Aaron":13bzzksx said:
If your not worried about udder quality and just want nice big deep barrel mama cows, many of the Butler bulls did just that. Nick the Butler P183, Domino 15G, BT Butler 452M.
I would not recommend Nick The Butler to anyone after he tested as a carrier of hypotrichosis. Granted you have to have a cow that is also HYC for it to show up but I'd sure want to avoid using any bulls that tested positive for a known defect as you could be passing them on through his progeny. It's one thing the AHA got right requiring DNA tests on any bulls that calves will be registered by. We DNA test all our sale bulls regardless where they sell to have transparency as well as peace of mind.
I agree with elkwc, give me a good 5+ or 6 frame cow with good depth of rib and length and a good udder and she'll get the job done. Nothing wrong with larger framed cattle but in some environments seems like they can sometimes be hard doers. Some in the Hereford breed got caught up in the frame race around the time Nick The Butler was popular and lost a lot of ground sacrificing some traits that made Herefords desirable.
Around here I think that Hereford breeders are in tune with what the commercial breeder wants in a bull as bulls sales have been very strong here over the past several years. The top selling breed at the Iowa Beef Expo this year was Hereford that averaged nearly $250 more than the Angus bulls did and that is even with the top Angus bull selling for nearly 2 times more than the top selling Hereford bull.