Glen Osprey Farm Salers Cattle



The Salers Herd was dispersed in January of 2012. The following gives a bit of our history with this fine breed of cattle. Please check salerscanada.com for present information about the breed and access to a current members'list.
When the decision was made, in the late 70's, to change from the breeding of Registered Polled Herefords, we experimented with a number of different breeds to see which one might fit into our management program. The hardiness and early maturity traits of the Herefords were important characteristics to maintain, but improvement in maternal traits and reduction of man hours spent on cow and calf management were of equal importance. I believe that I work hard enough to provide the cows with quality feed and a healthy environment. In return, the cow must produce a live, growthy , vigorous, sucking calf each year. The Salers Cattle have consistently been able to live up to these expectations.

Photo of polled calf
& fullblood cow		 Photo of polled purebred
cow & calf


A few Breed Facts

Steer Feeding Trials

Source: Olds College Steer Test, Olds, Alberta, Canada


One new technology that has become very important for our bull selection is the use of ultra sound to measure both the back fat thickness and the rib eye size of our bulls and heifers at the completion of test. The picture below shows the ultra sound scan for the animal EDP 114F used to calculate the back fat and rib eye area. These scans are made by a technician from BIO with the information stored in their on site computer and later analyzed at their office at Guelph, Ontario. It is important to note here that the BIO technicians are licensed by BIF, Beef Improvement Federation. Perhaps this is why we have found a very high correlation between the ultra sound readings and the carcass grade information. The fee for this year's ultra sound measurements was $12.07 per animal.

 

 

 The ultra sound scan of EDP 114F

 The carcass of EDP 114F 10 days later


The back fat measurement shows how "market ready" these bulls are. Fat thicknesses of 5 mm or more indicate that those bulls will have sufficient levels of external fat (finish) to be acceptable for slaughter under Canadian grading standards. Those bulls will have a greater probability of siring calves that will be ready for market at opportune weights and ages. Ultra sound evaluations for marbling was done for the first time with our 1996 calf crop. Marbling is expressed as %IMF, % intra muscular fat. A value of less than 2.76 indicates that the animal is devoid of marbling; 2.76 to 3.83 would correspond to Canada "A" grade; 3.83 to 5.04 = "AA" and greater than 5.04 = "AAA"


Rib eye area is a measure of the overall degree of muscling in an animal. As with all traits, a breeder must understand that there is a law of diminishing returns. In this case, too high a degree of muscling can lead to much increased calving problems. A beautifully muscled dead calf is of little use to anyone! Glen Osprey Farm will not sacrifice the Salers' ease of calving by selecting too heavily for this trait. The Rib Eye is expressed as a Rib Eye Ratio. Rib Eye ratios for bulls greater than 1.0 indicate higher muscling.

The 1997 calf crop was the second group where ultra sound measurements were taken on both the bull and heifer yearlings. It will be most interesting to see, after a few years of compiling this data, how useful these measurements are for breed selection in our herd. The ultra sound results from our present herd can be read by openning the hultra.pdf file.


For a complete EPD report for our entire herd, you can download the file sherd.pdf. These "pdf" files can be opened and read using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software, it can be obtained as freeware from the Abobe site or you can contact Glen Osprey Farm for a CD ROM copy. You may also find these files to be quite small for viewing after you open them but this can easily be rectified by using Acrobat Reader to increase the size.


 

GOF Chaucer 133C (Yearling gain BIO EPD= +26.1/ACC=65%) and twin heifer calves.


 

 

The full 1999 Sire Summary of the Salers Association of Canada can be found at the SAC web site . The following is a list of the Glen Osprey Farm Salers that are listed in this report. Apart from one animal, we are very pleased with the standing of our bulls. Unfortunately, the Salers Association of Canada has not published sire summaries beyond 1999.

