All of our cows are angus based. There are I think 3 blacks (that will probably be gone this year) the rest are Red Angus, mostly registered but we use them as commercial. We use Polled Hereford bulls and Red Angus bulls on the resulting baldies. We don;t have footrot problems, and our (what we jokingly refer to as ) soil is more rock then dirt, but when it turns to mud it's gumbo or slop 6 inches deep. Hard on feet, but we don't have a problem with feet. The only pink eye we have had in years turned out to be IBR and not pinkeye. We have had a few angus that are a bit dingy, but none that have been raised by us. Only purchased animals from places that only work the cattle from motorized conveyence or horseback. The reason the british breeds do so well is that the can produce a steak that will range between around 11 and 15 inches. The decrease of the baby boomers with a preference for larger cuts (if that preference does actually exist) will be taken up by the younger generation. Lets face it, the population isn't declining. It's much harder to cook a prime rib to the desired point when it's a little skinny thing. The consumer is going to want, demand and deserve a pleasurable eating experience, that's the bottom line.
So it turns out that the great advantages they may have are pretty much available from a much larger gene pool. The larger gene pool equates to a better selection of animals that can contribute balanced traits with higher incidence of accuracy.
If you need long legged animals with the ability to cover a lot of range, there are FS 7 animals available, if you need smaller animals there are FS 4 and 4.5's. The collection of data to contribute to the accuracy of any given trait is much higher with breeds that are more widely used.
But, I've always maintained that one of the first things you should use in determining what breed to raise is that you have to like them. If Buelingo, hays converters or herfsteins is what blows your dress up and they make money, or even if they don't make money, as long as you're satisfied, then that's the way to go.
dun
Cattle Rack Rancher":2uo72ve4 said:
Dun
You should know as well as anybody that what is popular in the marketplace today may not be popular tomorrow. Everything that I've read on demographics the last while says that as the baby boomers age they will be looking for smaller portions which should start making the smaller British breeds more popular. As I said before, I have a few galloways and if I had a preference as to dealing with them or my angus in a difficult situaution, I would take the galloways any day. The meat is also, in my opinion better than angus. You also have to consider what your management style and environment are like when you are trying to choose a breed. Herefords up here have a real problem with pinkeye and foot rot. My black galloways when crossed with other breeds will pass as an angus cross so I don't get docked at market. So I get all the benefits of an angus breed without the bad attitude in a very feed efficient package.