Last chess move in the 20 year plan.

[Aaron]

My final plan once I reached 100 cows and had a small F1 cowherd component was to introduce either Angus or Charolais for the terminal cross. Being that Char cross cattle are an easy 10-20 cents over blacks here, it's a simple decision.

Picked this guy up yesterday and will be covering my SimmHerf cross cows for the years to come.

 

[daneg]

Good looking bull, that horned Hereford doesn't have love in his eyes. I hope the new guy doesn't get hurt.

 

[Aaron]

Good looking bull, that horned Hereford doesn't have love in his eyes. I hope the new guy doesn't get hurt.

Nah, the old guy is a gentle giant. He likes an actual challenge. He'd love to take on the Simm that is same age. But I keep them separated for that reason.

 

[A.J.]

Good lookin bulls. Should make some nice calves. We're opposite on top of the market here- Blacks usually bring 5-15 cents more than Char cross.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Good lookin bulls. Should make some nice calves. We're opposite on top of the market here- Blacks usually bring 5-15 cents more than Char cross.

Yep, here too

 

[Davemk]

Butterscotch cattle are paid a premium in parts of Canada are they not?

 

[farmerjan]

It almost seems an oxymoron that red cattle are often better grazers in the heat, as are lighter colored, tan and white... Charolais colored cattle... at least my reds and hereford crosses and charolais crosses are out in the heat more in the summer.... YET in the colder north country... they favor the red colored cattle and have alot more woods and places for the cattle to go in the heat of the summer and as well as it not being nearly as hot for the length of the summers like we have further south... You might expect the black cattle to do better up there....
Just an observation.... ( and I like red cattle )

 

[farmerjan]

Nice stout looking bulls with good body and depth...Like the Charolais

 

[Aaron]

Butterscotch cattle are paid a premium in parts of Canada are they not?

Yep. White and buckskin cattle bring the premiums in Canada. No one in North America pays more for feeder cattle than the Amish and Mennonite farmers in Southern Ontario with 50-100 head feedlots.

As was told to myself and others by a very well known auctioneer/order buyer, those guys have been known to lose $200 a head at times, as long as they have bragging rights of having the best looking pen of feeder/fat cattle in the countryside against all other Amish/Mennonite neighbors. It's a competition among them every year. Some auction marts publish the names of the producers with the highest selling cattle for the week, in their market reports, just so it's official who has the high selling cattle.

 

[Aaron]

It almost seems an oxymoron that red cattle are often better grazers in the heat, as are lighter colored, tan and white... Charolais colored cattle... at least my reds and hereford crosses and charolais crosses are out in the heat more in the summer.... YET in the colder north country... they favor the red colored cattle and have alot more woods and places for the cattle to go in the heat of the summer and as well as it not being nearly as hot for the length of the summers like we have further south... You might expect the black cattle to do better up there....
Just an observation.... ( and I like red cattle )

The last place a guy wants his cattle is in the shade of trees all day. Cattle don't gain much weight where the grass don't grow. I've naturally eliminated all of the dark red Hereford cows from the herd for this reason; they were the first to run for shade on a hot day and last ones to leave.

 

[wbvs58]

And here's me thinking that you were a true blue Hereford guy Aaron.

Ken

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry, my reply to you @Aaron with the comment about the trees and shade was meant that there would be places for the BLACK cattle to get a little relief from what heat/sun you have up there...so that is why I said it would SEEM that black cattle would be more in favor in the north rather than the obvious that red and breeds that are red seem to be much more popular up there.
And contrary to what some think, cattle need a certain amount of "down time" as they chew their cud after they masticate all the grasses they eat and all... If they are grazing a good part of the night, I have no problem with them in the shade during the heat of the day.

 

[Aaron]

And here's me thinking that you were a true blue Hereford guy Aaron.

Ken

Always had a little love for the Simms . Grew up around Simms/Chars/Herfs as kid, so it's come full circle.

No love whatsoever for the Chars, but if they net me an extra $5-10k a year, it helps pay the mortgage on the next round of farm land acquisitions.