How We Evaluate Bulls
A bull is more than his weight or size on sale day. The MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation is designed to provide an objective, comprehensive assessment of traits that affect a bull's value as a breeding animal.
Bulls are managed together in a common environment so we can measure and compare meaningful differences in growth, feed efficiency, breeding soundness, structure, and carcass merit. Throughout the evaluation, we collect thousands of observations on each bull to provide consignors and buyers with information they can use with confidence.
Selected Before They Arrive
The evaluation begins well before a bull arrives at the station. Young bulls are selected and prepared by regional seedstock producers to meet the program's entry requirements.
Before entering the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation, bulls must:
Be registered with a national or international breed association
Complete the required vaccination program
Test negative for BVD persistent infection (BVD-PI)
When not free by pedigree, be tested and verified free of breed-associated lethal genetic defects for which a DNA test is available
Be genomically tested to verify sire parentage and generate genomic-enhanced EPDs
Receive appropriate broad-spectrum parasite control
Be free of ringworm, warts, and observable scrotal abnormalities
Weigh at least 2.4 lb per day of age
These requirements help ensure that bulls arrive healthy, appropriately developed, and ready to be evaluated under a common management environment.
Growth — Average Daily Gain
Growth performance is measured over a 98-day evaluation period. Full body weights are collected at key points during the evaluation, while SmartScale technology continuously collects additional body-weight observations as bulls visit the waterers.
Average daily gain (ADG) measures how rapidly a bull gains weight during the evaluation. Because all bulls within a testing contemporary group are managed under the same conditions, ADG provides an objective comparison of postweaning growth performance.
We also report weight per day of age (WDA), which relates a bull's weight to his age. Together, ADG and WDA help describe both performance during the evaluation and overall growth to that point.
Feed Efficiency — Residual Feed Intake
Feed is the largest single cost in most beef production systems, making feed efficiency an economically important trait.
After a 21-day adaptation period, each bull's individual feed intake is measured for 49 days using the SmartFeed system. The system identifies each bull electronically and records the amount of feed consumed during every visit to the feed bunk.
These intake records, together with body weight and growth data, are used to calculate dry matter intake and residual feed intake (RFI).
RFI is the difference between the amount of feed a bull actually consumes and the amount he is expected to consume based on his body weight and growth rate. A bull with a negative RFI consumes less feed than expected, while a bull with a positive RFI consumes more than expected.
Because RFI accounts for differences in body weight and growth, it helps identify bulls that require less feed for a similar level of performance rather than simply identifying bulls that eat less or grow more slowly.
Continuous Body-Weight Monitoring
Traditional performance testing relies on periodic chute weights. We supplement those measurements with SmartScale technology.
Each time a bull visits an automatic waterer, the SmartScale records a partial body weight. These measurements are calibrated with full body weights collected throughout the evaluation and provide many additional observations of each bull's weight.
Repeated measurements help reduce the influence of normal day-to-day fluctuations in body weight and improve our ability to accurately characterize growth and feed efficiency.
Ultrasound — Carcass Merit in the Live Animal
Real-time ultrasound allows us to evaluate important carcass traits in a live bull.
Bulls within the appropriate age range are scanned for:
These measurements provide information about the individual bull while also contributing to more accurate genetic predictions of carcass merit.
Breeding Soundness Examination
A breeding bull must be capable of doing his primary job—breeding cows.
Before becoming eligible for the sale, every bull must pass a complete breeding soundness examination (BSE). The examination evaluates the bull's physical reproductive soundness, scrotal circumference, and semen quality.
The semen examination evaluates sperm motility and morphology, while the physical examination helps identify conditions that could interfere with a bull's ability to successfully breed females.
A BSE evaluates a bull's breeding potential at a particular point in time; it is not a guarantee of future fertility. However, it provides an important screening tool before a bull is offered for sale.
Scrotal Circumference
Scrotal circumference is measured as part of the breeding soundness examination.
Scrotal circumference is associated with sperm-producing capacity and sexual maturity in young bulls. It is also a moderately heritable trait and is genetically associated with age at puberty in a bull's daughters.
For those reasons, scrotal circumference provides information relevant not only to the bull's reproductive development but also to reproductive traits in future replacement females.
Structural Soundness and Feet
Performance means little if a bull cannot remain sound and functional. Sound feet and legs are particularly important for breeding bulls because they must travel, locate females in estrus, mount, and successfully breed cows under a variety of pasture and environmental conditions.
Bulls are observed throughout the evaluation for structural soundness, mobility, and disposition. Foot angle and claw set are evaluated using standardized scoring systems.
