I have read quite a bit about the Red Poll and their ability to produce a choice carcass on grass alone. That's good info, but I would like to see some data on grain fed calves. I did see some data online, but couldn't make heads or tails of it and the data set was a bit low.
Let me just give you the short explanation of what we are trying to do with (red) PB Simm.
I'm not going to start from the beginning here, but with Fleckvieh cattle eons ago, Simmental had to make some changes because the fleck cattle would not "make the grade" in their carcass quality parameters. Other factors were frame, milk, feed efficiency, etc, etc.
What we have today in red and black PB Simm is a big mess where 90% of the red and blk PB Simms are going back to G151 Legacy-- and sometimes on both Sire and Dam's side-- let me name a few-- CNS Dream On (Heterozygous Blk), Hooks Shear Force (Het Blk) WS Beef Maker (red), Nichols Manifest, Circlet Antoinettes Star, the list goes on forever. I have only a few cows with G 151, but just on one side and they will all be gone in a few years.
In the red genetics it is
HSF, BM, CNSDO, GCF Mr Amigo, Red label, Red baron, Highlander, Bravehart-- the cattle in bold all go back to G 151. Bravehart is the Sire of Highlander he is a red bull out of heterozygous blk parentage.
Highlander has pretty good numbers for a red PB, but in the big scheme of things he isn't that good.
Another red genetic nightmare was in the early 90s when MV Red Light was used-- and later found to have some genetic feet issues--- ...
So early 70's ASA breeders used sorry red angus genetics to rid the fleck cattle of the diluter gene
The 80's were years of breeding black only via G 151
The 90's were MV Red Light
The 00's was CNS Dream On and Hooks Shear Force and Beef Maker --all G 151's
The 10's sons of the above 3-- so far.....
With that background understood--- the only way to get good genetics for red cattle is to start over with new genetics, which is one of the things we have been doing for a long time.
Unlike some associations, ASA allows a breeder to breed up to PB Simmental by taking genetics from other breeds to improve Simm genetics.
So, when you look back into a Simmental great like Leachman 600 U-- for example; you will find a Hereford cow.
If I started with a Red Poll cow and bred her to a PB Red Simm (NOT a G 151) sire it would take several generations to "breed up" to PB. So my question to you is --- do you have a better than average cow in your chosen breed to be the foundation dam for an improved Red Simm? That is what it is going to take to improve red genetics.
Currently, we have 2 red Simm Bulls that have no G 151 anywhere in their background, no dream on, no hsf, no beef maker, no in dew time, basically no junk--- so we are there already, but I am always on the lookout for red cattle that can serve as a foundation dam for even more improvement.
Thanks in advance,
JS
Jovid":x1oab0et said:
I can solve your dilemma .......you just need to use a Red Poll bull on your Simms.