StrojanHerefords
Well-known member
Is it really the case that Char x Longhorn cattle are inferior or might it be possible that the market for feeder calves has become so concentrated that there aren't the enough bidders to be fairly paid for the calves. When I was a baby, my grandfather gave me a Longhorn heifer. The half and quarter blood longhorns were darn good cows except that they had spots. A good 7/8 English spotted calf would routinely sell for 30% under what their pen mates would sell for.Some neighbors to the west have several hundred(s) of longhorn cows. They breed them to Charolais. Makes a nice looking 500-600 pound calf. The trouble is when you sell that big of numbers the feedlots figure out your program. Those calves look great at weaning but just don't preform in the feedlot or on the rail. Thus the feedlots cut back on what they are willing to pay. They had to come up with a different plan for these calves to stay in the black. They stopped selling as weaned calves. I notice there are more beef breed cows showing up on their place.