The choice of calving season may well be a rancher's most
important management decision. Thus, all ranch resources should
be carefully inventoried and potential outcomes explored before
any changes are made.  Is it possible the targeted level of
genetic inputs should differ for various calving seasons? The
answers aren't clear-cut but working through the sometimes-
conflicting factors can reveal opportunities to more efficiently
use resources to produce beef.  Match Genetics And Environment
Table 1 depicts how production environment can dictate different
levels of genetic inputs for several major traits. If the
environment offers abundant feed and low environmental stress,
the genetic inputs (through choice of breeds and individual
sires) might be high for milk, mature size and lean meat yield.
Meanwhile, the need for genetic fleshing ability might be low.
Contrast this to the opposite extreme of genetic targets for
areas of sparse feed availability and high environmental stress.
In this discussion, fertilit