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Argument for Purebred Cattle?
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<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 17309"><p>In the simplest terms, you know what you got and what you will get. All breeds where breed, developed and gained popularity for some quality of that breed. Temperment, hardyness, milk, beef something that is desirable. Raising purebreeds is a way to keep, and improve a quality that you desire. I live in NY where dairy is big. Farmers want cows that they KNOW will be big producers. They do not want to "roll dice" with thousands of dollars so sticking with purebreeds is a way to ensure they get a return on their investment of time and money. I worked on a small beef farm. We stuck to purebreed Herfords. We KNEW with each calf what the end product would be and were able to refine and keep the qualities that we wanted. Crossbreeding produces some great cows. On our family farm we raised crossbreeds, hoping to get combinations of qualities or to get cheap calfs that we hoped would have some of the qualities we desired. We raised many Herford/Angus crosses. They were pretty much the same but each one would be a little more Angus or a little more Herford and we did not mind these little difference from one to the other. They worked for us. The beef farmer that I worked for wanted to be sure that all his steers were uniform. That he could produce and promise to buyers a certain quality of his product in advance. He also wanted to refine and produce bulls that consistently produced calves with certain qualities. To meet these goals we had to work with purebreeds. So it depends on your goals. Some goals in cattle raising can only be met by raising purebreeds, for other goals the use of purebreeds is an extra cost that you will never be able to recoup. Finally some people just enjoy raising certain breeds. They get satisfaction from producing, caring for and raising cattle that they enjoy working with and they can be proud of. They find pleasure in producing cattle with strong predictable traits. I love working with Angus. I would not have a Charolais. I would not have anything that even has a drop of Charolais in it. Some people love Charolais. That is a personal thing. I'll finish by going back to the root of my answer. It depends on what your goals are in raising cattle. Define your goals and then you will know whether you need to go with purebreeds, crosses of a mix. My personal goals are to produce beef for my family, raise my son with the experience and resposibility of caring for livestock (many many life lessons for him in that)and the satisfaction I get from raising a few head of stock. For my goals, crosses of certain breeds are perfect for me. I just bought an Angus/Jersey (and maybe something else lol) bull calf. He just looks good to me. I enjoy working with him and he will produce beef that will work for my family. It all goes back to what you want to do. Sorry for the ramblings,</p><p></p><p>Rick</p><p></p><p>> Was wondering what some of the</p><p>> arguments might be IN FAVOR OF a</p><p>> purebred herd, as most of what I</p><p>> hear suggests that crossbreeding</p><p>> is the way to go, financially and</p><p>> otherwise. Guess I just like the</p><p>> idea of a purebred, but not sure</p><p>> what real arguments are in favor.</p><p>> Thanks for any help!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> <a href="mailto:altsciguy@yahoo.com">altsciguy@yahoo.com</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 17309"] In the simplest terms, you know what you got and what you will get. All breeds where breed, developed and gained popularity for some quality of that breed. Temperment, hardyness, milk, beef something that is desirable. Raising purebreeds is a way to keep, and improve a quality that you desire. I live in NY where dairy is big. Farmers want cows that they KNOW will be big producers. They do not want to "roll dice" with thousands of dollars so sticking with purebreeds is a way to ensure they get a return on their investment of time and money. I worked on a small beef farm. We stuck to purebreed Herfords. We KNEW with each calf what the end product would be and were able to refine and keep the qualities that we wanted. Crossbreeding produces some great cows. On our family farm we raised crossbreeds, hoping to get combinations of qualities or to get cheap calfs that we hoped would have some of the qualities we desired. We raised many Herford/Angus crosses. They were pretty much the same but each one would be a little more Angus or a little more Herford and we did not mind these little difference from one to the other. They worked for us. The beef farmer that I worked for wanted to be sure that all his steers were uniform. That he could produce and promise to buyers a certain quality of his product in advance. He also wanted to refine and produce bulls that consistently produced calves with certain qualities. To meet these goals we had to work with purebreeds. So it depends on your goals. Some goals in cattle raising can only be met by raising purebreeds, for other goals the use of purebreeds is an extra cost that you will never be able to recoup. Finally some people just enjoy raising certain breeds. They get satisfaction from producing, caring for and raising cattle that they enjoy working with and they can be proud of. They find pleasure in producing cattle with strong predictable traits. I love working with Angus. I would not have a Charolais. I would not have anything that even has a drop of Charolais in it. Some people love Charolais. That is a personal thing. I'll finish by going back to the root of my answer. It depends on what your goals are in raising cattle. Define your goals and then you will know whether you need to go with purebreeds, crosses of a mix. My personal goals are to produce beef for my family, raise my son with the experience and resposibility of caring for livestock (many many life lessons for him in that)and the satisfaction I get from raising a few head of stock. For my goals, crosses of certain breeds are perfect for me. I just bought an Angus/Jersey (and maybe something else lol) bull calf. He just looks good to me. I enjoy working with him and he will produce beef that will work for my family. It all goes back to what you want to do. Sorry for the ramblings, Rick > Was wondering what some of the > arguments might be IN FAVOR OF a > purebred herd, as most of what I > hear suggests that crossbreeding > is the way to go, financially and > otherwise. Guess I just like the > idea of a purebred, but not sure > what real arguments are in favor. > Thanks for any help! [email=altsciguy@yahoo.com]altsciguy@yahoo.com[/email] [/QUOTE]
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