Schuler Red Composite Bulls
Schuler Red Composites have been bred and selected to be solid red, uniform in type and no larger in mature size
than our purebred Red Angus. After more than two decades of development, our Schuler Reds have met our goals of
allowing our customers to harvest heterosis and breed complements while maintaining the convenience traits of Red
Angus.
Development:
Our foundation composite cows were a duplicate of the MARC II cattle developed at Clay Center, Ne-
braska which were 1/2 British and 1/2 Continental breeding. Gelbvieh and Simmental comprised the original conti-
nental influences as Red Angus and Hereford were the foundational British influences. In more recent generations,
genetic inputs consisting primarily of Simmental, SimAngus, and Red Angus have been used to create Schuler Reds.
Every cow in our “Composite Herd” is registered with the Red Angus Association of America. Each Schuler Red
composite bull is the product of complete contemporary group data. Their Schuler Red dams, granddams, and great
granddams all participated in Total Herd Reporting (THR) just like their Purebred Red Angus herdmates. DNA,
ultrasound, feedlot performace and carcass testing are employed to ensure our estimates of genetic merit are reliable.
In recent years, Multi-Breed Genetic Evaluation has allowed Simmental, Gelbvieh and Red Angus (as well as Schuler
Red Composites) to be compared on the same base and scale for Growth and Carcass Traits.
The Schuler Red EPDs
in this catalog are directly comparable to Red Angus.
Schuler Red Nomenclature:
You will notice the numbers 71, 62,
53 or 44 in the name of Schuler Red Composite bulls in this catalog;
these numbers specify the approximate proportion (in eights) of
British vs. Continental blood. The first number represents the eights
of British influence and the second number represents Continental
influence.
Why crossbreed?
Heterosis, or hybrid vigor obtained through
crossbreeding results in increased fertility & cow longevity. But,
most importantly…improved profitability! Just three generations of straight breeding will result in an 87% loss of
hybrid vigor for reproduction and production traits. Economically relevant traits of conception, survival and fitness
are hit the hardest because they are lowly heritable and respond slowly to selection pressure. The US Meat Animal
Research Center (USMARC) reports an increase in pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed of 8.5% by simply raising
crossbred calves from straight bred cows over purebred commercial calves. Maternal heterosis is the additional gain
expected by comparing crossbred cows to straight bred cows raising crossbred calves.
USMARC reports maternal
heterosis will gain another 14.8% in cow efficiency, totaling the effects of individual and maternal heterosis at a
23.3% increase in pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed.
While some of that gain can be attributed to higher milk
production, it is largely the result of cow longevity and vigor.
Why use composite bulls?
“User Friendly”
-
Composites like Schuler Reds are the simplest way to obtain the beneficial heterosis and breed
complements available through crossbreeding. Schuler Reds eliminate the need to maintain multiple breeds of bulls
and numerous breeding pastures for rotational mating systems.
Uniform Calf Crops
-
Use of Schuler Reds will result in less biological variation across the resultant calf crop than
rotational systems utilizing two or more parent breeds.
Target calf value
-
Straight Angus cow herds can easily identify Schuler Red bulls that will result in 1/4, or 1/8th
continental influence to benefit postweaning gain and yield grade while maintaining “Angus” marbling. Depending
on their target market, Hybrid Baldy or SimAngus/Balancer herds can select Schuler Red bulls that will maintain
50:50 British:Continental influence or select Schuler Red 71’s to raise the percentage of Angus.
“Given the powerful sire selection tools found in National Sire Evaluation programs there are certainly individu-
al purebred commercial programs that are as productive as crossbred commercial programs because in low stress
environments the advantages of hybrid vigor in that circumstance are small enough that purebreds can successful-
ly compete. Thus, it would only take one drought year to blow the purebred commercial approach out of the water
should it be used on an industry-wide basis.”
—Jim Gosey, UNL Beef Cattle Specialist Emeritus
Schuler
1/8’s
1/8th’s
Red
British
Continental
71
7/8
1/8
62
6/8
2/8
53
5/8
3/8
44
4/8
4/8
