I've wanted to use some since I saw some clients' Brown Swiss-cross calves back in the '80s. Reading this thread has reinforced my intent to try some in the next year or so.
Wish some of the major bull studs carried some Braunvieh semen... I know ABS had a couple, back in the 1980s... but they also had stuff like Belgian Blue, USMARC Twinners, etc. - probably just not enough demand for it.
Universal and Bovine Elite carry some Braunvieh sires, but a lot of them are 'older' genetics...could be good or bad, I dunno; then there's always purchase direct from breeders - but I don't have a shipper...
I've been receiving the Braunvieh World publication for years at no charge...source of info on breeders, sire lines, etc.
McBee Cattle at Fayette MO has been breeding 'em for quite a while - purebred and crossbred/percentage...was my first encounter with Braunvieh cattle, while I was in grad school at UofMO. Golden Link probably has been breeding 'em as long as any operation I know of in the US.
Local Beefmaster breeders used some Braunvieh bulls several years back - terrific calves, and they kept a lot of the F1 heifers, and said that they made great cows...but told me the bulls were the meanest things they'd ever had on the place - and they run a Jersey bull on their heifers! Bull lot is right by the highway, so I see at least some of what they've got working on a regular basis; looked like they switched to black bulls for a few years, but then brought in another group of young Braunvieh bulls...but recently appear to have gone back to all Beefmaster bulls.
As brimmer-X said...I've seen some brindle cows come out of crosses over red cows.
