Longhorn breed...WHY?

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blackgloves

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I see lots of posts here on this website about people owning Longhorns and I'm very curious on why someone would choose this breed. Here in TX, longhorn cattle get ran outta auctions leaving the previous owners pretty light on they're pockets. I have always seen them as a trash breed. Sorry to be so harsh but here in TX they are looked at as a "display" breed. Meaning mostly richy "ranchers" in the inner cities buy around 10 acres some where out of the city limits then buy a small amount of longhorns for show.

discuss
 
There are crappy cattle in all breeds and there are great cattle in all breeds.

Maybe the breeders of LH have found a niche that other seeders have not, if you say only the Richy Rich's have them as lawn ornaments , they probably sell them for a pretty penny. I would guess way more than you get for your cattle. Also the lawn ornaments I see advertised have had a lot of work put into them, they are all halter trained and pretty much rideable.

To each their own, there is room for everyone. :tiphat:
 
HIlls:

Agreed with everything you said. The ones that are pure bred and raised on very small ranches to sell as "ornaments" do bring big bucks. They must have desirable hides and horns though or they dont sell very well at all. Ive driven by ranches though that have LHs for large ranches that aren't being raised for the typical "ornament" types. Ive ran into many people that are using them to cross. Just never understood it. Their is so many good breeds out there to cross with or to use for "pure breeding" I knew a guy in Austin that bought my cousins Simmental steer because its hide looked like a longhorn. In Austin or Texas theres lots of folks that want this kinda thing because they went to the university of Texas. Thats why he bought it, he had it slaughtered for its hide

The last time I went to the auction was Dec 08. LH's were bringing in the .20+ range which was way below the other breeds that came through. Which included mostly Limousine, Angus, Brahman and Hereford.
 
There is not a cheaper way to get in the cow busniess. Buy longhorn cows put a Char or Red Limi bull on them and sell calves. You can buy the longhorn cows for two or three hundred a head put them on pasture and leave them alone.
 
Red Bull Breeder":wnh6c49k said:
There is not a cheaper way to get in the cow business. Buy longhorn cows put a Char or Red Limi bull on them and sell calves. You can buy the longhorn cows for two or three hundred a head put them on pasture and leave them alone.


Any good cattle should be able to be thrown out to pasture and forgot about. There have been some pathetic LH pics (as well as other breed pics) posted here once and a while, but the pasture they were on in the pics was mostly thistles and weeds; which proves that even long horns need decent feed.

Like has been said before there are good cattle in any breed and there are crappy cattle in all breeds.

I am trying to remember what the Ewings(sp?) raised for cattle, I think they were LH's. If I could find a niche to sell lawn ornaments to people around here I would; we almost were there with the beautiful Holsteins but they were too high maintenance for people. :lol2:
 
some people value raising animals that interest them or that they just enjoy.
 
WHY NOT?? Like has been said, there's a good niche for pasture ornaments. They are supposed to be good hustlers in sparse country better than breeds that evolved with lush pasture or grain feeding. Then there's preserving a chunk of history (like, why don't we just recycle all those pesky old Mustangs and GTO's and T-Birds that aren't practical anymore and use the steel to make appliances???). And there's the aftermarket for skulls and hides. And it has been said on this board if you cross a real beefy breed on LH cows, you can still do OK at the sale barn with the calves.

You could ask the same question about any breed you don't care for or think has merit. But somebody else has found a way to make them work and make them pay, I'll bet.
 
ANAZAZI":20g7j3oz said:
Has any one put LH and piedmontese together? I would if I could!
Yep. Fellow in Missouri put LH on his heifers. AND my brother purchased a LH bull and he is currently breeding his heifers, so I will see first hand the result about this time next year....
edit: found a picture:

http://www.pauscattle.org/PPROFILE_FALL ... R2_WEB.pdf
 
hillsdown":7hgovesm said:
I am trying to remember what the Ewings(sp?) raised for cattle, I think they were LH's.

