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You now understand the importance of contemporary groups, the rules behind them and what ratios mean. Next, it is time for you to start recording your cattle to best analyze them for future breeding objectives. The ASA has very important guidelines that one must follow in order to properly record your animals.

Below are listed the criteria ASA uses to form contemporary groups. There are fixed criteria such as sex and weaning weight date, and also criteria that breeders set to help form proper contemporary groups such as herd ID, management code and pasture unit for weaning, feeding unit for yearling and scan group for ultrasound. All criteria are used to form contemporary groups.  For example, animals with different weaning weight dates will not be weaning contemporaries even if they have the same management code and pasture unit.  Likewise, animals will not be weaning contemporaries if they have different management codes or pasture units even if they have the same weaning weight dates.

American Simmental Association criteria for forming contemporary groups:

At Birth animals must

• Be weighed
• Have the same initial owner account
• Be reported at the same time, for interim EPDs
• Have the same herd ID
• Have the same sex; females or males, steers are male at birth
• Be a single birth
• Be born in the same calving season (Jan to Jun or Jul to Dec)

At Weaning animals must

• Be in the same birth contemporary group
• Have the same weaning weight date
• Have the same management code
• Have the same pasture unit
• Be in the same age range at weaning (between 160-250 days)

At Yearling animals must

• Be in the same weaning contemporary group
• Have the same yearling weight date
• Have the same feeding unit
• Have the same yearling sex (to handle bulls steered after weaning)
• Be in the same age range at yearling (between 330-440 days)
• There must be at least 60 days between weaning and yearling weight dates

For Ultrasound animals must

• Be in the same weaning contemporary group
• Have the same scan date
• Have the same scan group designation
• Be the same sex when scanned (bulls are separated from steers)
• Be in the same age range when scanned (between 330-440 days)

You can hire a certified Ultrasound technician by searching http://ultrasoundbeef.com/Technicians.php