"Friends, I'm certainly not trying to be argumentive either, and I'm not going to say that it is impossible for me to make a mistake about "figgers" that I don't have in front of me at the moment."
That's why it's best to have the figures in front of you (with an internet link) before you start promoting your cattle.
"The industry average gain in the decade study at CSU was 2.9 pounds."
Where did that figure come from, please?
"Don't forget the fact that Hereford beef does not have to have as good a grade to still actually taste better than the USDA upper 2/3 Choice. The same is true of Angus, for that matter."
Taste is a personal thing. I prefer grain fed, high quality. Some people prefer lean, grass fed. But, bottom line, the packers pay more money for marbled beef. The last I knew, they based their grids on yield and quality grades. "Taste" didn't earn the producer a cent.
"I personally fed a show heifer for my son that gained over 3 pounds per day, and I believe steers should out-perform heifers. I culled this heifer because I felt her yearling weight was too small,"
While your claims of 6 lbs per day and feed conversion are impressive (though undocumented), they don't really mean much without some idea of the age of the bull, type of feed and feeding conditions. For example, if you're hand feeding a yearling bull by himself or with only one or two penmates that he's been around his entire life, he might gain better than if he has to compete with other bulls in an unfamiliar environment, or was a younger bull. Since you're right here in OK, home of one of the largest bull test stations in the US, let me suggest that you contact them and put some of your bulls on test. That way you will have something to back up your claims about average daily gain. Believe me, it's a learning experience ;-) Test results for several breeds of bulls can be found at
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/OBI/test_results.htm. You might recognize some of the Hereford breeders who test their bulls at OBI.
