Hereford bull

[RoanDurham]

Comparing the high end to the low end, the best bulls will absolutely put 75 more lbs on a calf. But for a producer with only 6 cows, the additional $ your calves bring won't even begin to compensate for how much more you had to pay for the high growth bull.

 

[dun]

Comparing the high end to the low end, the best bulls will absolutely put 75 more lbs on a calf. But for a producer with only 6 cows, the additional $ your calves bring won't even begin to compensate for how much more you had to pay for the high growth bull.

That extra weight comes at a cost! The cow needs better forage and more milk so she can raise the calf to it's genetic potential and still breed back.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Don't start that logical stuff dun, you'll spoil it....

 

[RoanDurham]

Poor assumption again. There are vast differences in conversion rates among lines of cattle. This is the premise behind the cost of gain figure.

In terms you can understand: some them there cattle do more with less.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Ok Masseyass you win,and that's what matters most to little fellers

 

[RoanDurham]

It's not about winning or losing; it's about ensuring inaccurate information is stopped in its tracks as to not be repeated by those interested in learning.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Maybe he'll read your signature line,and learn all he needs to know about you...

 

[JWBrahman]

Just because he didn't pay a fortune doesn't mean his bull won't hit his stride in a few months on good pasture.

He is standing in what used to be the bottom of the Mississippi River. Skeeters and flies so thick you cannot breathe with your mouth open and he is still gaining fast. He has been one of the more fun projects I have had in years.

SPH, wasn't implying you were one of the snooty group. You are probably the most helpful to commercial cattlemen of the Hereford crowd. But we both know on Hereford Talk you read a lot of vilification about using Herefords to make baldies and tigerstripes. I looked at your website and saw your lbw bull sold first. ;-) :deadhorse:

 

[Elder Statesman]

Just because he didn't pay a fortune doesn't mean his bull won't hit his stride in a few months on good pasture.

He is standing in what used to be the bottom of the Mississippi River. Skeeters and flies so thick you cannot breathe with your mouth open and he is still gaining fast. He has been one of the more fun projects I have had in years.

I don't care what you feed him, his bull won't ever look like that. Sometimes a lot of feed can hide poor genetics, but it won't fix it.

I'm not sure where the "$3500" price came from, but there are decent Angus, Hereford, Limi and other breed bulls out there for less than that. If you just looking to trade cows, you probably made a good deal.

I will have to say, the comments on here have been very educational for me.

 

[elkwc]

Just because he didn't pay a fortune doesn't mean his bull won't hit his stride in a few months on good pasture.

He is standing in what used to be the bottom of the Mississippi River. Skeeters and flies so thick you cannot breathe with your mouth open and he is still gaining fast. He has been one of the more fun projects I have had in years.

I don't care what you feed him, his bull won't ever look like that. Sometimes a lot of feed can hide poor genetics, but it won't fix it.

I'm not sure where the "$3500" price came from, but there are decent Angus, Hereford, Limi and other breed bulls out there for less than that. If you just looking to trade cows, you probably made a good deal.

I will have to say, the comments on here have been very educational for me.

I've been doing some searching bulls recently in this area. I will say $3,500.00 is scratching the bottom at most sales and even private treaty where I've been. I've seen some $3,500 dollar bulls not much better than this bull. Several that have looked like overgrown dwarfs have been priced very high. And it seems with the high cattle prices that some of the commercial breeders have gone wild even with the lingering drought.

 

[elkwc]

Taken yesterday.

"Funny thing is, someone is going to make money off the calves. Calhoun is going to make money off the cows. And that's why we do what we do."

"The only time you are ever doing wrong selling cattle is when you advertise it as something other than it is. Nothing wrong with breeding a sorry bull to a sorry cow and then selling the results."

Have you ever eaten a bad steak or a poor roast? When you do, do you think about where it comes from? I don't care if you buy sale barn cull cows or buy poor steers that still have their nuts. But for the sake of the industry and our consumers, don't use them as breeding stock to propagate more critters like this one. Somebody eventually gets a raw deal on these kind of cattle and it is usually the one at the end of the line, the person eating the finished product.

Just because of his quality or lack of doesn't mean the finished product will be tough when fed out. I live in the feedlot beltway and have fed many cattle here at home also. I always believed that until one of the two sharpest feedlot managers I've ever known taught me differently. My Dad was working at the feedlot he managed and I would go up on weekends and other days off and ride pens with him. I had some Mexican roping steers I was going to sell and take a beating on. I had never fed any of them as I thought the meat would be tough and not very desirable. This manager said bring them up here and we will feed them in return for the help you've been providing. I said I didn't want to feed them as the meat wouldn't be any good. He said if fed properly on a corn ration the meat would be tender and as good as any. He said the cost of gain would be higher and that was the only drawback to feeding lower quality beef. I took them up there and the meat was so good that I fed every roping steer after that until I quit roping. I had a waiting list to purchase the meat. I've known a few feeders since who only fed Mexican roping cattle and put them on the rail and did very well doing it that way. I prefer the best quality of bull I can afford when purchasing one. But to make statements like the offspring from this bull will be tough isn't true from my experience feeding cattle. Again the cost of gain is where the issue is and the carcasses might not grade as high but the meat will be tender if fed properly.

