- Dr. Bill Julien

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The Key to Success in the Future

Depends Upon Re-discovering the Past!

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Financial success or failure in modern agriculture depends upon your willingness to adapt to a changing world. The cost of money, the shortage of labor, wild weather patterns that negatively impact what we grow and where we grow it, are the new realities. If you make your living from cattle, you can add to this list, the erosion of consumer confidence in the product you sell, and even how it is produced. Although the world needs high quality protein, the kind of protein that beef provides, it prefers it to be produced naturally, humanely and without damaging the environment. This is a tall order, but it can be filled, if we just take the time to look over our collective shoulders.

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Until about 70 years ago, the steak dinner that we all enjoy, was produced by cattle, grazing grass. With the development of high yield grain crops and modern irrigation, this all changed. Starting in the 1950s, cow/calf producers focused on supplying the genetics that this new management system required. Today, around 70% of all beef available to the U.S. consumer, is based on one genotype. These animals, although adapted to high grain, low forage diets, are also plagued by reduced disease resistance, short productive lives, and surprisingly, lower feed efficiency. The result is that the industry is blamed by the consumer for everything from climate change caused by methanogenesis to antibiotic resistance in children! There is a solution, and it’s locked within certain breeds of cattle that have been under appreciated in what they can contribute to address the problem. One of these is the Aubrac.

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In an ongoing, major multi university research effort, a method was developed that made it possible to accurately identify cattle that were inherently more stress resistant. Stress resistance is linked to certain metabolic functions, the most important being a lower maintenance energy requirement; they can do much more on a lot less and this ability is key to maximizing forage utilization! Evaluation of thousands of head has found stress resistant cattle in all breeds but only in a few were the numbers of these animals a consistent and significant percentage of the population. Aubracs are one of these. Compared to other breeds, Aubracs are what some cattlemen call “honest.” The genetic variation, as indicated by the results of these studies as well a French study, comparing the EBV (estimated breeding value) of Aubracs to other French breeds clearly show that they uniformly and consistently score higher in metabolic efficiency than other populations. Aubracs are a heritage breed. By perseverance and belief, Aubrac breeders have provided the opportunity for a challenged industry to draw on the past to ensure success in the future.