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<blockquote data-quote="Bestoutwest" data-source="post: 1752369" data-attributes="member: 19397"><p>This is going to be a negative post, but please understand why. We started with longhorns many years ago b/c they were the cheapest. We thought we could market the hides and the skulls, while selling freezer beef. Boy were we in for a rude awakening.</p><p></p><p>-You can sell registered stock. But who are your customers? You're going to buy your stock from someone, they are not going to buy stock from you unless you have something new and unique to offer their herd. So you're going to have to get new genetics to the area. This can be done through AI or buying from a different area. From what I remember, and could find, one of the largest seed stock LH guys only had about 500 head. That's a pretty small fish considering some of the largest Angus herds have thousands of head of cows. </p><p></p><p>This was the only (quickly searched) straws I could find. ABS and Select Sires do not offer straws from LH.</p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://championgenetics.com/catalog/cattle/beef/longhorn/[/URL]</p><p>So, in reality you're going to have to sell to new customers looking to get into longhorns. You'll have to advertise, and have reasons why they're better than most every other type of beef cattle out there. My experience was that they were not.</p><p></p><p>Also, you'll have to register them to make them worth something to other breeders. This means joining an organization (~$100/year) and registering each calf (cost depends on the organization, but usually $10-$50/head). You'll need to market yourself somehow, usually through going to shows and "competing" by showing your cattle. Around here, that's how the LH world works. I went to a show our first year in it. It was the same 4-6 folks in each class. That was enough for me to figure out the pool was pretty shallow.</p><p></p><p>-Selling heads and heads can yield you money. However, you have to have the hide tanned. Look into that cost before you get excited. I got a half hide done on our last cow, and it was over $400(?, too long ago to remember exactly). It takes time to have that done and you'll need an outlet to sell them. Same with skulls. I buried mine, and they came out clean in several months, but needed to be cleaned up. Then you have to sell them, and ship them. Shipping is a nightmare at this point, and we're entering a recession.....</p><p></p><p>-The meat. Oh the meat. First, they like to promote the fact that it's heart healthy. There is one, ONE, study that everyone puts out there. I'm always leery of one study b/c there's no way that is going to have a deep enough pool to get accurate numbers. Plus, it was from years ago. I will say that the meat is very lean. VERY lean. These animals are skin and bones. I slaughtered a 2 y/o bull. He had a great set of horns, but weighed 288# hanging. That's a fat man. I could have done better with a weaned Angus calf than that. He had a fantastic set of horns, but remember, you can't eat the horns. I slaughtered an Angus bull, fully grass fed, at a younger age than that LH bull, and he hung at 792# (and I got a set of calves from him). That's making money.</p><p></p><p>-You're going to have to have different set-ups working them. They don't fit through regular chutes easily, and you can only fit so many on a trailer b/c of their horns. The bigger the horns, the more they cost, and YOU CAN'T EAT THE HORNS. They're romantic. They're beautiful. They are not worth the money. You're going to have to have similar facilities for regular cattle, you might as well give yourself a shot at making money.</p><p></p><p>If you want pretty cattle that have horns, find yourself some Herefords. You can sell their heads, and they'll give you way more meat. They'll also be a lot easier to market to other breeders/buyers. You take a LH to the salebarn and you might as well light your money on fire.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bestoutwest, post: 1752369, member: 19397"] This is going to be a negative post, but please understand why. We started with longhorns many years ago b/c they were the cheapest. We thought we could market the hides and the skulls, while selling freezer beef. Boy were we in for a rude awakening. -You can sell registered stock. But who are your customers? You're going to buy your stock from someone, they are not going to buy stock from you unless you have something new and unique to offer their herd. So you're going to have to get new genetics to the area. This can be done through AI or buying from a different area. From what I remember, and could find, one of the largest seed stock LH guys only had about 500 head. That's a pretty small fish considering some of the largest Angus herds have thousands of head of cows. This was the only (quickly searched) straws I could find. ABS and Select Sires do not offer straws from LH. [URL unfurl="true"]https://championgenetics.com/catalog/cattle/beef/longhorn/[/URL] So, in reality you're going to have to sell to new customers looking to get into longhorns. You'll have to advertise, and have reasons why they're better than most every other type of beef cattle out there. My experience was that they were not. Also, you'll have to register them to make them worth something to other breeders. This means joining an organization (~$100/year) and registering each calf (cost depends on the organization, but usually $10-$50/head). You'll need to market yourself somehow, usually through going to shows and "competing" by showing your cattle. Around here, that's how the LH world works. I went to a show our first year in it. It was the same 4-6 folks in each class. That was enough for me to figure out the pool was pretty shallow. -Selling heads and heads can yield you money. However, you have to have the hide tanned. Look into that cost before you get excited. I got a half hide done on our last cow, and it was over $400(?, too long ago to remember exactly). It takes time to have that done and you'll need an outlet to sell them. Same with skulls. I buried mine, and they came out clean in several months, but needed to be cleaned up. Then you have to sell them, and ship them. Shipping is a nightmare at this point, and we're entering a recession..... -The meat. Oh the meat. First, they like to promote the fact that it's heart healthy. There is one, ONE, study that everyone puts out there. I'm always leery of one study b/c there's no way that is going to have a deep enough pool to get accurate numbers. Plus, it was from years ago. I will say that the meat is very lean. VERY lean. These animals are skin and bones. I slaughtered a 2 y/o bull. He had a great set of horns, but weighed 288# hanging. That's a fat man. I could have done better with a weaned Angus calf than that. He had a fantastic set of horns, but remember, you can't eat the horns. I slaughtered an Angus bull, fully grass fed, at a younger age than that LH bull, and he hung at 792# (and I got a set of calves from him). That's making money. -You're going to have to have different set-ups working them. They don't fit through regular chutes easily, and you can only fit so many on a trailer b/c of their horns. The bigger the horns, the more they cost, and YOU CAN'T EAT THE HORNS. They're romantic. They're beautiful. They are not worth the money. You're going to have to have similar facilities for regular cattle, you might as well give yourself a shot at making money. If you want pretty cattle that have horns, find yourself some Herefords. You can sell their heads, and they'll give you way more meat. They'll also be a lot easier to market to other breeders/buyers. You take a LH to the salebarn and you might as well light your money on fire. [/QUOTE]
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