I recently read an article written by a fellow cow man in which he poked fun of
himself for giving his daughters former show heifers second chances, and as a group
these show heifers have been very successful. It is not easy to see fertility in a
heifer for most people or judges, but there are some signs. The book “Man Must
Measure” should be required reading for anyone raising cattle. It explains the
signs exhibited by highly fertile cattle, and winter hair in the summer is not one
of those signs.

Another pet peeve of mine is when the judge is giving reasons he will say that the
fat heifers are obviously more efficient than my calves. Our calves grow like weeds
on grass and momma’s milk, a feed bucket has nothing to do with efficiency. And
guess what, overly fat heifers are less likely to breed, just like heifers that
don’t shed out are less fertile.

Nick Wagner, breeder of fine, profitable, Angus cattle