Haven't been here in a long time ... but got some cows

[Keren]

well they certainly do alright in our heat

I know there are some in the states, and there's semen licenced for the states as well. maybe find some small early maturing type murray greys and AI them with some SM semen?

 

[cmf1]

Mojaxcow here on the boards raises square meaters and MGs in Indiana.
He's got semen on an SM bull tested 10 for tenderness by Igenity.
I'm breeding to an MG tested 10 this year as well.
If purebred MG don't exceed frame score 4-4 1/2,I think it is, they can be dual reg.
The target is 1000-1100 lb cows at frame 4, 4.5.
Capacity without so much leg. More width less height.
He could tell you much more than I can though, and I'm probably not exact on the sizes.

 

[Keren]

cmf, thats interesting that the US herdbook is still open. Aus herd book was closed to MGs quite a while ago, shame really.

You are dead right on the capacity without so much leg. They are almost as long as a full sized cow, just as wide, someone just chopped the legs off them. I've always liked them.

 

[glacierridge]

About how big are they?

They are pretty. I hope they will breed for you, they look healthy.

 

[cmf1]

Seems like I heard MG Aus was allowing Angus breed ups?

 

[diana55]

I heard the same thing cmf1 so I think you are correct.

 

[Keren]

Glacier ridge, I'll let you know when I measure them.

cmf1 ... yes you can register angus percentage cattle in the MG herdbook. Its not something I'm a fan of.

Square Meaters have their own herdbook, and I was talking about that one when I said its closed. They used to allow MG cows to be registered as B grade square meaters provided they were under the height limit.

 

[cmf1]

I think it's ridiculous to allow the angus breed ups and that black MGs should be B grades no matter the parentage.
But there is more fast money to be made destroying breed identities by going black these days, and it is a profit/ loss industry.
As for the Squares here, what is available to the breeders, is a Square Meater endorsement on the reg papers from one of the many MG associations we have here.
Not sure how closely alligned they are with the Australian SM association.
I would think that the endorsement would add value to the animals that have it though.

 

[mojaxcow]

Chris:
You are correct about the Squaremeaters here in the USA. We do have several scattered around the country. I have sold dual registered breeding stock (Muuray Grey and SquareMeater endorsement through AMGA) around the midwest. Vaca Roja Ranch in Colorado and I share ownership of the only direct animal import to the US. He is Thurloo Park Winchester and we have semen available. He was a frame score 3, weighed 1700#, and scored a 10 on the Igenity DNA profile for tenderness. We have several daughters in our herd and are quite satisfied with the quality of all the SMs we raise. Two of his sons were sold to USDA station in North Dakota for trials on commercial Angus heifers.
There are two other SM bulls available via semen and Vaca Roja has embryos. The breed, as others have stated, are like MGs with 3-4 inches of shank meat and bone removed! Ours are all derived from the smaller MGs that we have been breeding for the last 20+ years.

 

[Keren]

Yep I agree, I dont like the angus breed ups. A MG x angus is very different to a MG!!!!

FWIW, here's the bulls I'm considering using AI over these girls.

5 stars for tenderness, 6 stars for feed efficiency.
http://animalwebs.com.au/~lowlinec/wp-c ... inner2.jpg

Finding it much harder to find good SM semen.

2 stars for marbling, 7 stars for tenderness, 7 stars for feed efficiency, straws cost a bit more than the guy above though!
http://animalwebs.com.au/~lowlinec/wp-c ... 00x225.jpg

Couple of possibilities ...

Rambo if there is still semen around from him
http://www.squaremeaters.com.au/images/ ... -pic-2.jpg

Bull doesnt look like much here but I've liked stock from this farm in the past, really good vealer calves that have won some of the best carcass competitions in the country
http://www.squaremeaters.com.au/images/Fi-230.jpg

 

[Weethalle]

Nice to see some SM discussion in the states, we are based in Australia and breed the cattle for the domestic carcass market, though they are generally really easy animals to handle and manage. So to us the temperament was the first choice. However, I do also like Murray Grays where you get the more traditional medium frame animals.

For some pics see link below if I have worked out how to post correctly.. this bull is also of Thurloo Bloodlines and the calves are by cows we bought from Thurloo stud. They were all very low birthweight (20-25kilo) and all cows and heifers calved unassisted.