"By the fall of 1860, Southfork Ranch was well on its way as the leader of the territory. The first thousand head of Southworth Texas longhorns were driven north to market on the new Chisholm Trail"

This was when Miss Ellie's grandfather, Enoch Southworth, the founder of Southfork Ranch owned and operated the enterprise.

"Young Aaron's acceptance of new ranching ideas, integrating them compatibly with the old ways, brought even greater prosperity to Southfork. In the late 1880s, when the cattle trails to markets were more easily traveled, when the trains were more efficiently shipping beef to the north and east, he was responsible for Southfork's being one of the first ranches to raise less-tough, fatter cattle and slowly diminish their number of longhorns. "Daddy," he explained, "for every one of 'em with those eight-feet horns, I can git three Herefords on the boxcar." More revenues poured into the Southfork chest."

Aaron was the son and only child of Enoch Southworth and future father of Miss Ellie.

"For Ellie it was a magical place to grow up in, a peaceful place that also held many moments of exquisite excitement: calving time, the roundups, the rodeos, the auctions in Fort Worth. Southfork cattle were commanding some of the highest prices in the state, bulls and new breeds won prizes every year at the State Fair in Dallas, and money, well, it was just there, lots of it."

Of course Miss Ellie went on to marry Jock Ewing. You know the rest of it.

"Today, Southfork is a mighty ranch out of the past, though it is slightly different with the times. Its traditions continue: the riding, roping, branding of cattle (some of the state's finest Charolais, Angus, and Santa Gertrudis),"

Quotations taken from this website if you want to read more about it:
www.ultimatedallas.com/episodeguide/southfork.html
 
ga. prime":27r21aar said:
hillsdown":27r21aar said:
I am trying to remember what the Ewings(sp?) raised for cattle, I think they were LH's.

"By the fall of 1860, Southfork Ranch was well on its way as the leader of the territory. The first thousand head of Southworth Texas longhorns were driven north to market on the new Chisholm Trail"

This was when Miss Ellie's grandfather, Enoch Southworth, the founder of Southfork Ranch owned and operated the enterprise.

"Young Aaron's acceptance of new ranching ideas, integrating them compatibly with the old ways, brought even greater prosperity to Southfork. In the late 1880s, when the cattle trails to markets were more easily traveled, when the trains were more efficiently shipping beef to the north and east, he was responsible for Southfork's being one of the first ranches to raise less-tough, fatter cattle and slowly diminish their number of longhorns. "Daddy," he explained, "for every one of 'em with those eight-feet horns, I can git three Herefords on the boxcar." More revenues poured into the Southfork chest."

Aaron was the son and only child of Enoch Southworth and future father of Miss Ellie.

"For Ellie it was a magical place to grow up in, a peaceful place that also held many moments of exquisite excitement: calving time, the roundups, the rodeos, the auctions in Fort Worth. Southfork cattle were commanding some of the highest prices in the state, bulls and new breeds won prizes every year at the State Fair in Dallas, and money, well, it was just there, lots of it."

Of course Miss Ellie went on to marry Jock Ewing. You know the rest of it.

"Today, Southfork is a mighty ranch out of the past, though it is slightly different with the times. Its traditions continue: the riding, roping, branding of cattle (some of the state's finest Charolais, Angus, and Santa Gertrudis),"

Quotations taken from this website if you want to read more about it:
http://www.ultimatedallas.com/episodegu ... hfork.html
Very Interesting-----
 
blackgloves":35digipc said:
I see lots of posts here on this website about people owning Longhorns and I'm very curious on why someone would choose this breed. Here in TX, longhorn cattle get ran outta auctions leaving the previous owners pretty light on they're pockets. I have always seen them as a trash breed. Sorry to be so harsh but here in TX they are looked at as a "display" breed. Meaning mostly richy "ranchers" in the inner cities buy around 10 acres some where out of the city limits then buy a small amount of longhorns for show.

discuss

There are more ways to make money in the cattle business besides hauling to the sale barn. Most of us aren't going to get rich raising cattle. So, IMO, we should raise what we like to look at/deal with. I like my black Angus. That we've made money on them helps, too.
 
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