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Jun 23, 2024

Backing the Bonsma principles in today’s beef industry

Published: 9 hours ago Breeding gform.initializeOnLoaded( function() {gformInitSpinner( 5, 'https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true

Published: 9 hours ago

Breeding

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A look at how Jan Bonsma’s approach to selection is still influencing some ranchers

Over recent years, many commercial cattle operators have become somewhat disillusioned with the direction of certain segments of the beef seedstock industry. In their view, the common sense guideposts for the most useful animals have been directing them too close to the numbers-dominated terminal growth and carcass traits, often at the expense of maternal, reproductive and fertility goals.

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Some have consistently taken a unique approach to reproduction and fertility, while others are rediscovering the past teachings of Jan Bonsma.

Born in 1909 in South Africa, Bonsma earned a master’s degree in animal science and spent many years improving the performance of the Afrikander, South Africa’s native cattle breed. As imported European varieties couldn’t survive the country’s harsh environment, Bonsma and his team succeeded in developing the Bonsmara, a hardy new breed consisting of Hereford, Shorthorn and Afrikander genes.

Throughout his long career, he studied cattle and their makeup, helping to improve many breeds’ genetics. His accomplishments took shape in what became known as the Bonsma principles, a group of findings outlining distinctive signature looks and shapes in both males and females, resulting from hormonal changes during an animal’s life. These distinctions indicated superior fertility and reproductive status and became part of breeding strategies many cow-calf producers still use today.

“In what has become a numbers game, the Bonsma principles are unique only because many people think we’ve moved on from them,” says Brent Lonker, owner of Lonker Ranch, Medicine Hills, Kansas. “I believe many cowmen who built historically great herds intuitively applied many of the principles. They developed a learned instinct, maybe from their father or grandfather, under-standing what a superior cow or a superior bull looks like, and it became their norm.”

Lonker has taken his dedication online, creating the “Bonsma All-Breeds Cattle Group” Facebook page, a lively, interactive collection of 3,600 members including cattle owners and others interested in the subject.

“Some mainline operators aren’t interested in what they don’t understand,” Lonker says. “For them, an EPD is simpler to read, plus, it’s easier than visual appraisal. Others know it takes a level of skill to implement which they don’t possess or won’t invest the energy to learn. Then again, some think it’s hocus-pocus.”

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Lonker says the results speak loud and clear in the reproductive data and improvement of operations applying them, asserting any breeding decisions boil down to predictions. Should this bull be used? Is this heifer a strong replacement candidate?

“We’re always making predictions in the business even when we apply EPDs featuring a 30 or 40 per cent accuracy,” he says. “But the more accurate prediction model stands right in front of us.”

Hair shedding, related to estrogen levels in females, is a dominant feature. Estrogen production and the robustness of hair shedding determine the number of cycles, how early a female will cycle and her overall fertility. Bonsma used to say the earliest hair-shedding cow would be the earliest breeding, most fertile cow.

During his extensive research examining anatomical traits, he devised some distinct characteristics of how a fertile female should look:

Bonsma’s phenotypic evaluations of both male and female shapes are directly related to hormonal changes during the onset of puberty.

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“The most fertile females appear wedge, or coffee cup-shaped, deeper in the flank and tighter in the front,” Lonker says. “The reason for this is bone growth and hormonal levels. In the female, estrogen stops long bone growth from front to back creating this distinct shape.”

The most fertile breeding males appear the opposite as testosterone stops long bone growth in the rear first, then moves toward the front quarters. Bulls continue laying muscle on their front end so as they age, the front becomes much more pronounced than the rear due to testosterone production.

Lonker explains these characteristics are more noticeable in mature cattle but still visible in yearlings, especially in the effect testosterone and estrogen have on hair shedding. A simple tactic for identifying fertile yearling heifers is to drive along a feed bunk evaluating toplines for shedding which moves from the top down and front to back. Those not shedding as much haven’t cycled, will be bred later or remain open.

Bonsma taught that much of fertility is related to environmental adaptation and the interplay of feed resources, soil pH, climate, wind and geographic location.

