> If a fellow were to purchase some
> brahman cows (gray and/or red) to
> start producing F1s in Georgia,
> what do you suppose would be the
> best breed out of the following 3
> for a fellow touse? Angus,
> Simmental, or Hereford. this
> fellow wants to raise his own
> replacements as well as sale
> replacement heifers AND not give
> away his steers for free.
> opinions?
I'd go with the greys. I assume the fellow in question is in an area that "likes" or feels the need for the Brahman influence. He should make inquiries and find out which of the 3 proposed F1 crosses seems to be in the most demand in his area of Ga. Steer calves will still probably show a good bit of ear, being 50% Brahman, so in all three cases he'll suffer to some extent when taking the steers to the barn. Nothing to do to change that, though steers that have Brahman ear but a lot of black color may sell best.
In my area of SE Texas, based on my informal & anecdotal surveys, the most popular cross would be the Brahman-Hereford, so as to produce tiger-striped replacement heifers. The tiger-stripe heifers would make for good value either for him to retain, sell as unbreds or to sell at replacement auctions after being preg. tested as safe in calf to a Black Angus (or perhaps Brangus) bull. Next (in my area) would be the Brahman-Black Angus cross and lastly the Brahman-Simmental. The last two wouldn't get him a Brangus or Simbrah since the crosses would have 50% Brahman instead of 3/8, but they should still be fine heifers/cows.
I think it really gets down to regional preferences and perceptions, along with the rancher's own personal likes & dislikes.
With full grey Brahman cows there are any number of combinations to use. Remember that Brangus, Simbrah, Charbray, Bramousin, Santa Gertrudis and Braford are all composites that are made up of 3/8 Brahman and that are now recognized as "breeds".
Something else to consider --- if there are any Nelore breeders in his area maybe he sould consider them as an alternative the "regular" grey Brahman. Think of a Nelore as a grey Brahman but with normal sized ears. I think if you go to <A HREF="http://www.cattlepages.com" TARGET="_blank">www.cattlepages.com</A> and look at the pictures of various breeds you can see what a Nelore looks like. But I don't think there are many Nelore breeders in the U.S. at this time.
