The Maternal Breeder

Good by accident or good by heredity? Linebreeding for herd improvement

Though many of the great cattle of the past have been linebred very few breeders utilize the tool today. John and Caleb discuss what linebreeding is, why it is rarely done as well as its benefits and drawbacks.

What is “Maternal”?

Maternal is a popular marketing slogan today, it is thrown around for all kinds of cattle with little or no definition. In this episode, John and Caleb define what a maternal cow is. They discuss what she and her male counterpart looks like. An outline of selection principles is given to build a maternal herd.

Breeding forward: Introduction to the principles of maternal breeding

Host Caleb Mehlhoff vistis with John Dockweiler of Chadron, NE shares how he got started ranching and what caused him to start breeding maternally oriented cattle. John has been breeding cattle using Bonsma selection criteria for almost 20 years. He introduces many of the principles he has used to build a functional herd of cows.