Another breed debate. Beefalo VS Simmentals

[Red Bull Breeder]

You are right Dun. But i no what i have seen back in the early eightys was a local guy raising the blasted things. Keep buffalo and a angus bull with them, in another pasture he keep the crosses and bred them to another angus bull never saw a calf out of a beefalo bull. But i have saw beefalo heifers /cows have calves and raise them.

 

[dun]

You are right Dun. But i no what i have seen back in the early eightys was a local guy raising the blasted things. Keep buffalo and a angus bull with them, in another pasture he keep the crosses and bred them to another angus bull never saw a calf out of a beefalo bull. But i have saw beefalo heifers /cows have calves and raise them.

In Oakdale, CA we had a neighbor that raised them too. He had one F1 Buffalo Holstien steer that he rode in parades. That was one huge bugger. But his heifers were crosses that sure seemed fertile, but they definitely had an attitude.

 

[4CTophand]

I have 2 simmental heifers who i love. They are quiet, gentle and good to work around. I had a red angus, lol, she left. I have 2 beefalo steers who seem to be good cows, so i purchased a wealing heifer from the same place. These calfs were born in a field about a mile from people. The guy went once a week to give the cows a bag of grain to check on everyone. This is the only contact this lil girl has had. We went thier, penned her up, put her in the trailer and headed home. Got home, entered the trailer, got a halter on her, and let her in the pasture. In a week this calf knows her name, is halter trained, i can touch her all over, she comes in a horse stall for her grain, loves my pigs, and is so curious about everything. I am going to get another one from the same place. Are beefalo known to be so gentle as mine or am i getting lucky?

There is no comparison between beefalo and simms.....
A. Beefalo were started for the low fat group that like super lean beef, then later complained it was like eating a tire.
B. Beefalo have a slower growth rate hence more timely to get them to slaughter, thus a decreased profit margin.
C. Beefalo won't grade on the rail; since after all aren't we really in the beef business?
D. Beefalo won't win any shows-- they are down right ugly critters. Ican't imagine trying to groom a beefalo into a shoebox with legs.
E. all the above

 

[VtMapleGal]

wow, people really dont like beefalo do they. my 2 beefalo steers outweigh my simmi steer of the same age by atleast 150 pounds each, so i dont know about slower growing. Who knows, i may grow to not like the breed either, but it SELLS like crazy in my area, so thats good. Ill get pics tonight of my lil calf.

 

[Chi496]

From what I have seen of the "Beefalo" breed I am not impressed. The Beefalo have their national sale at the Kentucky Beef Expo and if I were to buy one I would sell it under someone elses name at the sale barn. These so called cattle are normaly underfed, not broke to lead well enough to bring to town, in need of a foot trimming. If these are the best this breed has to offer someone really needs to reevaluate their being in the cattle business. To me the Beefalo breed belongs where they are with people who have no business owning real cattle. Because if they can't take care of these beasts I do belive that they could break an anvil with a rubber mallet.

 

[Rustler9]

Sorry folks but the Beefalo breed is real. It does exist. Any yes, the first cross males are sterile. They can not breed. The first cross females are fertile and can be bred back to either a bison or a bovine bull. This is how the Beefalo was created, by using the first cross females bred back to a bovine bull.

I don't know why so many people who really don't know anything about a specific breed are so against it. There are more than two breeds of cattle in the world. Beefalo aren't major contenders but they do exist, they do breed and like I had said in an earlier post they seem to produce pretty well. We still have some old cows from our old Beefalo bull we had years ago. They still breed and raise big calves. They don't look any different than most other black generic cattle that I see around. The first cross does look different, it has the big shoulders and hump of the bison and is kind of shaggy but once it is diluted with the next bovine cross it looks like any other cow.

 

[ollie?]

My beef professor at Purdue told us in the 80s when the breed got kinda hot that it was the biggest con going/ since the first cross is invariably sterile.

Typical academia intellectual!

 

[4CTophand]

wow, people really dont like beefalo do they. my 2 beefalo steers outweigh my simmi steer of the same age by atleast 150 pounds each, so i dont know about slower growing. Who knows, i may grow to not like the breed either, but it SELLS like crazy in my area, so thats good. Ill get pics tonight of my lil calf.

yes you are in Vermont correct>? It is true there are a lot of ambulance chasers up that way that run after a new fad but glad to see your beefalo outgaining the Simms -- tell me what bloodlines are your Simms?

 

[MO_cows]

Beefalo are for real. I used to do administration for the ABWR, years ago when their office was in Kansas City. There were some very down to earth and nice folks in that organization at the time.

Not all the first cross bison/bovine bulls are sterile. Most, but not all. Saw pictures of one popular 50/50 bull who was fertile and had semen collected. We nicknamed him "Cherno-bull" in the office, he was a strange looking critter.

What they are trying to accomplish is to meld the hardiness and the longevity of the bison with the beef attributes and docile disposition of the bovine. Think if you had a good set of cows that could reliably produce for 25 years??

It's obvious from some comments they sure do have a PR problem. There were multiple associations going and also some seemingly shady operators at some point and that didn't help their cause. One accomplishment they have made is a USDA-approved meat program. They could put certified beefalo meat in the grocery stores just like CAB.

 

[CowCop]

Just wondering....

Where are the promised photos of the beefalo heifer ?
Been waiting....

Where exactly in Vermont are you located ?

