Like I said... I still remember when you first showed up here. Remember when you use to tag me all the time to answer people's questions. Now, you are telling me how it works.
When I first showed up, I had been reading as a guest for quite a while. And yes, I used to refer any Brama related questions to you and Caustic. I still will. Someone has a question about Brahmas in Texas, my experience with them have been in the humid south, with less drought and different grasses, and a different cattle market, etc, than in Texas. Most of the questions people asked me, I did know the answer to, but I wouldn't answer for two reasons. 1) No one likes a Cliff Clavin. I had seen people join for the first time, and the very first day they would comment like they knew everything to know about the subject. And, a lot of them did. But like I said, no one likes a Cliff Clavin, 2) I wanted to see what some of the people that were prolific posters actually knew. I would ask a lot of questions that I already knew the answer to. I learned who actually knew what they were talking about, as well as the ones that didn't. I saw how new members who were actually new to the business were treated. some people on here would be very kind, and patient, and helpful to them. Others were rude, and ridiculed them and tried to make them feel stupid. Didn't take long to figure out which ones were the actual knowledgeable cattlemen, Or cattle women. Guess which ones were actually the most knowledgeable?
I was thinking tonight, and I realized that I myself was guilty of not always taking my own advice about growing replacements vs buying a good cow. With our Corriente Kudzu herd, Very year when we pulled the bulls Memorial weekend, we'd turn our Corr bull in there fopr a monjth or so, in case the black bulls missed any of the cows. Some years we got no Corr calves, some years a couple or 3. One year we got 10. That was the year we only put 3 Brangus buills in with 125 cows. No big deal... we'd keep the Corr steers for roping, or to sell for roping, and use the heifers to replace the occasional cow that died or got too old to breed. Now, it truly costs us NOTHING to raise those heifers. The only input was a 25 cent ear tag. e calved in February, out the black bull s in at Easter and pulled the Memorial day. So this heifer born in 2021,weaned end of August of 21, would get bred May of 22, calve February of 23, and give us a black calve to sell August of 23. 2 years since she was weaned, Following my logic, should have sold her August of 21. Put maybe $100 with what she brought, and bought a bred Corr cow, One bred to a black bull that would calve in the time frame we wanted, or even January or December. Then we would have had a calf to sell august of 22, and another to sell aug of 23. So even though the heifer costs us nothing to raise for those 30 months til her first calf was weaned, we lost one $1000 calf, at today's prices, by retaining her instead of selling her and buying a bred cow. Had this been a "normal" beef cattle cow-ca;lf operation, on a normal pasture, with all the normal inputs: Worming, vaccinating, vet costs, fertilizer for the pasture, cost of growing hay to feed, etc, then our loss would have been even greater. That being said, I do understand people who raise registered cattle, maybe wanting to develop their own line.,.,their own strain....retaining heifers. Or even a commercial operator like KY, working a program to develop the kind of herd he wants. But even in a situation like his, I would be open ( and in no way I am saying KY is or isn't) to selling a heifer I wanted to retain, to buy a cow I had found that would fit right in with my program. And., I am sorry, it just would be less expensive than growing that heifer til she had her first calf.
