Climate differences?

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Z&J Cattle

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I live in Northeast Arkansas and have ran across a couple groups of cows in North Texas that I am interested in, but a friend of mine who has been in the cattle business all his life tells me not to buy cows from that far South of here because they will not adapt well to our climate. He also likes to give me a hard time every chance he gets, so I don't know how much truth there is to this. He gave an example of a guy in our area who bought a group of straight Brahman cows from South Texas and they have struggled during the winter, but I wonder if that is not as much the fact that they are straight Brahman as it is that they are from quite a way South of us. I am interested in mainly Beefmaster type cows, which will obviously have Brahman influence. Any opinions on this?
 
Its true that
1) BeefMasters have a lot Brahman influence
2) Brahman have been bred for better adaption to warmer climates than colder ones
3) Specific cattle developed in warmer climates will do poorer in colder climates (and vise versa)

Not sure how well Beefmasters developed in colder climates do though. Go to the breed association web sites and see if you can locate breeders in your area (say within a few hundred miles). Then you will be able to see some that were developed in your climate.
 
Z&J Cattle":2czfu9iz said:
I live in Northeast Arkansas and have ran across a couple groups of cows in North Texas that I am interested in, but a friend of mine who has been in the cattle business all his life tells me not to buy cows from that far South of here because they will not adapt well to our climate. He also likes to give me a hard time every chance he gets, so I don't know how much truth there is to this. He gave an example of a guy in our area who bought a group of straight Brahman cows from South Texas and they have struggled during the winter, but I wonder if that is not as much the fact that they are straight Brahman as it is that they are from quite a way South of us. I am interested in mainly Beefmaster type cows, which will obviously have Brahman influence. Any opinions on this?
One of my concerns would be are your pastures predominantly fescue if they are you need to buy cattle that have been raised on fescue because it is hard for them to adapt and some never do

in your area I would look for cows out of eastern Ok. Southeast Ks., Central or southern Mo or Northern Ark
 
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.
 
as said its the forages that you have.that could cause probs with the cows.because they are not used to your grasses.that really the only prob i see.theres several beefmaster breeders in arkanas.an they have cattle for sale.
 
Z&J Cattle":37ui6h6f said:
I live in Northeast Arkansas and have ran across a couple groups of cows in North Texas that I am interested in, but a friend of mine who has been in the cattle business all his life tells me not to buy cows from that far South of here because they will not adapt well to our climate. He also likes to give me a hard time every chance he gets, so I don't know how much truth there is to this. He gave an example of a guy in our area who bought a group of straight Brahman cows from South Texas and they have struggled during the winter, but I wonder if that is not as much the fact that they are straight Brahman as it is that they are from quite a way South of us. I am interested in mainly Beefmaster type cows, which will obviously have Brahman influence. Any opinions on this?

The general rule of thumb is that cattle moved north generally do better than cattle moved south. Unless you have forage that needs to be adapted to, I wouldn't think it would be a problem with Beefmasters. Lasater Beefmasters is in Colorado and they seem to be doing ok. One of the larger herds in OK is the Beefmaster herd owned by the state prison system. They're almost in Kansas.
 
Frankie":35i6n8g8 said:
Unless you have forage that needs to be adapted to,

And there in lies the rub. Animals not adapted to fescue will require a minimum of 2 years to get up to snuff and frequently they never do.
 
Caustic Burno":qkvc04az said:
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.

We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.
 
backhoeboogie":21k3ltc2 said:
Caustic Burno":21k3ltc2 said:
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.

We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.
what kind of grass and what protein content was it....brahman and brahman influence adapt well to fescue ......i just wouldnt want that much ear that far north.. something like a 1/4 ear brangus would do good... and a half blood might even do ok, but the market will adjust it for you .....you can bet
 
backhoeboogie":pbh4io10 said:
Caustic Burno":pbh4io10 said:
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.

We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.