 Name

 Calving Ease EPD/ ACC

 Weaning Gain EPD/ACC

 Maternal Milk EPD/ACC

 Yearling Gain EDP/ ACC
 GOF Bastille 140B

2.8/ 51

-9.9/ 69

-5/ 47

-18/ 58
 GOF Chaucer 133C

0.8/ 69

7.7/ 82

-1.8/ 53

26.7/ 81
 GOF Flynn 124F

5/ 49

11.2/ 54

1.7/ 30

31.7/56
 GOF Zephod 112Z

2.2/ 81

0.4/ 91

-5.2/ 74

12/ 82
 GOF Eminent 152E

-6.4/ 60

14.7/ 70

7.6/ 31

34/ 68
 GOF Edmonton 151E

1/ 35

-1/50

7.4/32

5.7/52

SAC is now affiliated with the American Salers Association in the production of performance reports but Canadians will have to wait until our data has been entered into their system before we can assess new Canadian bred sires. The start date for the Canadian Mandatory Cow Herd Inventory Program was January 1, 2002. Glen Osprey Farm will be participating in this program, hopefully inputing data and receiving reports from our 2001 calf crop. We will be most interested to compare the results from the American BREEDPLAN program with those generated by BIO. To see a comparison of the EPDs reported by BIO and those reported by BREEDPLAN please click on the following link asaEPD.pdf . A close comparison of this data, especially for the herd sires such as EDP 82J and MDR 116E will show that there is a disturbing discrepancy between the two systems. I will use MDR 116E as an example because in the case of both BIO and BREEDPLAN, the EPDs generated were derived from progeny only ( for BREEDPLAN - 53 progeny, 17 daughters). More than 100 for BIO.

 

   WG-EPD  WG-ABC  WG-Acc  Milk-EPD  Milk-ABC  Milk-Acc  YG-EPD  YG-ABC  YG-Acc
 BIO  3.4  26.9  93  16.5  41.3  76  7.8  46.6  92
 ASA  -5    .25  16    .32  -13    .20
 BIO av  0  31.4    0      0  54.2  
 ASA av  13.2      8      21.1    

Using the BIO within breed EPDs, MDR 116E is slightly above average for weaning gain, high scoring for milk and slightly above the Salers average for yearling gain. The ABCs are "Across Breed Comparisons" and are used to compare individuals with the results from ALL BREEDS measured by BIO. The 116E bull, when compared to all breeds, is in the 34 percentile for weaning gain and is in the 35 percentile for yearling gain. Using the BREEDPLAN figures, MDR 116E is in the bottom 5% of the breed for weaning gain, in the top 3% for milk, and in the bottom 2% for yearling gain. Admittedly, this bull is not a real barn burner but I doubt that he is as bad as the BREEDPLAN data would suggest. The question is, why is there such a discrepancy between these two programs? Both programs have large data sets, BREEDPLAN > 300,000 individuals, BIO > 800,000. There are 1,698 Glen Osprey Farm Salers cattle in the BIO computer system, not a small number.

Unfortunately, BIO in the Fall of 2001 changed its method of reporting EPDs, bowing to the pressure from many purebred breeders who do not wish to have their cattle reported as obvious performance failures. This fact was far too obvious when indicated by the negative EPDs of the floating base system - any growth EPD reported as a negative number meant that the animal was below average calculated from data taken during the last three years. As of November 2001, BIO will only report across breed fixed base EPDs (average of '95 - 98 animals). The ABC base for weaning gain is set at +30 with yearling gain at +50. As of April 2003, the median for these ABCs are: WG = 31.4; YG = 54.2. In other words, a bull with a yearling Gain ABC of 55 would be slightly above average for all breeds in the BIO system. Within breed EDPs will no longer be reported but across breed and within breed percentiles will be published. It is these percentiles that will be our focus for cattle selection, not only for within breed comparisons but as a means of comparing Salers cattle to the general cattle population including commercial crossbreeds. The percentile rank is calculated using the data from all animals evaluated over the previous three years for that trait. A percentile rank of 90 means that the animal ranked within the top 10% of all current animals for that trait. Percentiles will be published in two forms: Across Breed Percentiles, %ab, that are used to compare an animal to all breeds; Within Breed Percentiles, %wb, that are used to compare an animal within its breed. %ab information will be a very useful tool for Salers breeders who wish to compare their breed with cattle in the general population. This advantage to compare across breeds can not be accomplished if a breeder only has access to within breed EPD data such as in the American BREEDPLAN. This is why Glen Osprey Farm will continue to be a participating member of BIO along with our participation in the SAC program.

