AGA Commercial Marketing Services

In 1991, The American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) developed the Commercial Marketing Program (CMP). Since then, our staff works every day to improve and expand the program to better serve commercial cattle producers who use Gelbvieh Genetics. The program helps commercial cattle producers earn extra dollars for superior Gelbvieh genetics. The CMP offers a wide range of marketing options and services. These include:

Feeder Cattle Listing and Fax Service	Hybrid Recording Service
Sire Carcass Testing Program	Ultrasound Carcass Data Collection
Replacement Female Listings	Smart-Buy Program
Smart-Cross Tags

Smart Cross Breeding System
Crossbreeding - The Smart Way to Add to Your Bottom Line (full document):

Feeder Cattle Listing and Fax Service
Click here for the feeder cattle listing page. View listings or submit your listing online.

The AGA has listed tens of thousands of Gelbvieh-cross calves through its innovative feeder fax line. Commercial cattlemen call the AGA with details of their Gelbvieh cross-calves currently for sale including number of head, sex of animals, estimated sale weight, vaccination program, whether or not the cattle have been weaned, etc. The AGA types all this pertinent information into a standardized listing and faxes their listing directly to more than 100 feeders and order buyers who collectively purchase more than 4.0 million head annually. There is no minimum number of head required to participate in the program. However, a truckload (approximately 80 hd.) is usually needed to take full advantage of the program. The AGA provides this valuable service at no charge. Contact the AGA for additional information or to list your Gelbvieh-cross feeder calves.

Replacement Female Listings

Gelbvieh-cross replacement quality heifer calves, bred heifers and cows are constantly in demand. The AGA maintains a current listing of cattlemen interested in both buying and selling Gelbvieh-cross females. The listing includes age, color, number, location, breed description, etc. The listing attempts to match potential buyers with interested sellers and vice versa. Contact our office for a current listing of individuals interested in buying or selling Gelbvieh commercial females or visit the on line Replacement Female Listings. Click here for the Replacement Female Listings Page.

Free Semen and Carcass Premiums available
for Commercial Test Herds

With the rapid pace in which value-based marketing is growing, the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) has made the collection of carcass information a top priority. The AGA carcass-testing program is available to interested commercial producers. In exchange for using AI and retaining ownership of calves through the feedyard, the program provides participants with free semen on some of the most powerful Gelbvieh sires in the breed and pays them a carcass premium for every steer which carcass information is collected. The program has been instrumental in collecting the carcass data that is used to develop Gelbvieh carcass EPDs.

The program is designed around working closely with commercial cow/calf producers that are willing to breed a minimum of 120 cows through use of AI. For their time and effort, test herds receive free semen on leading Gelbvieh sires, receive valuable carcass data, and get paid $30-$50 for every progeny of test and reference sires from which carcass data is collected. (The premium per carcass depends on the number of cows that are inseminated. Call for details.)

How do I participate as a Test Herd?

In order to be eligible as a test herd, you must fulfill the following requirements:

A. Have a minimum of 120 individually identified cows available for AI.

B. Be willing to randomly mate these cows to both Gelbvieh test and reference sires.

C. Able to individually identify all test and reference sires.

D. Able to manage test and reference sire calves the same from birth to harvest.

E. Provide AGA with all breeding, pregnancy, birth weight, and weaning weight information.

F. Must retain ownership of calves through feeding and notify AGA at least two weeks prior to delivery to packing plant.

If the above information can be fulfilled, potential test herd owners should contact the AGA for additional information, a sample contract, and a list of available test and reference sires.

Participating test herd owners must sign and return a contract of agreement notifying AGA of their sire selections. A minimum of one Gelbvieh test sire and one Gelbvieh reference must be selected by the test herd owner. Nominated sires are available on a first come, first serve basis. Once a sire has been selected, that sire is no longer eligible to be used. Additionally, the test herd owner must provide a list of cows to be used in this program including individual ID and breed makeup.

After the AGA receives the signed contract and the cow listing, the AGA will coordinate the shipment of semen to the test herd for breeding. Test herd owners must randomly mate eligible cows to the test sires and reference sires and agree to wait 10 days between AI and exposure to natural service.

After the test and reference calves are harvested, test owners will receive $30-$50 per head for every progeny of test and reference sires from which complete performance and carcass data was collected.

How Do I Get a Bull Tested?

Seedstock producers interested in testing a Gelbvieh bull must complete a nomination form (available from the AGA) and send it along with a $100 nomination fee to the AGA. Sires must be registered with the AGA and have an AI permit, including blood typing for parent verification on file. Additionally, as part of the enrollment process, Gelbvieh breeders agree to provide a minimum of 100 units of free semen per bull nominated and pay an enrollment of $1700 if the bull nominated is selected for use in the program. The total enrollment fee of $1800 will be used to offset the cost of this program.

Nominations will be accepted on a continuing basis throughout the program’s existence. Selection of test sires will be done by commercial test herd owners on a first come, first serve basis. Once a nominated sire is selected to be used in a test herd, that sire is removed from further consideration.

If you would like to visit in detail about participating as a test herd owner or would like to nominate a Gelbvieh bull for the program, please contact the AGA.

AGA Guidelines for Submitting Ultrasound Carcass Information Official Ultrasound Barnsheets must be requested from the AGA.

The American Gelbvieh Association is currently gathering ultrasound carcass information to assess the possibility of generating EPDs for carcass traits from ultrasound data. Many AGA members are collecting ultrasound information. For your ultrasound data to be included in an AGA ultrasound evaluation, the following guidelines must be met:

Ultrasound data must be processed through Centralized Ultrasound Processing (CUP) facility at Iowa State University.
AGA has no official requirements regarding ultrasound equipment provided the technician is APTC certified and can generate the required ultrasound information.
All animals must be on file (registered or computed) with the AGA prior to submitting ultrasound data to the AGA.
Data must be submitted to the AGA on official CUP Gelbvieh Barn Sheets obtained through the AGA. Contact the AGA for more information or to request a barnsheet
Ultrasound Data Required:

a. Percent IMF - intramuscular fat (0.00 %)b. Ribeye area (00.0 sq. inches)
c. Rib fat thickness (0.00 inches)
d. Rump fat (0.00 inches)

In addition to actual ultrasound data, AGA requires the following information:

a. AGA registration number of each animal
b. Date scanned
c. Actual weight on the date scanned
d. Technician name (must be certified)
e. Ultrasound equipment used

Ultrasound carcass data must be collected between 320 and 410 days of age (same date range as yearling data). For convenience, you may want to schedule ultrasound data collection for the same date when other yearling data is collected.
AGA recommends that ALL animals are weighed and scanned for a given contemporary group.
Animals should be in good flesh at the time of scanning. Bulls should be scanned prior to being taken off of gain test. Heifers should be scanned following a growing or developing program. Scanning at these times allows animals to express maximum genetic differences for marbling and fat thickness.

Click here for additional information

Smart-Buy Program

The innovative Smart-Cross breeding system has established Smart-Cross calves as excellent feeding cattle that perform extremely well when sold on value-based grids. Identifying these high quality calves in now easier through the AGA's Smart-Buy program. The Smart-Buy program provides a distinctive orange tag displaying the Smart-Cross Logo. For more information click here.