 

[JWBrahman]

some of the commercial breeders have gone wild even with the lingering drou[/i]ght.

ALACOWMAN nailed it a while back when he said that a $3k bull is the old $1500 bull with a new price.

I see a LOT of overstocked pastures around here. The Tyson guys next door got a bad case of rye grass fever back in January and had to sell 100 pairs on Monday. Stocking rates of 2-4 head per acre on all of the big cattle company operations, too. My guess is this summer will be an epic time to pick up some good deals if you have the available pasture because the almanac says we are looking at dry and drier May-July.

 

[RoanDurham]

Look on cattle range. If you can't do it, I'll do it for you and I guarantee you I can find a reasonable bull of any breed for $3k. I personally own more expensive bulls because I take pride in having the best I can afford, but for the economics of it...for the small commercial guy, don't be fooled into thinking there aren't any quality bulls in that $2500-3500 range.

 

[cowgirl8]

The proof in the bull is not what you pay for him, show me his calves...........

 

[JWBrahman]

The proof in the bull is not what you pay for him, show me his calves...........

Yes ma'am, and even when you get a few calf crops you may not get what you expected. This guy was hand selected by the breeder about 4 years ago to come down here to add weaning weight to our "low quality Louisiana cattle". Used a bad photo so nobody recognizes his tags. Got one of the fanciest brands on his left hip, was a very expensive bull at the time. He throws exceptional heifers and consistently produces a high calving ease jackrabbit calf. The steers are usually average to less than average as far as gain. Ol' Limpy ain't much to look at. But I understand where people like Roan are coming from. He sells $2500 shorthorn heifers. He has to justify that price some kind of way.

 

[SPH]

SPH, wasn't implying you were one of the snooty group. You are probably the most helpful to commercial cattlemen of the Hereford crowd. But we both know on Hereford Talk you read a lot of vilification about using Herefords to make baldies and tigerstripes. I looked at your website and saw your lbw bull sold first. ;-) :deadhorse:

Ha! I would hate to see how this thread would have turned out had the guys on HT been turned loose on it because I bet it would not have been pretty... Just gave an honest opinion, once again credit the guy for having thick skin and not taking the responses too personal. What works for some guys may not work for others and that goes for high priced cattle too as there are some bulls out there people are paying good money for that we probably wouldn't use for one reason or another too.

Yeah our LBW bull sold pretty quickly as they usually do most years, I wouldn't consider the other 2 we have left heavy by any means, we cut anything over 90 which by some guys standards on HT is still "light." I don't care what some people say, commercial breeders still care about calving ease too. We have a nice Revolution bull calf we'll probably have to cut this fall because he was 93 at birth which not only would be tougher to sell but we strive for good calving ease in our program so he would not represent the goals of our program if we were to keep him intact and market him. We're very pro-black baldy and I am amazed how some on HT are so negative about it. You may have seen the thread awhile back ranting how the Hereford World put a black baldy on the cover once and what a stink that made. We had a few crossbreds at one time, the black ones got bred to our Hereford bull and the red ones we'd try to AI to an Angus or Gelbvieh bull. Don't care where our bulls go to, most people that call us are commercial breeders who know the value of using a Hereford bull right now and all you have to do is look at Hereford sales the past few years to know they are in high demand. One of our best bulls we've ever raised sold to another Hereford breeder here in the state last fall who has been in business for over 100 years and I would bet the majority of the bulls they sell are to commercial breeders too.

 

[RoanDurham]

But I understand where people like Roan are coming from. He sells $2500 shorthorn heifers. He has to justify that price some kind of way.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? As you've experienced first hand, by your own account, buying an expensive bull doesn't ensure it's a quality bull.

 

[elkwc]

Look on cattle range. If you can't do it, I'll do it for you and I guarantee you I can find a reasonable bull of any breed for $3k. I personally own more expensive bulls because I take pride in having the best I can afford, but for the economics of it...for the small commercial guy, don't be fooled into thinking there aren't any quality bulls in that $2500-3500 range.

RD I looked on cattle range and none within 200 miles of where I live. I saw some 3,000.00 and most of them look like last years $1,250-$1,500 dollar bulls. There were a few exceptions but none in this area. But nothing in the $1,500-$2,500 range that I saw.

 

[RoanDurham]

Why are you limiting yourself to a 200 mile radius? the last bull I imported came from saskatchewan and cost me less than a grand to get him all the way to Texas. For $3-500 you can get a bull shipped nearly anywhere in the country. What breed are you looking for on cattle range? I'd be happy to help.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Well, I have spent an hour attempting to attach our February bull sale results to show you. I just can't get it to work. This is the largest registered bull sale in our area, with very strict sifting and grading practices.
There were 318 bulls that made it through this year. Most of very high quality. Most felt that our prices were down at least $1,000. per bull from what they normally would be.
Just for example, out of 47 Hereford bulls the average sale price was $3,030.85 Out of 28 Polled average sale price was $2,600.
If anyone is curious as to the details and bloodlines go to http://www.redbluffbullsale.com
I just thought that it was interesting to compare our prices as opposed to the prices all of you are seeing. Red Bluff had a lot of good bulls sell for well under $3,000 in all breeds.