Would you sell your best heifer?

11111, If this was a pregnancy that I had bee waiting for; and felt the way that you do about this heifer, I would not sell her. Part of being in cattle can be a passion too, and what makes you enjoy going out to feed the cattle each day. I don't always put money over what is important to me.

I say keep her. She may help you turn your future herd around with the perfect bull and she has the possibility to give you many heifers to add to your future herd.

If you sell her, you may look back and feel that you wish that you had of kept her. A cow always has the greatest calf, even though the others are good, but there is only one that is the best.

I have one cow that produces my best calf each year. She will be 12 yrs old this year, and I am still waiting for that heifer. She has had bulls, and when she does have that heifer, it will not be for sale either.

That is a question that folks will have different opinions on. I know some folks would say yes for the right price but also others would keep them regardless. I know of someone that had a heifer they really wanted to keep but someone asked about her and they priced her at a premium thinking they would not be willing to pay that but they were and I think they always regretted that sale.
The way I look at it is if you have a real good one that is worth that much to someone else she should be worth quite a bit to you to in terms of what she can contribute to your herd.

If you wanted her that much, then don't sell. You might consider breeding this cow back the same way and then offering the calf to them with first refusal... use sexed semen and have a 90% chance of a heifer..... Or maybe consider flushing the cow to this same semen and have the embryos sexed and selling them an embryo or 2.....

The perspectives of others has been interesting.

I just can’t bring myself to do it. I know it really peaked my husbands interest but he’s standing by me.

I told him we could sell his E017. That put things in perspective a bit.

I'd sell her in a heartbeat, making money is never a bad thing. There's a very real possibility that the next one will be even better.

Sometimes, or maybe many times, the "great heifer" never makes a great cow. If that combination is great, sell her and take the money and flush the cow for more of the same rather than one. Not a big deal and not a bad return. I laugh at the great auction heifer for the AAA Foundation sale each year. It is such an honor for a ranch's heifer to be selected, they feed her like a market hog, they groom her for a fashion show, she sells for a ridiculous price (it's all wonderful because it is "for the chillens") and then, and then, and then .... you never hear of the heifer or any offspring again!

On a first time cross and a one-time cross there is no farm predictability. The best bet on such an animal is money rather than dreams.

On the farm or ranch: the late Larry Leonhardt told a friend that he thought that the heifers that were"best" from best growth were never the best replacement heifers. He seems to think that the high growth heifers might have had a bit more testosterone than the average heifers. I do not know but the top ones never are the end-all in my opinion for more reasons than a question of hormone imbalance.