“Hair slick-off is the most obvious sign cattle are perfectly adapted to their environment,” Lonker says. “Adaptation is what we’re after with highly fertile animals having a distinct look and characteristics. We try to use these predictors for more accurate breeding selections.”

Arron Nerbas of Nerbas Bros. Angus at Shellmouth, Man., says it’s no secret the beef industry has turned into a numbers race focused on terminal performance, growth and carcasses at the expense of maternal traits. While many proclaim a vast improvement in efficiency, citing more beef in terms of pounds per animal, Nerbas believes the biggest reason for this is simply larger animals resulting in more meat per carcass.

“Many are breeding by numbers instead of using physical and phenotypical appraisal, which seems to have fallen by the wayside,” he says. “I’m not saying data and information aren’t important, I just think it’s gone too far to the extreme.”

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While he doesn’t consider himself a student of Bonsma, Nerbas uses the principles on the family’s moderate-sized and forage-based herds, selecting wedge-shaped females, tapered from rear to front and the inverse for bulls.

“We didn’t start selecting because of Bonsma but were picking replacements in our own way,” Nerbas says. “Eventually, we realized the principles aligned with what we were already doing as our selected animals were jiving with the entire thought process.”

On the hormonal side, he wants cows to shed their hair early and keep a shiny coat during the summer, believing strongly this is an indicator of high fertility.

He values the genetic heritability of these features as they add functionality and fertility, stripping considerations down to a systems-based approach where the producer defines the system and makes the animals work within it. It builds on the foundation of females naturally equipped to successfully handle aspects such as birthing rather than being propped up with excessive inputs.

“The hormonal and endocrine systems relate to organ function,” Nerbas explains. “Cattle are ruminants and as we’re 100 per cent forage-based we think it’s the healthiest way to raise animals. Everything in balance. As long as we’re not selecting for extremes and targeting only certain traits, there’s room for EPDs, data and the principles. It all ties together.”

For Darris and brother Clint of Meitler Cattle Company in northern Kansas, the Bonsma principles were a fixture of ranch life. Their father Gene pursued a lifelong fascination after hearing Bonsma speak at Kansas State University in 1965.

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“You could say we were brainwashed at an early age,” says Darris Meitler, laughing. “It was all we knew as we listened to our dad, hearing his passion for the principles. The more he followed them, the more we saw positive results come to fruition when his selections stood the test of time.”

Meitler suggests even though the principles aren’t new, they’re a new way of looking at reproduction and a breath of fresh air for those who have never been exposed to them. Producers don’t need to take all of them to heart, but it’s easy to understand how Bonsma related the different aspects to Mother Nature and hormones working together.

“There is a noticeable unhappiness with the direction being taken by some in the seedstock industry,” Meitler says. “Personally, I believe this is being driven by those not making a living running cows but (by) those harvesting and selling more beef in packing houses. What makes them money isn’t necessarily what makes commercial cattlemen money.”

He views the commercial producer’s top driver as fertility: having a live calf to sell and not giving up 50 pounds at weaning to unknown costs.

When the Meitler brothers make replacement selections, they demand femininity in an angular, wedge shape with an ewe neck due to the angle and rotation of the shoulder blade. Their females display a wide base and ample pelvic room with slope from hooks to pins for calving ease. They must also shed hair early.

“Much is due to glands and the release of hormones,” Meitler says. “Sometimes man tries to fight against what’s plain to see but there’s so much to be learned through observation. The fundamentals of good ranch mothers aren’t always seen by looking at the numbers on a computer.”

He likens the Bonsma principles to a tool in the toolbox for producers to incorporate into their philosophy as new aspects tend to appear when examining practices in a different light.

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“It ties back into the commercial cattleman’s factory,” Meitler says. “We can use cows selected for these traits and cross them on a terminal animal to capitalize on those opportunities. A blend is optimal where everything works together including fertility, longevity, heritability, production and performance.”

Lonker shares this view, believing it’s impossible to build a successful herd on only numbers.

“Great cow herds come from great cows,” he says. “EPDs alone don’t make fertile animals that stay around a long time.”

Contributor

Bruce Derksen lives, works and writes in Lacombe, Alta. He has 30 years of experience as a hands-on participant in numerous branches of the Western Canadian livestock industry.

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