Hedonic prices of yearling bulls: Estimating the value of a pulmonary arterial pressure score

Producers look for various traits in seedstock bulls to enhance their herds and will often pay a premium for those traits. One particular physical characteristic that is of interest to producers in the mountainous western United States is for cattle that can thrive at a high altitude. Cattle in this environment can be prone to developing high altitude disease, which has been shown to cause weakness, lethargy, and death. Pulmonary arterial pressure is a test used to detect the likelihood of an animal developing high altitude disease. Between 2011 and 2014 an annual auction was held at high elevation offering yearling bulls that had certain performance measurements and genetic characteristics. A hedonic price regression framework was used to determine the marginal implicit value of the simple performance measurements, EPD, and marketing factors of the yearling bulls. The results suggest that producers were willing to pay more for bulls with lower pulmonary arterial pressure scores (P < 0.05). The analyses also suggest that producers were willing to pay for other performance measurements (e.g., birth weight, weaning weight, dam age, and ADG) and EPD (e.g., yearling weight, milk, and stayability). Although buyers are willing to pay more for several other traits (e.g., ADG, birth weight), pulmonary arterial pressure score appears to be an important trait on which producers place significant value.