SOUTH
MISSISSIPPI GAIN-ON-FORAGE BULL TESTING PROGRAM
Rules and
Plans for 2009– 2010 Test
I. The primary purpose of the South Mississippi Gain-On-Forage Bull Test is to provide productive educational opportunities for beef cattle producers throughout the Southeastern United States. This educational process is grounded in the bull performance test – an official venue through which beef cattle breeders can evaluate several performance parameters of young bulls for utilization in making informed breeding management decisions. Information collected during each 140-day test is very valuable in helping producers evaluate the utility of their breeding programs and the genetic merit of their foundation breeding stock. Additionally, this test serves as a marketing tool for cattle breeders to sell eligible bulls via private treaty transactions and as a source from which commercial beef cattle producers throughout the region can locate and acquire genetically superior, high quality, forage-tested herd sires.
II. Decision of South Mississippi Forage Testing Program Committee shall prevail
in the event no rule or plan exists or there is a disputed rule or plan.
President of the committee is Mr. Richard Hay, Amite County Extension
Director.
III. Eligibility
requirements for animals to be tested:
A. Bulls eligible for full or percentage registration with an established breed association and bulls of composite breeding approved by the Test Committee are eligible for this test. Complete sire and dam information (and other supportive pedigree information for composite bulls) on each bull (a copy of registration certificate for each bull is preferred – DO NOT send original) must be submitted with nomination form (due October 1, 2009) or when bulls are delivered to the Test Station on October 31, 2009. The HHH farms Test Station facility is located at 565 Stallings Bridge Road southwest of Tylertown, Mississippi.
B. Age. Birthdates
of a bulls eligible for this test shall fall between:
September 1st, 2008 and March 31st, 2009
C. Bulls must be identified
with an easily read numbered tag in each ear.
D. Brucellosis
Test within Bulls MUST be from a Brucellosis Certified Free Herd or must
have one negative thirty days of delivery to Test Station.
E. Bulls MUST
TEST NEGATIVE for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Persistent Infection (BVD-PI)
via the “EAR NOTCH TEST” (immunohistochemistry) prior
to delivery to the Test Station.
F. All bulls
must be weaned at least 45 days prior to delivery to the Test Station. Each bull must be dewormed (dewormer should be effective against lungworm),
degrubbed, deloused, and treated with a coccidiostat. The vaccination protocol for all bulls shall include a modified-live
virus vaccine containing IBR, PI-3, BVD, and BRSV. A five-way
Leptospira vaccine and a seven-way clostridial product are also required.
A Mannheimia haemolytica (Pasteurella) vaccine that contains both a bacterin
and leukotoxoid is required. Additionally, vaccination against Histophilus
somni (formerly known as Haemophilus somnus) is required. Vaccines
and dewormer should be given twice (14-21 days apart) with the second
round administered 21 days before delivery to Test Station. Bulls
will be dewormed and vaccinated a third time when they arrive at the Test
Station and will be treated for coccidiosis with Rumensin blocks.
It is very important
to follow recommended procedures for administering vaccines and boosters
to achieve effective immunity. Please refer to the attached information
sheet for additional details about how to properly handle and administer
vaccines.
G. The Test Committee
reserves the right to remove any bull from test based upon unfavorable
disposition.
IV. Charges for testing (per bull):
A. Basic Care and
Feeding*:.........................................................................$350.00
*$350.00 per bull fee is
payable in full upon delivery of bull(s) to Test Station on October 31,
2009.
B. Supplemental Feeding:
Bulls will be maintained on an adequate plane of nutrition at all times.
Ration will consist of cool season annual forage grazing, Rumensin block
mineral, and free choice hay. Should forage growth conditions result in
less than adequate amounts of grazing, supplemental feed will be provided. Actual costs of supplemental feed will be prorated evenly on a
per bull basis. Bull owners will be billed accordingly.
C. If total veterinary
costs on an individual bull exceed $15.00, additional charges will be
billed to consignor.
D. Applicable Breeding
Soundness Evaluation (BSE) veterinary fees must be paid by the breeder
prior to execution of any private treaty sale transaction.
V. Private Treaty Sales:
A. It is neither
the responsibility nor the right of the South Mississippi Gain-On-Forage
Bull Test to negotiate private treaty sale agreements. It is the obligation
of the seller and buyer to negotiate terms and conditions of private treaty
sale transactions. The South Mississippi Gain-On-Forage Bull Test makes
no warranty or guarantee of any kind or nature on bulls enrolled in the
test that are purchased via private treaty transactions.
B. Bulls may be sold
via private treaty sale at any time during the test, provided the following
eligibility requirements are met:
1) Registered bulls must be registered through the appropriate breed association;
bulls of composite breeding must be approved for sale by the South Mississippi
Gain-On-Forage Bull Test Committee (See Items C-1 and C-2 below).
2) Minimum adjusted 205-day weight shall be 500 pounds.
3) Passage of Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE).
C Before private
treaty negotiations can begin on any bull, the following must be submitted to Test Manager Frank Holmes:
1) Copy of registration certificate
2) For bulls of composite breeding, complete sire and dam and other supportive
pedigree information must be submitted for approval by the South Mississippi
Gain-On-Forage Bull Test Committee
3) Current EPD information
4) Written notification of the price being asked for each bull
D. Breeders must
remit payment of Breeding Soundness Evaluation (BSE) veterinary fees prior
to execution of any private treaty sale transaction.
E. If a private treaty
sale is transacted prior to the end of the test, the bull(s) must remain
on test until the April 13, 2010 final weighing and processing date.
VI. Bulls must remain on test for the entire 140-day test period (unless sickness,
injury, or unfavorable disposition mandates early removal).
VII. Calendar of Events:
A. October 1, 2009
- Nomination forms due to enroll bulls on test.
Mail nomination forms and photocopies of registration certificates (or
declaration of sire and dam genetics and other supportive pedigree information
about bulls of composite breeding) to:
Richard Hay
Amite County Extension Director
P. O. Box 373
Liberty, MS 39645
B. October 1, 2009
- Plant cool season forages on prepared seedbed at the rate of one acre
per bull.
C. October 31, 2009
- Bull Delivery to HHH Farms (Test Station)
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
565 Stallings Bridge Road, Tylertown, MS
Telephone: 601-876-5204
D. November 13, 2009
- Place bulls on cool-season forage pasture
(Or when adequate grazing is available)
E. November 23 and 24, 2009
- Weigh and process bulls to mark beginning of official 140-day
test.
F. February 1, 2010
- Weigh and process bulls to collect mid-test data.
G. April 12-13, 2010
- Weigh and process bulls to mark end of official 140-day test
H. Date to be determined
- South Mississippi Gain-On-Forage Bull Test Educational Conference/Field
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