Every producer tries to keep improving the cow herd — to have higher performance in the calves, more profitability, etc.

“As a seedstock producer, we know that genetics are hugely important, and probably one of the biggest untapped reservoirs of profitability,” says Don Schiefelbein, who raises registered Angus and SimAngus seedstock as part of a family operation in Minnesota. “When you create an animal, if you set it up with the right genetics for the lifetime of that animal, you can add some efficiency and some other advantages. If you are going to raise an animal, why not raise one with all the opportunities to make the most return on investment and the most profit you can possibly get?”

That animal can stay in the herd and be profitable. In contrast, heifers that are more randomly selected often wash out more quickly, fail to be profitable, and produce offspring that may not be profitable.

“The Deming philosophy can help guide our decisions,” Schiefelbein says. “William Edwards Deming’s philosophy was an incredible game-changing approach to manufacturing that was first utilized in Japan.” 

“If you are going to raise an animal, why not raise one with all the opportunities to make the most return on investment and the most profit you can possibly get?” — Don Schiefelbein

Deming is known as the father of the quality movement, which was hugely influential in post-World War II Japan. He is credited with revolutionizing Japan’s industry and making it one of the most dominant economies in the world.

Deming’s philosophy for manufacturing emphasizes continuous improvement, quality focus, and a system-centric approach to eliminate waste and drive long-term success through his 14 points and plan-do-study-act (PDSA) approach to process analysis and improvement.

“That philosophy tells us that instead of building things and then sorting the good stuff from the bad stuff after you build it, you should spend more than 90% of your efforts making sure the inputs are good so you are creating the good stuff in the first place,” says Schiefelbein.

“To me, that’s where almost all our emphasis for genetic improvement ought to be made — on the beginning — making sure we are buying the best genetics in the bulls we purchase to correct and improve various traits,” Schiefelbein says. “Don’t fall victim to what some people are doing — using bulls and waiting for them to have progeny. After they’ve created the progeny, and this is where the biggest economic cost has occurred, those heifers get sorted after they are produced. That’s an anti-progressive approach.”

Schiefelbein says cattlemen should instead be fixing as many things as possible on the bull side. That will minimize sorting on genetics and allow sorting on things that are economically significant — selecting the oldest heifers, the heifers with the best structural soundness, the heifers with enough weight and body condition to become pregnant at first attempt.

Schiefelbein believes the cattle industry is still in a quandary regarding the best approach. He says the manufacturing world figured it out a long time ago when they said, “Let’s not build 2,000 cars and then decide that about 1,000 are pretty good, and with the others we need to start over.”