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 www.NALF.org North American (303) 220-1693 |
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NALF News Use the North American Limousin Foundation’s (NALF’s) online recording tools (available via www.nalf.org/members) or free, preprinted forms for timely reporting of birth, weaning and yearling data. Take the time to enter this spring’s yearling data; and include all heifers (not just those selected for replacements), yearling bulls and steers. Commercial cattle producers want information about breed composition; color; polled status; expected progeny differences (EPDs), including accuracies, percentile rankings and breed averages; birth, weaning and yearling weights; frame score; scrotal circumference; carcass and ultrasound data with ratios; and feeding-test results. Reporting data to NALF helps your association help you meet those customer expectations. The deadline to submit data for the next international Limousin genetic evaluation is June 15. A contemporary group includes calves of the same sex and percentage-blood category – born within 90 days of one another – that you managed together. Designate birth, weaning and yearling management codes when submitting performance data so NALF can form accurate contemporary groups that will contribute to reliable EPDs. Weigh and evaluate all calves in a weaning group on the same day, when the youngest calf is at least 160 days old and the oldest calf is not older than 250 days. Take yearling weights and other yearling information at least 140 days after weaning and when the animals are between 330 and 450 days of age. Find more tips in the “Successful Performance Program” section of the sire summary, which is in the “Genetic Evaluation” section of the NALF Web site. A CD-ROM or printed copy of it also is available for $10 from the NALF office. As you make breeding decisions, think about the Limousin Visions Symposium breed-improvement directives (growth, grade, docility and fertility) and your customers’ wants and needs in 2010. The key to successful bull marketing down the road is maximizing the number of like-aged calves from truly superior sires that complement the cows to which you mate them. With fullblood, purebred and Lim‑Flex® genetic options available, there are more ways to serve customers than ever. Transfers are the lifeblood of NALF’s commercial programs. They provide NALF with contact information so it can keep breed information before Limousin users throughout the year. The LimMark tagging program and Strauss® Meadow Reserve™ veal line also depend upon properly transferred bulls. Submit your transfers in a timely fashion so NALF can add value to your seedstock sales. When transferring animals, be sure to include the buyers’ full names and addresses. Complete information guarantees your customers receive breed information and ensures NALF can process the transfers correctly. To ensure you receive results for color and polled tests as quickly as possible, follow a few simple instructions.
MMI Genomics runs color and polled tests weekly. Samples must arrive at the laboratory by Monday to be included in that week’s testing. Results generally are available by Friday of the next week; therefore, breeders should allow at least three weeks for the whole process of sample submission, testing and reporting. Breeders must sire-verify donor dams via DNA before embryo-transfer (ET) calves can be parent-verified and registered. Before mailing samples from ET calves, call the NALF office or check the Web site to obtain the sires’ and dams’ DNA case numbers. Further, recipient-cow information is required for ET calves to qualify to be in contemporary groups. A recipient’s identification (ID), breed code and birth year must be on the ET application for registration. NALF has discontinued automatic printing and distribution of weaning update, yearling update and yearling summary reports with returned paperwork. Request those documents – free of charge – from the NALF office, or find the information on your secured, members-only portion of the NALF Web site. If you need registration papers for a show, call the NALF office at least one week beforehand so staff members can assist you. Do not wait any longer than that because they usually need at least three working days to get a new paper to you. State and regional Limousin associations can petition NALF for permission to host a Medal of Excellence (MOE) show. State officers should have petition forms, rules and judges lists. If there is a local or state show you would like counted for MOE points, submit the petition form by June 15. Active annual and lifetime members can submit nominations for the approved-judges list until June 30. Mail, fax or e‑mail them to the NALF office. Provide your member number or herd prefix and the nominee’s address and phone number. NALF encourages all state associations to help promote the Limousin breed with print and radio advertisements, direct mail, booths at industry events, and other marketing tactics. The Cooperative Marketing Program can help with those efforts. The key to getting NALF cost-share dollars is using the funds to communicate directly with commercial producers. To participate, state associations must submit detailed marketing budgets and activity calendars to NALF by Aug. 1. State marketing coordinators or presidents soon will receive more information and the necessary forms. All North American Limousin Junior Association (NALJA) members 17 years or older may apply for the board of directors if they will not turn 23 during the two-year term. Active members entering their freshman or sophomore years at four-year academic institutions and majoring in animal science or closely related fields may apply for the prestigious $500 Leonard and Vi Wulf Scholarship. Hands-on experience with Limousin cattle, proven excellence and leadership, and effective goal setting could earn $750 Awards of Excellence for up to three NALJA members. Applicants must have been 19 to 21 years old on Jan. 1, 2008, and be in good standing with NALJA. They also must be active in some segment of the beef industry or enrolled in an ag major in college. Previous recipients may not reapply. The “Juniors” section of the NALF Web site offers all three applications and more information about each one, or contact Kate Maher in the NALF office. They are due May 15. NALJA members have until May 15 to apply for scholarships and grants from the Limi Boosters, which is giving two $500 scholarships and one $500 grant. Anyone with questions should contact Susan Carmichael, (859) 328-7355, or Norma Davis, (325) 784-5071. State grant applications also are due to the Limi Boosters by May 15. Those grants help state associations defer the costs of junior events. Contact Carmichael with questions. All Limi Boosters applications are available on the NALF Web site. The summer 2008 NALJA News includes important rules and entry information for this summer’s national and regional junior Limousin shows. If you need a copy, print one from the “Juniors” section of the NALF Web site or request it from the NALF office. Read all of the rules and schedules thoroughly because there have been changes, and carefully note the entry deadlines.
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