Wann Ranch Thirteenth Annual Production Sale
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Bull Lots 56 through 174 can be viewed online at DVAuction.com.
Click on Production Sales, then click on Wann Ranch.
Wann Ranch
Science and Se se
Bulls Bulls Bulls
Eighteen-month-old bulls are the basis of what we strive to
produce. The purpose of these bulls is to breed cows and pass
along high genetic value. There are four main components of
a bull: genetic value, fertility, health and proper nutritional
development. Today we feel we are pretty good at all four.
Earlier in this sale book we discussed how we use the
Circle A Sire Alliance data along with conventional EPDs in
our genetic program. Our sale bulls average CED 9.0 top 25%,
BW 0.5 top 30%, YW 102 top 20%, $B 125 top 25%. Our goal
is not to produce one super bull, it is to produce a volume of
bulls that are in the top of the breed for many traits. We call
this balanced, logical, genetic improvement.
Although we have felt for years that we had an excellent
herd health program, we have recently quantified this fact. In
recent years we have tested over 1,200 samples for PI-BVD
without one positive sample! Our herd health is excellent!
Nutritional development on bulls is important. Larry
Corah of KSU and Glenn Selk of OSU wrote in an Extension
publication that underfeeding bulls can delay puberty and
semen production. Also overfeeding bulls along with heat
stress can lower semen quality. L. R. Sprott wrote in a Texas
A&M publication that excess fatness in yearling bulls can
temporarily reduce breeding performance and sperm quality.
Todd Thrift of the University of Florida has written that ex-
cessive condition can be detrimental to semen quality because
fat deposition decreases the effective cooling of the testicles.
Thrift went on to say that a nutritional program should allow
bulls to grow rapidly but avoid excessive fat development. This
should also avoid digestive issues and soundness problems.
Overconditioned bulls can require up to 60 days to adjust to a
forage based diet prior to turn out.
Our bull ration contains soy hull pellets, wheat midds,
corn gluten, corn and rice hulls. We also feed a lot of our
home grown hay to our bulls. We feed our ration in bulk feed-
ers that are in pens. We can control access to the feeders by
simply shutting the gate to the pen. Through most of the fall
and winter our older bulls were only fed four times per week.
They have access to hay free choice daily. These bulls also get
to wander a 60 acre trap during development. We could get
our bulls heavier but that would not make them better. We
wish to offer you a well-developed, well-conditioned athlete
ready for immediate turn out. Our testicles haven’t been filled
with fat and our feet haven’t been burned up by too much
feed. These bulls are ready to go!
We are again offering 12 and 13-month-old short yearling
bulls. They are developed the same way as our older bulls.
Because they are younger you should not expect as much
from them. We believe the 18-month-old bulls can serve 18 to
25 cows, but the younger bulls should only be asked to serve
10 to 15 cows this spring as they are maturing themselves.
We have had excellent feedback from our customers on their
success with our younger bulls. Take care of them and they
will take care of you.
We believe in science and sense when it comes to the cow
business. We use science and sense for AI, synchronization,
AI sire selection, cow herd management and bull develop-
ment. You are taking advantage of science and sense when
you buy Angus genetics from Wann Ranch. Study the bulls,
you will like what you find!
We have presented you with a simple star system to designate our belief in the calving ease ability of each bull. Includ-
ed in our rating is the CED EPD, BW EPD, Actual birth weight and our “knowledge” of the cow family behind the bull.
Four stars **** will denote a bull that is a sleep all night calving ease bull that you can place extreme confidence in his
ability to work on heifers.
Three Stars *** will denote a bull that will work on heifers under most all conditions. You might notice a slightly larger
calf occasionally than you would from a four star bull but will rarely ever be able to tell the difference.
Two stars ** will denote a bull that will be just out of the heifer category but will seldom if ever cause any difficulty in
cows.
One Star * well…with our attention to using proven calving ease sires through AI we strive to not produce any of these!
Bulls can also be viewed at WannRanch.org
