During a presentation at the 59th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, Dr. Ron Gill listed 15 alternatives to consider in purchasing herd replacements (Table 1). Producers may identify additional alternatives or eliminate any in the list that don’t fit the ranch environment and management systems. Gill also listed 11 genetic, economic and management factors to consider within each alternative. Ratings of the factors for each purchase alternative are presented in Table 2 and can serve as a guide for deciding upon the herd replacement types that will best fit your operation.