new here...please forgive my ignorance...

[DavisBeefmasters]

...ditto, to a lot of the above

...but I have to suggest Beefmasters -- one of the 6 essentials is disposition and for the record, to date we have only had 1 calf that was a little on the obnoxious side (but to her credit, she was born while our teenage son was watching the place for us and he chased her 6 ways from Sunday at 1 day old to tag and weigh her... and momma never ran him into the dirt which he so obviously deserved)

 

[Avalon]

My suggestion is that you get a subscription to the weekly livestock reporter (Ft. worth). Then start visiting some of the different operations that advertise. might go to a few sales. Or just call and arrange a visit. Kind of funny how I've never seen a cattleman that didnt like to show off his/her cattle. As you may well see, we are all going to suggest to you that you get into a breed that we like. Take some time thinking about who and where you want to sell to and then what type of cattle you like. get to know the breeds and the cattle. Dont get a particular breed just because someone on here says so. There are markets for all the mainline breeds and even some of the strange. If Frankie and I had our way with you you would be raising Angus or sim-angus. But that is because we have a market for what we are doing and we enjoy our breed of choice and associations. As you visit some of these places make it a weekend (you and the wife) and enjoy yourselves.

 

[alftn]

I agree with you backhoe, but he wants eaisy to handle/calm animals, and nova told him to stay away from brimmers..

I would use a hereford bull on brimmers and the go back with angus,brangus, or prehaps balancers...I do not know the brimmers very well but if nova saies stay away , I would probly do so...Although Brangus might be a good choice...

 

[novatech]

I agree with you backhoe, but he wants eaisy to handle/calm animals, and nova told him to stay away from brimmers..

I would use a hereford bull on brimmers and the go back with angus,brangus, or prehaps balancers...I do not know the brimmers very well but if nova saies stay away , I would probly do so...Although Brangus might be a good choice...

I would go with pure Brahman before cross bred. The only reason for him to stay away from Brahman is because he wants to get his feet wet. This says to me he has no experience. Even docile Brahman or crosses can be ruined by improper handling. So if he can learn how to handle cattle first, specifically Brahman, then I would say go for it.
Also I do not want to limit this to only Brahman. The worst cow I have ever worked with is a pure bred Shorthorn that my brother owns.
Having said this I beleive Brangus cross calves will bring the best value at the sale barn. Brangus cows and a Herford bull for example.

 

[TexasBred]

thank you for the replies. at this point the cattle will be taken to the sale barn. just a good run of the mill auction. there is a good one in emory, and currently i live near lufkin so those are the two places i would be hauling my cattle to sale to. so maybe we should look at some run of the mill commerical cattle at this point and look to certain breeds maybe down the line? i don't like this idea because i really would like to start working with specific breeds so that i can eliminate the ones i really don't like working with and aren't bringing good prices. i figure if i start now i will have figured out what i really like and i can get my name out there so people know that i will bring in good cattle when they see/hear my name.

Why would you drive from the Lufkin area to Emory? That's a heck of a long drive and you have a dozen good sales within 30-40 miles of Lufkin area. Don't eat up any potential profit hauling cattle.

 

[Frankie]

again thanks to you all for your insight. you have given me plenty to think about and to ponder. as far as learning to grow grass, my family has been selling hay bales for years. we have one pasture that we sell hay from every year, so i plan to use that pasture for my hay bales. our other pasture already has some cows in there. they are my cousins i own no part of them, they are commerical cows. my wife and i are wanting to get some registered purebreed cows to invest in.

Well, there are lots of registered purebred cows available to "invest in". The question is: Can you sell their calves for more money than a commercial cow's calf? Next question: Does it matter to you? There will probably be some temptation to buy a rare/uncommon breed and if that's what you want, go for it. But remember there's usually a reason a breed is rare. You'll be fighting upstream to get your bulls accepted by mainstream commercial cattlemen. And unless you're selling show animals, the bull market for commercial herds is your market.