A Different Breed

[Dave]

So a black hided Angus will outperform a red hided Angus on feed? :lol:

Don't be so mean...lotsa people have bought the cool aide. :roll: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

The Black Angus won't out preform the Red Angus on feed. But if you retain ownership and sell on the grid there will be a bonus for the ones who make CAB. There is no such bonus for the reds. Not that there aren't cattle as good and even better, they just don't get the feeder that bonus. And based on what the feeders are willing to pay for calves that bonus does make a difference. No matter what or how you raise your cattle you have to look at what the market will pay for it.
I have a neighbor who breeds lots of his color crayon cows to Char bulls. When compared to other neighbors black calves he doesn't get as much per pound but makes up for it with more pounds. In the end his calf check is equal to or higher than his neighbors.

 

[WalnutCrest]

It's hard to be different when a black calf brings $200 more than other colors. But we need operations like Backbone Ranch and Walnut Crest who are trying to make something besides Black Angus work for everyone. Thank you for doing what you do to keep our genetic diversity alive.

As a bit of an aside, this is one reason the Aubrac registry will never allow an animal without traditional Aubrac markings to be registered as a purebred (90.0 to 99.9%) Aubrac. If a solid black animal had 95% Aubrac blood, it's still be registered XBE (crossbred). We believe maintaining our breeds' identity is important.

 

[SPH]

We're finding it's much better to retain ownership in our Hereford steers and send them off to a feedlot that already has a relationship with a packer. We've been sending our steers to TCSF (http://www.tcscf.com) the past several years and are finding that we can net more that way retaining ownership than we do selling steer calves as feeders in Dec/Jan. We get the red hide/white face discount at the local sale barn and even tried our state sponsored Hereford influence sale a few times but this program basically is based off of how your steers do on the rail so you are rewarded if they do well on the test if you are willing to take the risk that goes with retaining ownership. This year we had just 4 steers in a group of 89 on test, the 2 out of our home raised Polled Hereford sire made him the most profitable sire by average on the test. One of those steers nearly died of pneumonia on us as a calf and still somehow was the 8th best steer on the test so it was surprising to see how well he did.

Around here a good black baldy calf will bring a good price at the sale barn so we have a market for our Hereford bulls but in other regions that is not always the case. Most of our sale bulls sell to commercial guys and many of them are trying Hereford bulls for the first time. We have have gained a good customer base that comes back for another bull or 2 every other year or so after they see the results they get and based off what other Hereford breeders in this state see for sales.
There is money to be made on black baldy calves if you are selecting good Hereford bulls.

 

[polledbull]

I have a friend that buys the lowest price calves he can get in the stockyards, he backgrounds 1200 at the time , sends them to feed and they will surprise you how good they do, they are every color in the world, and he hardly ever has a .80 cent average in the calves, he had a group just recently hit 75% choice, ,that is how you make money with cattle, it is amazing what a good silage feed ration will do to a sub common type calf .it aint all genetics, or a certian breed or color,

 

[Draper]

Personally I would be raising all Shorthorns if it was financially feasible. I had several Shorthorn cows until it got to a point when I took them to a local sale barn they would sell them as singles just because of color and they were bringing less than Holstein feeders at times. All of the calves were better muscled than the black calves they just didn`t fit in because they weren`t black. Unfortunately I had to change breeds and went to all Simmental which I like Simmentals but sure miss those pretty Shorthorn cows.

I've always been able to sell my heifers with a single ad right off the farm for more than enough to compensate for the discount the steers got through the ring

 

[jd720]

Personally I would be raising all Shorthorns if it was financially feasible. I had several Shorthorn cows until it got to a point when I took them to a local sale barn they would sell them as singles just because of color and they were bringing less than Holstein feeders at times. All of the calves were better muscled than the black calves they just didn`t fit in because they weren`t black. Unfortunately I had to change breeds and went to all Simmental which I like Simmentals but sure miss those pretty Shorthorn cows.

I've always been able to sell my heifers with a single ad right off the farm for more than enough to compensate for the discount the steers got through the ring

I tried that but the people in my area are mostly idiots that have never had anything better than a sale barn quality cow and they aren`t going to change. I was able to consign a few to a sale on Breeders World but it was always questionable whether you would actually get paid and always took a long time to get your money .

 

[Nesikep]

I'm going to continue breeding what I like looking at, and it won't be black.. As Silver said, I'm not seeing much of a premium for black hides here.. If the animals look good, the buyers pay..

I didn't like the chrome on the flanks of the momma, but the calf has just enough markings to be unique, and no so much to stand out too much.


Purchased PB heifer licking her best buddy, one of my home raised ones