Bulls with unacceptable structural soundness or foot conformation are not eligible for the sale.
Frame Size
Hip height is measured near the end of the evaluation and used with the bull's age to calculate frame size.
Frame size provides an objective description of skeletal size and expected mature size. It is not a measure of quality—larger is not necessarily better.
Frame size can help producers select bulls whose mature size and growth pattern fit their cow herd, available feed resources, production environment, and marketing goals.
Genomic-Enhanced EPDs
Measurements collected during the evaluation tell us a great deal about the bull himself. Expected Progeny Differences, or EPDs, are designed to predict how his future progeny are expected to perform relative to the progeny of other bulls.
Before entering the evaluation, bulls are required to have DNA submitted through their respective breed association to verify sire parentage and generate genomic-enhanced EPDs.
Genomic information increases the accuracy of EPDs on young bulls before they have progeny records. EPDs remain the best tool for predicting genetic differences in future offspring, while measurements collected during the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation provide additional information about the individual bull's performance, efficiency, development, and soundness.
Disposition
A breeding bull must also be manageable.
Disposition is observed throughout the months bulls are at the evaluation station. This provides repeated opportunities to assess how bulls behave during routine feeding, weighing, handling, and other management procedures.
Bulls displaying unacceptable disposition are not eligible for the sale.
Passing the Evaluation
Collecting data is only part of the evaluation. The program follows Beef Improvement Federation guidelines where applicable, and bulls must meet established performance, health, breeding soundness, structural, foot, and disposition requirements before they are eligible for the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation Sale. To be sale eligible, a bull must:
Putting It All Together
No single measurement identifies the right bull for every herd.
Growth, feed efficiency, carcass traits, reproductive soundness, structure, disposition, genomics, and EPDs each provide a different piece of information. The strength of the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation is bringing those pieces together in a common environment and providing buyers with a complete picture of each bull.
That information allows producers to select bulls whose genetics, individual performance, and functional traits best match the goals of their operation.
"We do more, so you know more."
A bull is more than his weight or size on sale day. The MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation is designed to provide an objective, comprehensive assessment of traits that affect a bull's value as a breeding animal.
Bulls are managed together in a common environment so we can measure and compare meaningful differences in growth, feed efficiency, breeding soundness, structure, and carcass merit. Throughout the evaluation, we collect thousands of observations on each bull to provide consignors and buyers with information they can use with confidence.
Selected Before They Arrive
The evaluation begins well before a bull arrives at the station. Young bulls are selected and prepared by regional seedstock producers to meet the program's entry requirements.
Before entering the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation, bulls must:
Be registered with a national or international breed association
Complete the required vaccination program
Test negative for BVD persistent infection (BVD-PI)
When not free by pedigree, be tested and verified free of breed-associated lethal genetic defects for which a DNA test is available
Be genomically tested to verify sire parentage and generate genomic-enhanced EPDs
Receive appropriate broad-spectrum parasite control
Be free of ringworm, warts, and observable scrotal abnormalities
Weigh at least 2.4 lb per day of age
These requirements help ensure that bulls arrive healthy, appropriately developed, and ready to be evaluated under a common management environment.
Growth — Average Daily Gain
Growth performance is measured over a 98-day evaluation period. Full body weights are collected at key points during the evaluation, while SmartScale technology continuously collects additional body-weight observations as bulls visit the waterers.
Average daily gain (ADG) measures how rapidly a bull gains weight during the evaluation. Because all bulls within a testing contemporary group are managed under the same conditions, ADG provides an objective comparison of postweaning growth performance.
We also report weight per day of age (WDA), which relates a bull's weight to his age. Together, ADG and WDA help describe both performance during the evaluation and overall growth to that point.
Feed Efficiency — Residual Feed Intake
Feed is the largest single cost in most beef production systems, making feed efficiency an economically important trait.
After a 21-day adaptation period, each bull's individual feed intake is measured for 49 days using the SmartFeed system. The system identifies each bull electronically and records the amount of feed consumed during every visit to the feed bunk.
These intake records, together with body weight and growth data, are used to calculate dry matter intake and residual feed intake (RFI).
RFI is the difference between the amount of feed a bull actually consumes and the amount he is expected to consume based on his body weight and growth rate. A bull with a negative RFI consumes less feed than expected, while a bull with a positive RFI consumes more than expected.
Because RFI accounts for differences in body weight and growth, it helps identify bulls that require less feed for a similar level of performance rather than simply identifying bulls that eat less or grow more slowly.
