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THE CROISSANT RED ANGUS PROGRAM -- Our goal is to produce the best possible seedstock in a commercial production environment without excess feeding and pampering. We use proven AI sires, manage our cattle in large single herd contemporary groups, and collect all data from birth to harvest, providing the best described seedstock possible.
BALANCED TRAIT SELECTION is our genetic progress model. No “herd sire” regardless of popularity is perfect. Utilizing a trait leader usually results in below breed average performance in some of the other traits. Our genetic selection focuses on maintaining most traits above breed average. We are careful to avoid the generational stacking of below breed average traits. We start our genetic selection with the maternal traits which include fertility, calving ease, mothering ability, and stayability. These traits are basic to any cow herd. A live calf every year for at least 6 or 7 years is the most important trait in a cow herd. We treat our registered cows the same as our commercial cows and the same as most ranchers treat their commercial herds. No cow is so valuable that she deserves to be kept if she cannot accomplish this when managed with the herd and within the bounds of a normal breeding season. We stress this basic functionality by using a 50 day breeding season for heifers and cows and we do not keep open females. To manage the maintenance requirements of our herd we use a herd management philosophy for all our cows. A cow has to raise a calf and breed back within the constraints of the average herd resources. Cows needing more feed to do this will get culled as open cows. We also weigh and body condition score our cow herd to get the herd evaluated for the new Red Angus ME (maintenance energy) EPD. We then try to balance the carcass and growth traits. The industry has put a major emphasis on the growth traits for the last 25 years. Currently our sire selection puts more emphasis on carcass traits. We also put an emphasis on limiting mature size by selecting for below breed average birth weight coupled with above breed average weaning and yearling growth EPDs. We are not seeking 80+ YW EPDs at the sacrifice of other traits. Of utmost importance to producing functional bulls is keeping the cow herd centered on the target. Replacement heifers are put through a strict selection process. This includes heifers we put into our cow herd and heifers we offer for sale. We do not believe that every registered heifer is fit to be a cow. Actually about two thirds of our females are selected for replacements. The criteria includes in herd performance data, EPDs, a visual appraisal, and disposition. After evaluating performance, we sort off both ends. Heifers with a 205 day ratio below 94 go to the feeder pen. We also send the high birth weight calves to the feeder pen. Birth weight is highly correlated to mature size. Large high birth weight cows do not fit our environment. We feed out all our non-selected registered seedstock and commercial calves to harvest at our ranch. We also purchase calves from some of our customer’s and add them to this group. This allows us to get performance data including carcass data to harvest. This data is invaluable to us, our customers, and the breed. It is not only tied to individual bulls, but is also tied back to our individual cows to more accurately describe their contribution to the calf crop. We use a disciplined approach to stay within our program standards and take data and performance measures very seriously. This, plus large single herd contemporary groups, allows for increased selection accuracy. We believe that customer satisfaction is embodied in getting what was expected. WE APPRECIATE YOUR TRUST AND CONFIDENCE AND TAKE IT VERY SERIOUSLY! 
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