How long have "black cattle" been dominant.

[Pharmer]

I have been looking at the best cattle to raise to bring the most when I sell my calves at the salebarn. There is no denying that the black baldy and plain black calves bring a little more in my area. Has it always been this way? Or is this a fad that some of you folks have seen before?

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

The black cow thing is just a fad and it will pass soon enough because we are on the threshhold of the Great Hereford Revival. The demand for Hereford cattle is increasin' steadily due to the CHB program and Ridgefeild Farms.

 

[mtnman]

It used to be in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's that teh amrket would flip-flop every 5-6 years or so with one bringing a premium of the ranch, one time, then switching.

This last "black run" began in the mid 80's, so it has been hanging on.

I'm a "red" guy myself, so have been predicting the demise of the "black" movement for about 12-15 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Some say they don't see the price break, and some years, we haven't either, as long as groups are large when sold, like a good 80 head or so, but with smaller groups, there is a break, on average, nationwide.

I don't know how much longer this "black" thing will go on, but I'm pretty sure that sometime it will become of less importance, not that it will switch to where reds bring a premium, I don't forsee that. But, it is pretty obvious to me that even though commercial men have tried it, there are just places in the USA that are too hot, and too humid for black cows to be competitive with reds in terms of breed back, thus longterm performance, ie lifetime production suffers.

mtnman

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Dad says back in the 70's you almost couldn't give those black hided cattle away up here. People seemed to move alot towards the Continentals in the early eighties and then once they got the Angus bred up a bit, they came back into popularity. I think, now that you can get almost every breed in black, the market will be looking for something else to signify what the best beef is. Could possibly be those Fleck markings like you see in Shorthorns and some of the other British Breeds or possibly the next big thing might be some sort of genetic testing to indicate what beef is good or not.

 

[Frankie]

I have been looking at the best cattle to raise to bring the most when I sell my calves at the salebarn. There is no denying that the black baldy and plain black calves bring a little more in my area. Has it always been this way? Or is this a fad that some of you folks have seen before?

I don't believe it's a fad (but I'm an Angus breeder). I remember my uncle telling me in '83 that the buyers paid more for black calves at the sale barn than his red Limousin calves. Now, I don't know how good his Limousin calves were, I just remember him saying that the buyers liked black. The Angus Association went out on a limb with CAB and EPDs. Both have paid off for Angus breeders. They're also working hard with CAB-licensed feedlots and the AnguSource tags to add marketing value to known Angus cattle, not just generic black. So, personally, I expect Angus to remain popular, even if "black" doesn't.

 

[dun]

Red a history of the cattle industry in the US a few years back. I don;t recall the year time frames, but the Shorthorn was dominant for a while, then the Hereford, now the mantle has been passed to the blk Angus. With any luck in the future everyone will enjoy the luxury of raising quality cattle and enjoy the benifits, more or less equally regardless of hide color. It may take secialized marketing programs for lean high yeild grade carcass or the more moderate good yeield grade good quality grade, or or that matte straight high quality grade without regard to yeild grade. The last one I don;t think will ever come to pass unless it;s selling very specilized beef in a niche market. High choice and YG 2-3 will calways make money. Maybe not the top of the market, but year in and year out, they'll make decent money without any "fad" conotation.

dun

 

[lucky us]

I think it also depends who you talk to. Most of the ranchers that I know would prefer Herefords. What I have figured out about about them is that I prefer Gerts.

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

I think it also depends who you talk to. Most of the ranchers that I know would prefer Herefords. What I have figured out about about them is that I prefer Gerts.

Why do you like the Gerts over the Herefords for? I see that you are from New Mexico, are you anywhere near the Hi Lo country where that movie was about?

 

[Chuck]

When I was a kid(Late 60's,Early 70's) there were only a few Angus cow herds around here. Not huge numbers in the feedlots either. Most were Hereford or crossbred. Actually quite a few shorthorn herds in this area too. Angus were popular for club calves. All of a sudden in the late 70's and even more in the early 80's the cow herds started turning black and the others fell off somewhat. There are a couple decent size Char and Sim herds here too. By the mid 80's there were not near as many feedlots left here. Down to a small fraction of the cattle on feed in this area now compared to 30 years ago,so its hard to compare. I don't believe Angus cattle are a fad if they are good ones. I do believe that we will see the end of anything with a black hide automatically bringing a premium. I have noticed a little color beginning to creep back in to some previously all black herds owned by people that have been in it a long time and that I consider successful . That is not happening because those people were tired of making too much money. As a side note, there is a sale barn here that has expanded into selling large quantities of cattle to feedyards out west. He says he is seeing increased demand in some areas for non black cattle as long as they are good ones.

 

[Hill Creek Farm]

Black cattle have been dominant for only about 27 years. Thats about it. Herefords were the big thing, before them and Charolais were dominant in the mid-70s for about three years. :cboy:

 

[la4angus]

Charolais were dominant in the mid-70s for about three years. :cboy:

There weren't enough charolais around in the mid 70's to consider them the dominant breed.

 

[Hill Creek Farm]

I know that Charolais were dominant then, because I looked it up in some of our old files that I have on record in our farm log book. It reads that they were dominant from 1975 to 1978. Thats all. After that the Angus breed, specifically the Black Angus, were the big hit in the late 70s and early 80s. :cboy:

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I know that Charolais were dominant then, because I looked it up in some of our old files that I have on record in our farm log book. It reads that they were dominant from 1975 to 1978. Thats all. After that the Angus breed, specifically the Black Angus, were the big hit in the late 70s and early 80s.

Could be different in different areas. I remember those huge Simmentals from the late seventies and early eighties. It took a few years to get those Angus caught up.

 

[mtnman]

I hvaen't seen the figure for a few years, but to my recollection, the low point for Angus registrations with only 133,000 recorded was in about 84 or so, maybe even a year or two later. So, we either don't know what we are talking about, or we are talking about two different things. One being breed registrations, and one being buyer color preference.

mtnman