There is a Buffalo breeder in Townsend VT--Carl Steiner.
What an incredible place he has. All his fencing and his custom catch chute are mind boggling~!!
He supplies his local diner, farmers market and some restaurants with pure Buffalo Beef.
People come to his house and buy it as well ( I did ). Very tasty.

There are several other Buffalo breeders and BEEFALO breeders in this general area. Lots of Beefalo on my own local diners menu now--especially with all this "localvore" stuff going gangbusters.

The beefalo AND the Buffalo both do very well at this altitude, with this extreme weather and have great foraging abilities. ( Just like Simmentals.. )

The latest unusual 4 stomached critter to join the unusual herd, here in Vermont, is a new group of Yaks.
http://www.vermontyak.com

( Best jerky I ever tasted came from a Yak. )

and of course you all know Vermont has the only water buffalo dairy as well. All the male yaks are now going into a gourmet meat product.

There are No ambulance chasers in this state. Just hard working, innovative people on the cutting edge of good diversified farming practices.

And if its "Made in Vermont" you know its a quality product.

 

[VtMapleGal]

Here is the link! Ya got an email headed your way!
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53692

 

[Dixieangus]

Some people who have buffalo will have a donkey or two in with them to keep them calm

 

[Beefalocw]

Beefalo are fertile, and gentle. The first generations are more iffy on being fertile, but by the time you get 37.5% bison they are very fertile. In order to register a full blood, you have to pay for a DNA test from UC Davis for bison markers. There are 20 distinct bison markers, and you can't register without having a certain number of these markers present in your cattle.

I have had a couple of 2500 lb bulls that were as gentle as a dog. One used to scratch his head on my truck bumper, and would pick the truck up over a foot just scratching his head. They like to be brushed, and petted. They handle weather better than most cattle, as they have 5 layers of hair and they have sweat glands. When most cattle are layed up under a tree, beefalo will be out eating, making you money.

The meat is much leaner than regular beef, but is naturally tender. As with all lean meat, cooking time is reduced, and can overcook if cooked as regular beef, so reduced temperature, and cooking time is the rule.

It is low in Cholesterol, and is recommended by the heart association.

I certainly don't care what breed of cattle you raise, but felt I needed to defend beefalo a little. Having sweat glands is important here in the South, so I recommend a least some beefalo in the mix, or a little Brahma as they are the only 2 breeds that allow your cattle to sweat.

Check out the facts instead of just posting thoughts about fertility, etc without basis.

http://ranchers.net/photopost/showphoto ... puser/5447

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Where and how do you market your product? I wouldn't think you could just take them to the sale barn.

 

[Beefalocw]

Purebred and Fullblood cattle are sold as breeding stock to others in the Beefalo Association, There is a USDA inspected slaughterhouse and have sold frozen Beefalo in Grocery Stores, and Restaurants, I have a slaughterhouse that I can take a trailer load of cattle to, and put them in their pens, they process them, and call when everything is processed, funny how you can stack 10 processed cattle in the back of a LWB pickup, mounded up. Many people prefer Beefalo, and is wonderful for heart patients, therefore it is easy to sell cattle by the quarter or half or whole.

Others in the Beefalo group sell freezer beefalo at farmer's markets. And yes, I have needed quick money, and sold a few at a salebarn also.

 

[Beefalocw]

http://ranchers.net/photopost/showphoto ... puser/5447

 

[LauraleesFarm]

One of my neighbors has a registered beefalo herd. In fact I think it is currently advertised for sale on craigslist. The herd stays in a normal everyday 5 strand barbwire fence. The working pens are standard height. The cattle appear to be angus/brangus/beefmaster in type. Neighbor told me that they are very gentle to deal with.

That being said, I don't think I would own beefalo intentionally. I do own one red/white simmental, and she aint a real good one. She is a purebred Fleckvieh, which to me, is the only real simmental there is. Sorry, black simi folks. I just like things the way they were, before black took over.

 

[Taurus]

My friend has a beefalo cow, she was massive, easily weight more than 2,000. I think she has some elephant in her because she eats too many hay bales and can't fit into the chute. She's quiet animal...the only issue is that she isn't very fertile. Often produce a calf other year but thankfully my friend is just a hobby farmer.

I heard that there are few issues with the beefalo and that's the disposition, sizeness, fertility and slow maturity.

 

[Beefalocw]

I kept protein supplement out most of the time, but often had 2 calves in 10 or 11 months. Mine were very docile, and loved to be brushed, you could hold up an apple, or shake a bucket of feed and they would come running. My bulls would let you work with them anywhere, they didn't have to even be in a corral, much less the chute to vaccinate, worm, dehorn, etc. I could put a rope around their neck and lead them anywhere, although usually didn't need the rope as they followed me anywhere I went. They often are fertile for well over 20 years, are excellent mothers, have extra rich milk, and have little birthing problems like english breeds do. Never pulled a Beefalo calf, but did have to pull some Charolais, and Angus calves before however. Most of my mama cows weighed in the 1500 lb range, and the bulls in the 2500 lb range. I had several steers that gained to the 850-1000lb range in 1 year with no hormones. Heifers usually take an extra year to calve, but produce way longer than english breeds where a 10 yr old mama cow is old.

 

[Beefalocw]

Several celebrities like Ricky Van Shelton, and Paul Butler raise Beefalo. The advantages of having Beefalo in your cattle are tremendous, hi protein, low cholesterol, qualifying automatically for lean beef programs like Laura's Lean Beef, quick cooking, tender, sweat glands, more layers of hair, more weather hearty, big market for meat animals, good market for purebred stock for breeding.