Start of test for our present bull and heifer crop will be on December 18, 2002.

Heifer Test, start date of December 18, 2002

Tattoo Birth Date Horn condition Percentage Sire Dam. Birth Weight Adj. Weaning Weight Weaning Index Weight at weaning Weight 12/18/02 Weight 1/21/03 Weight 3/19/03 ADG from start of test ADG from weaning
EDP 2M 4/20/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kinglet 49K 663 112 558 597 644 731 1.47 1.28
EDP 4M 4/22/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Chapleau 124C 71 584 99 528 538 605 673 1.48 1.07
EDP 9M 4/25/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kalm 17K 93 677 112 561 630 675 775 1.59 1.59
EDP 10M 4/26/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kylin 51K 97 683 112 564 612 676 760 1.63 1.45
EDP 12M 4/28/2002 Horned PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Filion 104F 98 601 97 532 593 640 729 1.49 1.46
EDP 13M 4/29/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Gypsy 57G 99 633 103 558 627 688 775 1.63 1.61
EDP 15M 4/29/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Fidelity 129F 99 704 117 619 664 739 839 1.92 1.63
EDP 17M 5/1/2002 Horned FB GOF Kraal 77K GOF Zillah 152Z 93 684 114 595 652 699 807 1.70 1.57
EDP 19M 5/1/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Grace 59G 88 589 97 514 531 592 661 1.43 1.09
EDP 20M 5/2/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Harp 32H 86 647 108 554 637 713 798 1.77 1.81
EDP 21M 5/4/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Bergamot 130B 84 567 93 488 562 624 723 1.77 1.74
EDP 24M 5/5/2002 Horned PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Gillian 12G 82 550 90 471 506 563 623 1.29 1.13
EDP 25M 5/5/2002 Polled PB WRN PLD BLK Generation GOF Galliard 23G 97 714 119 610 663 716 834 1.88 1.66
EDP 26M 5/5/2002 Polled PB CSFS Polld Buck 409D GOF Kittiwake 72K 90 614 100 484 509 578 677 1.85 1.43
EDP 27M 5/5/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Ginseng 5G 84 676 114 576 624 641 754 1.43 1.32
EDP 28M 5/6/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Dalhousie 119D 86 626 104 533 552 623 697 1.59 1.21
EDP 29M 5/6/2002 Polled FB GOF Kraal 77K GOF Ariel 107A 104 649 105 555 607 653 695 0.97 1.04
EDP 32M 5/6/2002 Horned PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Honour 61H 99 593 95 501 560 633 730 1.87 1.70
EDP 33M 5/6/2002 Polled FB CSFS Polld Buck 409D GOF Azalea 135A 104 677 110 578 650 681 764 1.25 1.38
EDP 34M 5/7/2002 Polled FB GOF Kraal 77K GOF Caleche 111C 93 638 105 541 584 644 734 1.65 1.43
EDP 35M 5/7/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Empress 119E 90 652 108 552 606 669 776 1.87 1.66
EDP 36M 5/7/2002 Polled FB GOF Kraal 77K GOF Yen 106Y 90 613 100 520 568 613 724 1.71 1.51
EDP 37M 5/7/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kamouraska 34K 88 649 107 508 591 668 743 1.67 1.74
EDP 38M 5/7/2002 Scurred PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Geisha 41G 82 599 99 507 573 629 711 1.52 1.51
EDP 39M 5/8/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Dumoine 144D 93 604 98 511 540 612 710 1.87 1.47
EDP 43M 5/9/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Benevolence 110B 95 599 97 505 581 635 715 1.47 1.56
EDP 45M 5/9/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Fairclough 101F 97 600 97 506 552 611 667 1.26 1.19
EDP 48M 5/9/2002 Polled R 75 GOF Kepler 26K GOF 145U 66 296 253 324 405 497 1.90 1.81
EDP 49M 5/10/2002 Horned PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Fife 131F 106 676 110 567 580 644 696 1.27 0.96
EDP 50M 5/11/2002 Horned PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kauri 74K 97 689 113 533 575 635 721 1.60 1.39
EDP 54M 5/12/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Chautauqua 131C 79 637 107 525 527 621 716 2.08 1.41
EDP 57M 5/14/2002 Polled PB WRN PLD BLK Generation GOF Heuen Ko 49H 71 619 105 498 535 578 698 1.79 1.48
EDP 58M 5/14/2002 Polled PB CSFS Polld Buck 409D GOF Ginger 4G 97 643 105 529 562 621 686 1.36 1.16
EDP 63M 5/16/2002 Polled PB AP Polled Triumph W315B GOF Kabuki 23K 79 587 97 437 476 570 662 2.04 1.67
EDP 68M 5/19/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Havana 17H 86 638 106 504 503 572 662 1.75 1.17
EDP 77M 5/28/2002 Horned FB JASON GOF Kirsch 89K 98 629 101 448 475 531 620 1.59 1.27
EDP 80M 6/1/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Kitimat 66K 93 666 109 464 539 593 667 1.41 1.50
EDP 81M 6/2/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Donalda 124D 102 578 92 437 454 519 592 1.52 1.15
EDP 84M 6/3/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Koumiss 90K 84 585 95 400 434 517 602 1.85 1.50
EDP 86M 6/8/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Hyacinthe 30H 689 117 487 520 587 637 1.29 1.11
EDP 92M 6/23/2002 Polled FB GOF Kraal 77K GOF Wedgewood 108W 558 92 371 390 439 515 1.37 1.07

