extreme in any one area.

Click to read more about the details of the Lasater Ranch Selection Program , and see how your program can benefit from the same approach, or better yet, let Lasater Beefmaster® genetics give you the "unfair advantage" every cattleman needs.   

Lasater Beefmaster® bulls grow out the way nature intended - on grass - so they're healthy, more athletic, and last longer than bulls that have been pushed on feed. True phenotypic differences can be seen when bulls have been developed on forage, so our buyers can trust what they're looking at. Bulls that demonstrate fleshing-ability when developed on forage pass these traits on to their daughters, resulting in easy-keeping cows. Bulls developed on forage have fewer problems with fertility and overgrown feet. Two-year-old bulls are able to handle a heavier work load, and they don't fall apart when they are put into service.

At weaning, the bulls are evaluated and any bull with an unacceptable weaning weight or faulty conformation is cut. This occurs in mid May. The bulls are then grown through the summer on native range with the only supplement being salt and mineral. In August, yearling weights and scrotal measurements are taken. At this time, those bulls that are to be used as herd sires for the Lasater Ranch are selected. Then the bulls are turned back out and roughed through the fall and winter on cake and range. Hay is fed only when deep snow cover requires it. In mid August the following year, weights, ultra sound data, and scrotal measurements are taken, and bulls are evaluated based on performance and conformation. Those that are deemed to be exceptional will then be eligible for our annual sale. Only the top half of the bull crop makes it into the offering for our production sale.   

In early May, we spent a couple of days looking at the seven year old and older cows in our herd to pick out a few donor cow prospects. Joined by several Beefmaster breeders, we saw all our mature cows with calves at side (born August, 2004) one week before the calves were weaned. In that way, we were able to observe their current calf at side, and to observe each one's condition and udder status after approximately nine months of lactation.  

Although we decided not to put any cows over ten years old into the donor cow program, it was still wonderful to observe the ranch Matriarch with her 16th consecutive calf, born last August, along with one 1989 survivor. In addition, the herd still boasts four cows from the 1990 crop; each weaned her thirteenth calf in May, several of them outstanding with well above average figures. We call these 15 year and older cows the "Golden Oldies" and we have decided that they have paid their way, including their salvage value, and thus will be allowed to end their days on the prairie where the deer, antelope, coyotes and prairie dogs (more later) play. (Don't be too hard on us for our eccentricities and for our deep appreciation of these veteran producers who have stood the test of time).

In the donor cow search, we picked out several cows, most of them seven and eight year olds, with their sixth and seventh consecutive calves at side. Those calves were weaned in May, and they will be dropping their next calves in late July, early August. We then designated five finalists. What a pleasure to spend some time studying these cows that have raised outstanding calves year after year. For instance, one of the group, 6015 has raised a number of bull calves whose ratios have averaged 106. She raised a herd sire in 2002, and her current calf (seventh consecutive) weaned at 677 pounds last month compared to a bull calf crop average of 594.

One of this cow's mates, 6230, weaned her first calf (dropped 1998) at 712 lbs compared to a 611 lbs average, and last month brought a bull to the weaning pen weighing 771 lbs, which was 177 lbs over the bull calf average!

Interestingly, each of these donor prospects have dropped almost all of their calves in the last few days of July (at the beginning of the calving season; bulls are put into service October 10).

We are excited about multiplying the genetic effect of proven producers such as these, and we look forward to showing them to you with their next calf at side during our Field Day on September 13.