Division of Animal Sciences University of Missouri - Columbia
Enrollment: Any person wishing to qualify heifers in the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program must be a member of Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifers, Inc., and officially enrolled. An annual membership fee of $25.00 will be assessed from each producer. This membership fee is due at either one of two enrollment deadlines, February 1st or September 1st. Producers must enroll by notifying one of the Regional Contacts listed on this sheet. Ownership: Purchased heifers enrolled in the program must be owned a minimum of 60 days prior to breeding. All purchased heifers must be accompanied with an affidavit indicating the name and address of the original breeder and approximate birth dates of the heifers. Heifers must be owned by residents of Missouri in order to sell in a sanctioned Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer sale. Prebreeding evaluation: A prebreeding reproductive evaluation is required for all heifers. Individual animal identification, pelvic area and reproductive tract score is required. An enrollment fee of $3.00 per heifer will be assessed at prebreeding on heifers entered into the program. All forms and fees for prebreeding must be submitted and paid prior to pregnancy exam. It is strongly encouraged that prebreeding exams be performed 6 weeks prior to breeding. Heifers with a pelvic area less than 150 cm2 at prebreeding may be re-measured at the initial pregnancy exam within 90 days from the start of the breeding season and must have a minimum pelvic area of 180 cm2 at this examination. Minimum vaccination requirements: A comprehensive herd health vaccination program starting at weaning age or before should be administered under the advice and guidance of your veterinarian in the context of a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship.
Weaning Prebreeding Pregnancy check: Pregnancy examination: An initial pregnancy examination must be performed within 90 days from the start of the breeding season. Individual animal identification, pregnancy status and fetal age (in days) are required. Herds utilizing artificial insemination must report breeding dates. Any heifer that fails to become pregnant during, or loses a pregnancy following the original breeding season is no longer eligible for the program. Heifers not enrolled at prebreeding are not eligible for sale. Pelvic measurement: Pelvic rechecks are to be done at preg check and cannot be done more than twice in the heifer’s life to be qualified for sale. Parasite control: All heifers must be treated for internal and external parasites within 30 days of sale. Products for internal parasite control must have a label claim for immature stages of the parasite life cycle. Surgery: Horns and scurs must be removed and heifers must be completely healed by sale day. Implants & MGA: It is recommended that heifers not be implanted. If heifers are implanted, it is required that only FDA approved products for replacement heifers be used and administered according to label guidelines. Long-term use of MGA is prohibited. Use of MGA for periods of up to 14 days to synchronize estrus is permitted. Blemishes: Heifers with active cases of Pinkeye or scars resulting from Pinkeye are not eligible for sale. In addition, heifers with rat-tails, bob-tails, frozen ears or other physical blemishes or deformities will not be eligible for sale. The regional sale committees reserve the right to refuse any heifer that does not meet the criteria for blemishes or any heifer deemed to have an undesirable disposition on sale day. Weight and body condition: Bred heifers on the day of sale must weigh a minimum of 800 pounds and receive a body condition score within a range of 5 through 8 using a 9 point scale. All bred heifers will be sold on a per head basis. BVD-PI: Heifers offered for sale must be tested and guaranteed negative for BVD-PI. Inspection of heifers: Heifers will be evaluated prior to sale by a certified USDA grader for frame, muscle and body condition. All heifers must meet a minimum projected frame score of Medium using the USDA system for grades of cows and a muscle score of 20 using the USDA feeder cattle scoring system. Pregnancy: A confirmatory pregnancy examination must be performed within 30 days prior to sale. The consignor guarantees bred heifers to be safe in calf at the time of sale. If a heifer is proven by veterinary exam within 30 days after sale not to have been pregnant, the consignor will replace the heifer or make a financial settlement with the buyer. Spring calving heifers must be bred to calve prior to May 1 and fall calving heifers must be bred to calve prior to December 1. Heifers in individual sale lots are grouped to calve within approximately 45 days of each other based on expected calving dates. Tier Two Classification: Heifers will be eligible to qualify for Tier Two in the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program based on the following minimum accuracies of the heifer's sire at the time of sale for the respective traits listed below.
Sire requirements: Eligible sires must have known ID, be registered by their respective national breed registry, and have complete EPD information. Sires will be evaluated for qualification in the program based on the EPD provided by their respective breed registry and not on EPD produced by progeny registration in any other breed or hybrid registry. Sires must meet calving ease EPD requirements listed in Table 1 for breeds reporting calving ease EPD. For breeds not reporting calving ease EPD, sires must meet birth weight EPD requirements listed in Table 1. All sires used in conjunction with artificial insemination must have a minimum accuracy value of 0.6 on a scale of zero to one for the respective EPD's.
Only heifers that meet the requirements listed on this sheet with individual data entered in the official database for Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifers, Inc., will be eligible to receive certification. Certification of heifers will be publicly recognized by the Missouri "Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer" ear tag. A certification fee of $10 per heifer will be assessed and is due at the time Show-Me-Select qualified heifers receive their official tag. Misrepresentation, false advertisement or use of the Missouri Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer trademark, for heifers that do not meet the aforementioned requirements is subject to penalty.
Table 1. Service sire EPD requirements for birth weight and calving ease*
Timeline and Data Collection (pdf) An Overview of Frame, Muscle, and Body Condition Scores on Replacement Cows
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