Ky hills
Well-known member
While I don't want to see anybody fail, I agree that there are some I've been glad that have left.
How long?
- Thread starter kenny thomas
- Start date
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50/50Farms
Well-known member
I don't want anyone to fail, and there's some ranchette folks that in my opinion have won their spurs and can sit at the grown ups table and talk with the rest of us even with their minis because they've come to appreciate what all this means, but too many are the ones that don't get it. They're welcome to go bust up and go home.
See, I interpreted @kenny thomas 's OP differently. and Kenny, please correct me if I am wrong. I thought he was saying that, when the current fad cools off, and people start getting rid of them. how likely are they to infiltrate the commercial herds, and what impact will the miniature genetics have? How long would it take to breed out once it was breed in? People may sell or give them to someone else like them....but who has a little bigger place and has regular sized cattle as yard ornaments. Or take them to the sale barns. What is the result of a cross with a mini Zebu and a Brahma? A mid-sized Brahma? I don't recall seeing any pot-belly pig crosses with hogs. but I see people running miniature and dwarf goats with standard goats all the time? Are the kids a size somewhere in between? There are miniature donkeys, standard donkeys, and Mammoth jackstock. How they are registered is determined by their height. A mini donkey crossed with a mammoth may produce a standard, for example. Does a mini Jeresy bred to a Jersey result in a mid-size Jeresy? Or, could a Jeresy bred to a mini produce a regular size, and the resulti9mng calf be bred back to a regular size and produce a regular size, but maybe THAT one could be bred to a regular size and that calf end up being a mini? If so...if that "mini gene" got into a Jersey or Brahma or whatever herd.... how many times bred back to regular Brahmas or Jereseys would it take to breed out the "mini gene"? Am I close, @kenny thomas ?
RDFF
Well-known member
Outside of my paygrade or interest to pursue an answer.....
Travlr
Well-known member
I've seen far too many good, productive acreages that have been ruined by wealthy urbanites coming in, buying, and then building huge, fancy facilities that could never be supported by the land. Who wants to buy a place with a million dollar house and a quarter of a million dollar barn, and all the other trappings that add up, when the place will only support a couple of hundred cows? There are places that have been abandoned and used for tax write-offs for fifty years because the owners can't sell them, because the infrastructure far exceeds the value in any income that can be generated.
Ky hills
Well-known member
I see similar things here in KY, only instead of capacity for 200 cows which would actually be a big farm here, it's more like 10-20 cows. Or worse yet, a few acres, gigantic house, fancy barns and a few horses, that never get rode.
We looked at a small piece of land in OK last year, might have been able to have run a few cows or horses on it, but the house was such a monstrosity I don't know who could afford to keep it up even if they were able to buy it and finish up with the finish work on some of the inside.
SmokinM
Well-known member
There is more money to be made in selling something the next man in line has no intention of profiting from than to sell something the next man needs room for profit on. Desires and wants always bring more money than necessity. There is way more profit margin in sex, cigarettes and alcohol than there is in groceries and gas. The little buggers are cute and for all you ugly SOBs out there like me that don't understand what that counts for will never be able to relate.
50/50Farms
Well-known member
I got the gist of what he meant, I just look at it like this: there's only so many, there's enough differences, and the world is already so full of boogeymen that a group of guys like us shouldn't be worrying too much over some little cows.
I didn't know these even existed until about 10 year or so ago. I was at the local sale, because the owner had called me and told me so-and-so was brining in his remaining Corriente steers and some Corr cows . There was what I thought was a black Corriente cow go through as a head cow. Slick and PERFECT shaped horns...about 750 lbs, so I bought her too. $225, because no body stood up and told anything about her, which you usually do when you sell head cows. I took her down south to the Kudzu pasture, and about 9 mos after I got her, she started bagging up, and I mean BIG time for a Corr. Hell, big time for an Angus, even. Looked like a Jersey in a dairy. A team roping partner of mine that had a dairy years ago, came by and I wanted him to look at her., to see if maybe I ought to try to add another calf to her. Her Corr calf wasn't taking anywhere near enough milk to make a difference. He told me " Hell, that ain't no Corriente...that is a Dexter!" Her calf grew faster and a little bigger than most of the straight Corr calves did. Dunno if it was the extra milk, or that she was a little beefier than most Corrs are. Or both. And, she was a little friendlier than most Corrs...would walk up to you, etc. I had her for a few years, and the heifers I kept off her were still making a lot of milk. A lot more than Corrs do, but not as much as she did. And, she may not have produced so much if she was on regular grass instead of he Kudzu. Just now I got to thinking, that if I had her now, I would probably use her in this Corr x MFB project I am experimenting with. If you run up on a black one that size and that slick, Josh, holler at me. Just might try one or 2 just to see.
