Your area is a lot like Ga and the rest of the SE in that black is king. Angus or Chiangus will do well for you. A little ear will do even better, so Brangus will work for you., too. And people in the south love their black baldies. The heifers sell well for replacements, and the steers aren't docked. If you had a herd of black baldies, and bred them to homozygous black Angus or black Brangus, you'd wean a crop of black, polled claves every year that will bring top dollar. Now, if you REALLY want to make money, with a minimum investment in your brood cows, and want to have the least interaction as far as doctoring, parasite control, and calving, get some Criollo cows: Corriente, Piney Woods, Fla Cracker, Fla Scrub and Longhorn. Especially with the Corriente, you can by 3 cows for what you'd pay for a good commercial beef cow. And raise those 3 on the same pasture, and the same hay, as a big commercial beef cow. They thrive in heat and humidity, as well as drought conditions, and bitter cold. They are insect and parasite resistant. They do as well on marginal pasture as they do lush pastures. They are like a goat...they will eat weeds, briars, honey suckle and kudzu. Breed them with a homozygous black Angus ( or Brangus), and they will drop you a black polled calf, that at weaning, will stand as tall as their mommas. Again,. especially the Corrientes, right before weaning, you will see those big black calves on their knees to nurse. You can raise 70-80 of them, on the same pasture, and with the same amount of hay, as 50 commercial beef cows. You will get them up when its time to castrate the bull calves, and again at weaning, and that's all you would HAVE to fool with them. unless you just want to. Now, a lot of people are going to post comments poo-pooing the idea, and giving me flack, but they have probably never tried this. Or knew anyone who did.
