Alliance I87

[joe]

I have to place my semen order for my commercial angus, and Angus X herford cows by the 21st. I was thinking of using Alliance I87. Anyone used him, and what are your thoughts? I used PFred last year, and still have some left in my ABS rep's tank, so will be using that again also. Thoughts and opinions on good ABS bulls?

 

[Dee]

Hi Joe. I will be using Alliance on my PFred heifers in April. His BW EPD was +2 in last years ABS catalog, now it is down to a +0.3. That is quite a drop, which concerns me a little. I wanted something with the EXT bloodline in it to help with the PFred's udder quality, and they need some added depth also. You have PFred's on the ground, or not yet? I was impressed with the frame, and they are a bunch of mellow calves. Very good disposition. I will be using Easy Fortune on my F-1's this year . Will have calves from Strategy, New Level, and Objective this year. Good luck!

 

[Frankie]

I have to place my semen order for my commercial angus, and Angus X herford cows by the 21st. I was thinking of using Alliance I87. Anyone used him, and what are your thoughts? I used PFred last year, and still have some left in my ABS rep's tank, so will be using that again also. Thoughts and opinions on good ABS bulls?

We haven't used I87, sorry. We had our first PFred calf born this spring, out of a 5175 heifer. She hit the ground running and gives the older bull calves a run for their money. She's a pretty calf which is a surprise. Her dam, grand and great granddams are not attractive cows. Fertile and productive, yes, but not pretty. And I never had heard that PFred was an attractive animal. Guess it goes to show you never know...

Last spring we sold three 036 heifers with Strategy heifer calves at side; so they'd be yearlings now. We talked to the buyer recently and he is very impressed with the Strategy calves. My AI tech does AI for a friend of mine and she really likes her Strategy heifers. She had the first one AIed recently, so don't know about production. We recently ordered another cane of Strategy.

We used some New Level on cows this past fall. We've still got EXT in the tank and will breed some of the large cows to him. You might look at Basin Max 602C, if he's still available at a reasonable price. He adds depth, but is rather short coupled and sometimes the sheath on bulls is not as clean as I'd like. But I don't think I've ever seen one on test that didn't perform well. I think if you use him on the right kind of cow, he'll do well. We've got a 602C bull calf out of a Right Time cow that looks good right now.

Be aware of Easy Fortune calves if you're using him on registered cows. You are possibly going to get some white. They'll probably be registerable, but have more white than I like. We used him one year on some heifers and were very pleased with the growth and performance, but I won't use him again because of the white. On commercial cows, it probably won't make any difference.

 

[bwranch]

We had four 878 calves last year. I really liked them. Good straight lines top and bottom. Good thick calves, good feet, legs and hips. Had a bull out of one of the commercial angus that was a winner from day one. Weaned at 800 (205 adj) on 2.5 - 3 lbs of 12% supplemental. This one was just a genetic click. Wish they all came out like that. Kept one of the half sisters (205 adj 695). I like her but just a little too bullish if I had to criticize.

We have been using Advantage on our Heifers. Last year we got 2 bulls and a keeper heifer. Nothing spectacular but nice, solid babies. The bulls were fall calves and they look OK so far. They'll sell good. I really like the lines of the heifer we're keeping but she could be a little thicker. She had a hard start due to mama plugging up but weaned at 550.

We used 878, Strategy, and Lead On this year. I know that's what the ABS guys are pushing really hard but I really like the phenotypes that Lead On is throwing and as mentioned above, good previous success with 878. Watched a sale on RFD last Saturday and they ran a bunch of Lead On calves through. They looked really nice with a few question marks in the hips. Hope it was the cows. Guess we'll find out in March.

Just an opinion that's worth what you paid for it.

Lee