50/50Farms
Well-known member
If I run up on one I'll definitely let you know, but the ranchette and homestead crowd have definitely inflated the price. I see one every so often for a decent price still, I'll keep my ear to the ground. I've got three or four places I'm trying to fetch extra "ag" work from right now, a riding academy, a roping place that also has a beef operation, a horse boarding and trading place, and so on. Good places to find oddball animals for sale at a good price through, I've found some great deals over the years on the things that people thought were cute before a little animal that ate a little turned into a big animal that ate a lot. Bought a slaughter ready pig for $50 once like that.
Now that I think about it, it may have been closer to 20 years ago, because I don't remember her having any Angus or Brangus calves. Her 1/2 Corr daughters did, though, and they worked out fine. She seemed to suffer more than the Corrs did in summer down there, but your place is further north than the Kudzu place is.
50/50Farms
Well-known member
Up here in the mountains, valleys, hills and coalhills we certainly get slapped by heat all the same but we benefit from an abundance of shade and usually of breeze too, and a high abundance of sources of cold running water.
Same up here where I am too. But there ain't nothing like the south GA summers with its flat land and 100% humidity, 90 degree water in the ponds, and even the creeks. And the gnats! The "gnat line" starts about Macon, and they are HELL til you get used to them, on man AND beast!
50/50Farms
Well-known member
I got about 3/4 of enough of that sh** hunting and fishing around the bogs, swamps, and marshes in a different chapter of life. Killing damn snakes in November while trying to figure out if there was a way to head off these dogs and the deer they were on without bailing off in the inky black water behind the local boys I was hunting with.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Very close
So the issue that Kenny has is the "mini" genes being introduced into commercial herds and how it would effect them.
So a few facts the average Jersey of today is 46 inches tall at maturity. The cut off of mini is 42 inches or under at 2 years of age for a female. Sorry to tell you but many of todays Jerseys are already in the "mini" category.
Ok let's talk another breed Hereford has never discriminated against smaller sized cattle. And many breeds prior to the early to mid 1970s were referred to as belt buckle cattle. And most if not all of the commercial beef cattle were very close to"mini" sized.
So why would it be such a huge issue if the size of cattle returned to the size they have been historically?
What will happen with me personally when the price of "mini" highlands drops. I will be buying every one of the larger and better quality highland cows and heifers and continue to add the genetics to my herd.
Most cattle need increased calories to maintain body condition and function at temps . Below 32f
In highlands the need to increase calories is at or below 0f
Do you know how many thousands of hours that is each year for many in many areas.
I feed hay for 4-6 months a year do you know how much that decreases feed cost ?
Where did all these "mini" genetics come from they didn't magically apear over night. They were and have been in the genetics of cattle for thousands of years. And at least for some breeds of cattle were the majority genetic component prior to the larger at any cost craze. But for some who refuse to let science or historical facts get in the way of their opinions the entire world is coming to an end. If cattle breeds return to their historical size.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Im glad the highland are working for you and in your area. I hope to feed less than 30 days next year so raising hair to save hay isnt in my plans. Also anywhere within 150 miles of here they are very cheap. Thats about as far away as I am attending sales right now.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
And take a short frame calf to market anywhere in the south or southeast and it gets discounted very bad.
So we know your issue with highlands is you had them and didn't make money on them . What is your issue with Galloways ? Or is it Dutch belted you have an issue with? Don't like people outcrossing inbred Holsteins to them ? Or?
simme
Old Dumb Guy
New client showed up at my daughter's vet clinic with this newly purchased calf for a "checkup". After a thorough exam, she pronounced it healthy and cute. Looks like they had also invested in a high fashion halter. They probably paid more than I will get for a yearling simmental bull.