 Bull Test Group, start date December 18, 2002
Tattoo Birth Date Horn condition % Sire Dam. Birth Weight Adj. Weaning Weight Weaning Index Weight at weaning Weight 12/18/02 Weight 1/21/03 Weight 3/18/03 ADG from start of test ADG from weaning
EDP 11M 4/27/2002 Scurred PB WRN PLD BLK Generation GOF Hesiri 41H 104 618 99 584 700 805 1030 3.67 3.33
EDP 5M 4/22/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Hailey 42H 84 653 109 630 750 885 1100 3.89 3.51
EDP 56M 5/13/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Fresco 143F 93 637 105 569 660 755 960 3.33 2.92
EDP 42M 5/9/2002 Scurred PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Fleuron 136F 104 662 107 603 685 790 960 3.06 2.66
EDP 16M 5/1/2002 Scurred PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Filigree 134F 106 687 112 649 755 865 1020 2.94 2.77
EDP 53M 5/11/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kepi 28K 106 704 114 583 685 805 1020 3.72 3.26
EDP 61M 5/14/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kapok 96K 104 728 119 595 610 720 950 3.78 2.65
EDP 31M 5/6/2002 Polled PB DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kelso 37K 88 610 99 509 620 705 865 2.72 2.66
EDP 64M 5/16/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Elora 120E 88 612 101 539 645 750 960 3.50 3.14
EDP 14M 4/29/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Garnet 29G 93 603 98 575 630 730 895 2.94 2.39
EDP 73M 5/21/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Florin 141F 112 662 106 571 675 765 930 2.83 2.68
EDP 69M 5/19/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Cypress 154C 115 663 105 578 670 800 965 3.28 2.89
EDP 47M 5/9/2002 Polled 88 DBL Butler's King 116K GOF Kerchief 78K 88 637 105 526 585 690 880 3.28 2.64
EDP 30M 5/6/2002 Scurred PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Eider 116E 90 622 102 574 680 795 955 3.06 2.84
EDP 60M 5/14/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Kimono 84K 110 668 106 544 645 775 980 3.72 3.25
EDP 40M 5/8/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Bower 102B 97 605 98 544 620 780 950 3.67 3.03
EDP 46M 5/9/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Dandelion 106D 93 482 75 441 545 655 865 3.56 3.16
EDP 76M 5/27/2002 Scurred PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Polled Xebec 108X 75 401 78 401 510 605 770 2.89 2.75
EDP 71M 5/19/2002 Polled PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Dekanahwideh 109D 99 568 90 495 630 765 1005 4.17 3.81
EDP 87M 6/9/2002 Scurred PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Balance 123B 97 336 46 275 330 430 620 3.22 2.57
EDP 7M 4/22/2002 Scurred PB GOF Jackal 82J GOF Xipho 142X 64 452 70 385 500 605 775 3.06 2.91
EDP 65M 5/17/2002 Scurred FB GOF Knight 45K AMIE 62 440 68 337 400 510 705 3.39 2.75
EDP 93M 6/26/2002 Polled PB GOF Kintyre 11K GOF Hapi 31H 540 87 376 440 545 700 2.89 2.42
EDP 67M 5/18/2002 Polled PB GOF Kepler 26K GOF Grisette 60G 99 670 110 584 680 795 1000 3.56 3.10