Continuous Body-Weight Monitoring
Traditional performance testing relies on periodic chute weights. We supplement those measurements with SmartScale technology.
Each time a bull visits an automatic waterer, the SmartScale records a partial body weight. These measurements are calibrated with full body weights collected throughout the evaluation and provide many additional observations of each bull's weight.
Repeated measurements help reduce the influence of normal day-to-day fluctuations in body weight and improve our ability to accurately characterize growth and feed efficiency.
Ultrasound — Carcass Merit in the Live Animal
Real-time ultrasound allows us to evaluate important carcass traits in a live bull.
Bulls within the appropriate age range are scanned for:
- Ribeye area, an indicator of muscling
- Intramuscular fat, an indicator of marbling
- Rib fat thickness, an indicator of external fatness
- Rump fat thickness, an additional measure of body fatness
These measurements provide information about the individual bull while also contributing to more accurate genetic predictions of carcass merit.
Breeding Soundness Examination
A breeding bull must be capable of doing his primary job—breeding cows.
Before becoming eligible for the sale, every bull must pass a complete breeding soundness examination (BSE). The examination evaluates the bull's physical reproductive soundness, scrotal circumference, and semen quality.
The semen examination evaluates sperm motility and morphology, while the physical examination helps identify conditions that could interfere with a bull's ability to successfully breed females.
A BSE evaluates a bull's breeding potential at a particular point in time; it is not a guarantee of future fertility. However, it provides an important screening tool before a bull is offered for sale.
Scrotal Circumference
Scrotal circumference is measured as part of the breeding soundness examination.
Scrotal circumference is associated with sperm-producing capacity and sexual maturity in young bulls. It is also a moderately heritable trait and is genetically associated with age at puberty in a bull's daughters.
For those reasons, scrotal circumference provides information relevant not only to the bull's reproductive development but also to reproductive traits in future replacement females.
Structural Soundness and Feet
Performance means little if a bull cannot remain sound and functional. Sound feet and legs are particularly important for breeding bulls because they must travel, locate females in estrus, mount, and successfully breed cows under a variety of pasture and environmental conditions.
Bulls are observed throughout the evaluation for structural soundness, mobility, and disposition. Foot angle and claw set are evaluated using standardized scoring systems.
Bulls with unacceptable structural soundness or foot conformation are not eligible for the sale.
Frame Size
Hip height is measured near the end of the evaluation and used with the bull's age to calculate frame size.
Frame size provides an objective description of skeletal size and expected mature size. It is not a measure of quality—larger is not necessarily better.
Frame size can help producers select bulls whose mature size and growth pattern fit their cow herd, available feed resources, production environment, and marketing goals.
Genomic-Enhanced EPDs
Measurements collected during the evaluation tell us a great deal about the bull himself. Expected Progeny Differences, or EPDs, are designed to predict how his future progeny are expected to perform relative to the progeny of other bulls.
Before entering the evaluation, bulls are required to have DNA submitted through their respective breed association to verify sire parentage and generate genomic-enhanced EPDs.
Genomic information increases the accuracy of EPDs on young bulls before they have progeny records. EPDs remain the best tool for predicting genetic differences in future offspring, while measurements collected during the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation provide additional information about the individual bull's performance, efficiency, development, and soundness.
Disposition
A breeding bull must also be manageable.
Disposition is observed throughout the months bulls are at the evaluation station. This provides repeated opportunities to assess how bulls behave during routine feeding, weighing, handling, and other management procedures.
Bulls displaying unacceptable disposition are not eligible for the sale.
Passing the Evaluation
Collecting data is only part of the evaluation. The program follows Beef Improvement Federation guidelines where applicable, and bulls must meet established performance, health, breeding soundness, structural, foot, and disposition requirements before they are eligible for the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation Sale. To be sale eligible, a bull must:
- Gain at least 2.8 lb per day during the evaluation
- Pass the breeding soundness examination
- Have acceptable disposition
- Have acceptable structural soundness
- Meet program requirements for foot angle and claw set
- Meet all other program health and eligibility requirements
Putting It All Together
No single measurement identifies the right bull for every herd.
Growth, feed efficiency, carcass traits, reproductive soundness, structure, disposition, genomics, and EPDs each provide a different piece of information. The strength of the MCA-MSU Bull Evaluation is bringing those pieces together in a common environment and providing buyers with a complete picture of each bull.
That information allows producers to select bulls whose genetics, individual performance, and functional traits best match the goals of their operation.
"We do more, so you know more."