Highland Advice

[rain dance]

Town farmer if you have any pictures of those brangus cross calfs I'd be real interested in seeing them. Muddy thanks for talking me out of feeding them out.

 

[Muddy]

Town farmer if you have any pictures of those brangus cross calfs I'd be real interested in seeing them. Muddy thanks for talking me out of feeding them out.

No problem, just keep the highland cows if I were you.

 

[townfarmer]

Town farmer if you have any pictures of those brangus cross calfs I'd be real interested in seeing them. Muddy thanks for talking me out of feeding them out.

Here's a few very young 1st cross Brangus highland calves. Most were black but we got a couple of grey creamy ones.

Here's some at about 6 months old

And about 7 months

Here's a F1 Brangus Highland cow we kept:

These were the best calves we ever got from the highland cows. It's worth noting that the Brangus bull was one hell of a bull and it was probibly the best season for grass we've ever had as well. When we sold them we got almost the same money per kg as the neighbor who sold pure angus calves at the same time.

Andrew

 

[rain dance]

Those look great. Most important thing is they look like normal cattle with a normal coat. Even if mine where not as beefy I could live with it. Thank you!

 

[ANAZAZI]

Seen few Highland X Charolais crosses few years ago, they looks good and a bit heavier than straight highlands but the highland influence is pretty strong. You ain't gonna fooling the buyers with 1/2 highland calves unless the calves are 1/4 highland 3/4 beef.

The issue is not how to cheat order buyers, the issue is to make functional proffessional cattle from the first cross of Highland Cattle. Crosses with which there is no need to play games or acting immoraly by misrepresenting them. Also, a calf that is 3/4 Charolais is not fooling anyone either it is for real a good feeder calf.

 

[Muddy]

Seen few Highland X Charolais crosses few years ago, they looks good and a bit heavier than straight highlands but the highland influence is pretty strong. You ain't gonna fooling the buyers with 1/2 highland calves unless the calves are 1/4 highland 3/4 beef.

The issue is not how to cheat order buyers, the issue is to make functional proffessional cattle from the first cross of Highland Cattle. Crosses with which there is no need to play games or acting immoraly by misrepresenting them. Also, a calf that is 3/4 Charolais is not fooling anyone either it is for real a good feeder calf.

At least a 3/4 Charolais feeder will sells good.... unlike these $300 half-breed highland calves. The real issue is how to make a good PROFIT out of highland cattle via the selling animals at the sale barns.

 

[ANAZAZI]

And a Blonde cross looks far better than a Char cross. Not only because of hair.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Best thing to do is cut your losses run them through the barn take those pennies put some dollars with it and buy what the buyers want.
Your spending dollars to make dimes with cattle the order buyer doesn't want

 

[Muddy]

And a Blonde cross looks far better than a Char cross. Not only because of hair.

You're missing the main point is that there is a little or no profit to selling highland or highland cross calves straight to the sale barns. Hair, small frame, slow growth and poor carcass quality is what get the sellers killed. These calves are bringing 1/3 price of an average black Angus feeder at the sale barns.

You're listing bulls of uncommon or extremely rare breeds that might not be available for Rain Dance.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Pet market.

Off-the-farm beef market.

...both of those avenues will lead to MUCH higher revenue per animal than the sale barn if he wants to move on from the experiment.

...if he wants to sorta move on, then breed them to a breed that will flesh out well (and there are a few) who are not insanely different in terms of frame score, keep the heifers and convert the bulls to off-the-farm beef ... then, once you have the number of F1 heifers you want, convert the straight-bred Highlands in to off-the-farm beef or the pet market.

Either way, if you're taking straight highlands or the F1s to the sale barn, your marketing plan has probably failed.

 

[ANAZAZI]

And a Blonde cross looks far better than a Char cross. Not only because of hair.

You're missing the main point is that there is a little or no profit to selling highland or highland cross calves straight to the sale barns. Hair, small frame, slow growth and poor carcass quality is what get the sellers killed. These calves are bringing 1/3 price of an average black Angus feeder at the sale barns.

You're listing bulls of uncommon or extremely rare breeds that might not be available for Rain Dance.

Someone is missing the point. It is not me. By putting a Terminal sire on them the calf will be better and look better than an average Angus steer. So the price for such a crossbred calf will not be bad, nor will its actual worth as a feeder be.

The breeds I listed also slicks the calves off considerably, which does not happen much when using a Charolais on them. If hair is not important, a Limousine bull is a viable option to make great looking crossbreds. It is possible that it is true that all four breed I listed are rare in his area, it is also quite possible that he can get such bulls, and even more possible through AI.

I have crossed Highlands with both Blondes and Limousines, and I have crossed Piedmontese bull on such crossbred cows. There is no excess hair in the summer, the beef conformation is excellent.

 

[Muddy]

Except the half-breed highland calves do not bring same price as an Angus Calf. We are talking about a $300 calf (highlandX)vs $900 calf(Angus) in the current market at sale barn of United States. You are going to losing money in highlands if you're taking the animals to the sale barns. Highland cattle are dirty cheap in most places.

 

[Supa Dexta]

They give the crowd a laugh though.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Except the half-breed highland calves do not bring same price as an Angus Calf. We are talking about a $300 calf (highlandX)vs $900 calf(Angus) in the current market at sale barn of United States. You are going to losing money in highlands if you're taking the animals to the sale barns. Highland cattle are dirty cheap in most places.

Famous film quotes: "You are literally to stupid to insult"
(from "the hangover")

 

[ANAZAZI]

Except the half-breed highland calves do not bring same price as an Angus Calf. We are talking about a $300 calf (highlandX)vs $900 calf(Angus) in the current market at sale barn of United States. You are going to losing money in highlands if you're taking the animals to the sale barns. Highland cattle are dirty cheap in most places.

Famous film quotes: "You are literally too stupid to insult"
(from "the hangover")

 

[riquezada]

We thought about getting one for the heck of it but our neighbor had one in his big herd and didn't keep her long. I can't remember what the cross calf looked like. I say advertise and sell them to a hobby farmer or to someone who wants pets. Personally I would probably butcher them. How many you have?

 

[544hydro]

A couple of our hereford cross calves

 

[rain dance]

I haves 7. Thank you for the hereford cross pics. Can't justify another bull for this year. Next year if I can't sell them I will likely try to AI.

 

[Muddy]

With current feeder prices and cull prices right now, I'm not sure if it's worth to hauling highlands to sale barns. Most average black Angus steers brought $500 this week.

 

[rain dance]

Today I finally found private buyers and sold for slightly more then I bought them for surprisingly enough. Lesson learned. Now to take that cash and by some longhorns bred to a char :dunce: just joking but I can't say I haven't thought of it.