KNERSIE":3nv0btxi said:
You can look at it from every angle you like, even for the small producer, it would be more cost efficient to AI a few select cows and at the very least raise your own clean up sire. For me it would be cost prohibitive to try and buy a bull of equal or better quality than I can raise myself.
My point being if you don't have the cowherd to raise a bull good enough for own use with the availability and affordability of top genetics via AI, you have no business selling bulls.
Since you're in another country, I'll take a bit of time and try, politely, to explain some truths from a small Angus producer in the US.
A solid AI program is a must for the small Angus producer in the US.
Over half the calves registered with the Angus Assn were AI sired calves. I can use the best, proven Angus bulls in the breed probably cheaper than I can buy and maintain a bull on my cow herd, even one of my own, especially when I consider the loss of income from keeping instead of selling a bull. It's certainly labor intensive and this year we bought our first clean up bull. But we've also learned a hard lesson: we
will have a gomer bull before breeding season next year.
We're raising as good a bull as anyone in the Angus breed. Why wouldn't we? We're using the same genetics as any of the "big" guys. But with a small herd, most of the cows are related. Any bull born here will have a mother, a sister, probably an aunt or two in the herd. It's not practical to use one of our own bulls as a herd sire.
I don't think we would have any problem selling bulls sired by our own bulls. But half the calves born on the place are probably heifers. A heifer sired by a clean up bull will bring $200-$500 less than one sired by a proven AI bull when both are run through the sale ring. That's a discount I can't deal with.
By using bulls AI with generations of proven performance, I'm lowering the chances of getting a "duds."
So while you and some others are thumping your chest, being so judgmental, and telling
anyone
you have no business selling bulls
you might want to consider that you don't know what you're talking about. ;-)