Elder Statesman":cwhu1i9p said:
JWBrahman":cwhu1i9p said:
SPH,
The weird part is you have two Australians, an Englishman, and an Argentinean doing the most whining about American Herefords. Foreign competitors talking trash about America.
Look what happened when Nash Herefords posted photos of functional cattle with good feet, udders and pigment. They were immediately accused of being impure Hereford. Not by someone who has actually purchased and used their cattle, but by a foreign competitor.
How many cattlemen in the United States sell based on purity? Crickets
1) live calf every year
2) calf grows well on minimal inputs
3) carcass has above average yield with choice grade
Everything else is BS marketing, propaganda, and an outright attempt to destroy our reputation in the global marketplace.
My thoughts exactly. The Argentinean wouldn't take those good cattle because of black tail hair. lol And pigment and spots on their faces. They need to take a look at some of the paintings of some foundation Herefords from England in the 1800's.
And when I see pictures of some of those "pure" Herefords from South American and England, I am not impressed. And the commercial guys who buy bulls here wouldn't be either.
I fully believe this is a marketing gimmick by a few who want to claim they are the only source of "pure" genetics. Here and in England. It also serves as a platform for others to protest against the "big boys" and make themselves feel better.
If you read my post in HT you will find why I don't take a very good bull with black hair. Those are the rules of the local Association.
And as far as breed purity, you better take it in account, since the dilution of the breed eventually ends in its dissaperance with all the business related to it, and that is true for any breed.
I have a commercial herd, starting to register some, and the degeneration of the breed type that I see in the last 40 years is the reason of my stance on breed purity. I am not selling seed stock but planning to do it in the future. I love the breed and I feel obliged to breeders that in the UK, USA, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa and Australia have struggled to keep it pure and improve it.
As one of my uncles used to say: "freedom is free". You can accept
the facts or negate them.