Boogie where did those cows come from originally? Marshall has worlds of beautiful coastal bermuda as well as clover in some areas. Lots of just "junk pasture" as well.
 
alacattleman":1bq8xnl7 said:
backhoeboogie":1bq8xnl7 said:
Caustic Burno":1bq8xnl7 said:
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.

We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.
what kind of grass and what protein content was it....brahman and brahman influence adapt well to fescue ......i just wouldnt want that much ear that far north.. something like a 1/4 ear brangus would do good... and a half blood might even do ok, but the market will adjust it for you .....you can bet

Several large brangus operations in Arkansas, one being Chimney Rock Cattle Co. in Concord which I believe is in NE Arkansas.
 
We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.[/quote] what kind of grass and what protein content was it....brahman and brahman influence adapt well to fescue ......i just wouldnt want that much ear that far north.. something like a 1/4 ear brangus would do good... and a half blood might even do ok, but the market will adjust it for you .....you can bet[/quote]

Several large brangus operations in Arkansas, one being Chimney Rock Cattle Co. in Concord which I believe is in NE Arkansas.[/quote]........... the market for eared cattle would be more of my concern. not so much the cattle
 
TexasBred":25fz7hn9 said:
backhoeboogie":25fz7hn9 said:
Caustic Burno":25fz7hn9 said:
The forage issue is a big one here rule of thumb is never buy cattle west of IH 45 . The forage here has such a high water content compared to the west side that cattle will loose BCS for a while the main concern is scours.

We shipped much of Dad's cows to the Marshall, TX area in the '83 drought. Those cows half starved to death in chest deep grass over there.

Boogie where did those cows come from originally? Marshall has worlds of beautiful coastal bermuda as well as clover in some areas. Lots of just "junk pasture" as well.

TB they came out of the Glen Rose area. High mineral content grass. The land there sits on limestone beds so lime leaches out of the hills. The top soil has a lot of nutrients.

Soil tests run on land 20 miles north east of there regularly state all that is needed is N. Mineral content is always great but I add boron simply to drive root systems deeper.

I have never tested any hay on my inherited property in East Texas. It is simply too far away to warrant trying to run cattle on it or to maintain it. My uncle uses it.

Coastal hay tests here are generally in the 14% level sometimes as much as 16%. Much of it has to do with cutting at optimal times.

During the '05 drought, a lot of hay was imported to this area. People were very disappointed in the imported hay.

There is a lot of merit to what Caustic said. It would take a lot of time for my cows to adjust to his grass.
 
Boogie...most of East Texas will grow a lot of grass.....Fertilizer does little more than makes more hay....not better quality hay... Most hay will run 7-8-9% protein even when fertilized. Old saying use to be "you gotta sit on a bag of fertilizer to raise a h _ _ d."
 
East Texas coastal can grow very good hay if it is managed appropriately. Fertilized correctly and cut in a timely manner (e.g. 28 days after fertilizer).....with a little rain.....hay can easily be 12-15% protein.
 
alacattleman":263aqqeh said:
i know with our fescue, you need to fertilize too get max protein

Just a frinstance, fescue is calculated to remove per ton 42 lbs N, 14 lbs P and 47 lbs K
 
Calves seem to adjust better than cows to the change to fescue. Seems like around 16 months old is the limit. microbes are different and seems the calves stomach can adjust but mature cows really have a problem. It is not just a north/south as we bought 40 cows from South Dakota a few years ago and they never adapted to the fescue.
 
whitecow":3ktw0i65 said:
East Texas coastal can grow very good hay if it is managed appropriately. Fertilized correctly and cut in a timely manner (e.g. 28 days after fertilizer).....with a little rain.....hay can easily be 12-15% protein.

Whitecow I'll take your word for it. All I ever saw and tested was little more than junk even with soil test and proper fertilization. Oh the one they would "prepare" for the annual hay show would be good but all in all 90% of it around my area (Cherokee, Rusk, Nacog. counties) was little more than filler. Van Zandt county and a few others would make some pretty good hay.
 

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