 

 

 

 

Please check the file sherd.pdf above for current prices and performance data.

 

E-mail: dpease@salerscattle.com

For further information regarding the Salers breed you may wish to visit the Oklahoma State University web site.

OR
Write to
Salers Association of Canada
Unit 3A, 3424 - 26 St. N.E.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
T1Y 4T7

Links to Salers Sites:

Salers Cattle Associations

UPRA Salers (Unit for the selection and promotion of the Salers Breed)- France
http://www.salers.org

The American Salers Association
http://www.salersusa.org

Irish Salers Cattle Breed Society
http://www.tasc.ie/salers.htm

Breeder's Home pages in Canada


2B Bar Salers
http://www.agt.net/public/bgordey/2bbar.htm

Good Luck Farm - Salers Cattle
http://www.alberni.net/absolute/salers.html

MJ Forget
http://www.fullfrenchsalers.com

Outback Salers
http://www.OutbackSalers.com

Spring Coulee Salers
http://www.salerstoday.com

Sky West Land and Cattle
http://www.skywestcattle.com

Windbec Salers
http://www.windbecsalers.com

Breeder's Home pages outside Canada


Jensen Salers
http://www.midrivers.com/~wccsjens/

Jasperson Cattle Co. - Salers
http://www.itsnet.com/~brentjas/salers/

aid-Broschüre Rinderrassen, Salers
http://www.aid-online.de/volltext/rinderra/salers.htm

Blaine Cattle Ranch
http://www.moscow-id.com/business/bcrbeef/bcr1.htm

Sandy Rock Farm
http://ozarkmall.com/sandyrockfarm.htm

Badlands Salers
http://www.gwtc.net/~dpap/badlands.html

Beef Cattle related sites

Oklahoma State University
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/salers/

Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center
http://GPVEC.UNL.EDU

Bovine Blood Typing and DNA Lab - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
http://www.src.sk.ca/bovine.htm

Beef Improvement Ontario
http://www.biobeef.com

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
http://www.fao.org/

Domestic Animal Diversity Program - FAO
DAD-IS - Enter
http://dad.fao.org/dad-is/index.htm

Canadian Agriculture, Farm and Food: Extension Information Network and Exchange
http://www.caffeine.ca

Canada Agriculture Online
http://www.agcanada.com/

AlbertaCattleDotCom
http://albertacattle.com

http://www.ageze.com