Showing Cattle-benefits

[Simply Bovine]

Here we go again with my endless questions. By the way you all have been so helpful!

I want to know if showing you cow/bull/steer raises the value of either that particular animal or the herd perhaps that it came from.

Say if I had a farm where I was raising cattle to get the best beef animal that I could. Would showing a animal from my herd(and winning) raise the value/cost or interest of those purchasing from me.

 

[greatgerts]

Say if I had a farm where I was raising cattle to get the best beef animal that I could.

Shouldn't everyone want to raise the best beef animal they could if they are in the business? You would not have anything to shoot for or nothing...Just stand still.

As far as the value, if you win consistently with an animal or different animals you own, people will see that and remember you, and maybe willing to pay a little more for your cattle. Showing is an EXCELLENT marketing tool, and if you have something you are proud of, why not get it out for everyone to see?
Gain testing bulls on a certain breeders test, or a gain test where people will have the opportunity to know about your results is another way to get your name out. I had put my first bull on test this past summer, and he gained over 4lbs/day...And all of the other breeders that had bulls in the test got to see him, because he was the last to be picked up. (best $450 I have ever spent)! And the bull was cheap too. Bought him as a calf, and weaning for him was a trip from Missouri to Texas.
Just one of those rare very good buys that come across once in a blue moon.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We show cattle because that is the cheapest most productive way to advertise our farm - TO SELL CATTLE. Our whole goal is to make money. Even if you consistantly show cattle and don't win, you still get exposure and your cattle might not be the "show winners" but they may be the type of cattle that someone watching is looking for. It always opens doors. Even just displaying your cattle at beef events sells cattle.
Now if you can win shows on a regular basis, this definately opens the door for higher sale prices of your show cattle & that in turn trickles down to higher prices for the calves on the farm for POTENTIAL show cattle - both heifers or steer/bulls. Our main money makers are our weaned heifers.
Now we also "paper" & internet advertise. But showing is our #1 exposure.

 

[CKC1586]

Showing can help get your breed exposure and in the end helps all breeders. It is a great way to market the breed and your farm. The more people you can get to stop and take a look and ask questions the better for everyone. My brother has gotten many of his contacts from being out there showing and he has sold several at the shows. We routinely refer folks to local breeders when they want to know "where can I get one of these?"! !

 

[Frankie]

Here we go again with my endless questions. By the way you all have been so helpful!

I want to know if showing you cow/bull/steer raises the value of either that particular animal or the herd perhaps that it came from.

Say if I had a farm where I was raising cattle to get the best beef animal that I could. Would showing a animal from my herd(and winning) raise the value/cost or interest of those purchasing from me.

Like so much other stuff, it depends. Showing cattle will get your program out before the public. It's not a cheap thing to do and it takes a lot of time. If you enjoy brushing, grooming, training cattle, that's the way to go. We chose the performance route to get our program out before the public. We test our bulls at a major bull test station, side by side with the big producers in our state, and some from out of state, and we do ok. We'd always like to do better. That's not cheap either, but someone else does the feeding, weighing and measuring. I have bull buyers that aren't interested in a bull if they know his sire was a show bull. And there are Angus cattle that don't grow long hair, so they don't do well in the show ring. So it's kind of a toss up; whatever works for you.

 

[dun]

I'm one of those that Frankie refers to about not wanting show bulls. We don;t buy them, only their semen.
If I was to use a show bull, I'ld want to see several groupls of his calves grown in real world situations without supplements, creep or pampering.
But I do like to go to the fair and ooh and aah over the pretty cattle, but I wouldn't want one to come home with me.

dun

 

[Terri]

Why wouldn't they want a bull who's sire was a show animal? What difference would that make?

 

[dun]

Why wouldn't they want a bull who's sire was a show animal? What difference would that make?

The majority of show animals have been pampered way too much. An animal that can make it and do their job on the local forage base seem to be much better able to turive without grain, etc. I feel, remember this is my personal feelings, that an animal that is developed on forage has a better developed digestive system then one that hs been grained/supplemented to look good. A fairly regualr comment is the barrel on our cows, they've had to do their job without is growing in the pasture, not someones corn field.
And as was commented before, our cows tend to be "fleshy", some down right fat.

dun

 

[Frankie]

Why wouldn't they want a bull who's sire was a show animal? What difference would that make?

What Dun said. Plus, show animals tend to be larger than many commercial cattlemen want. I don't necessarily agree, but some people seem to think cattle that grow longer hair in the winter might have a hard time in our hot summers. I'll try to be polite here: the perception among many people is that the show operations are not as likely to report accurate weights as performance operations. And, at least in the Angus world, you often see show cattle with high birthweight EPDs.

 

[Terri]

Well that makes sense. We always fed our show calves grain, but they lived in the pasture and came up when we called. I've never noticed much of a difference in body condition when the heiffers were just put to pasture. The steers, well we never brought them back home.
It's much hotter here and the only problem we had with the long hair breeds was growing the hair. The hair tends to stay pretty short when its +- 110 in the summer and 50 in the winter.

 

[ollie]

I'll try to be polite here: the perception among many people is that the show operations are not as likely to report accurate weights as performance operations. And, at least in the Angus world, you often see show cattle with high birthweight EPDs.

More double speak. If they were going to lie about the ww or yw wouldn't they lie as well about their bw. Or if their bw epd is accurate isn't their ww epd?

 

[CKC1586]

The Piedmontese are shown body clipped so what you see is what you get, nothing hidden under fluff and paint. Our show cattle do get pampered with grain during a three to four month period and the rest of the time they are out with the rest of the herd. They carry more flesh during show season. I am sure that there are operations regardless of whether they show or not that may exaggerate or exclude information about their animals statistics.
I do like Dun's terminology about seeing an animal in their "working clothes" in making purchase decisions.

 

[Frankie]

I'll try to be polite here: the perception among many people is that the show operations are not as likely to report accurate weights as performance operations. And, at least in the Angus world, you often see show cattle with high birthweight EPDs.

More double speak. If they were going to lie about the ww or yw wouldn't they lie as well about their bw. Or if their bw epd is accurate isn't their ww epd?

Pay attention now, Ollie. It's a fast moving world. I said "...not as likely to report accurate weights..." I didn't say birth weights or weaning weights or yearling weights. Obviously if cattle have high birthweight EPDs, someone is reporting high actual birthweights. That's how EPDs are built; off the actual weights reported to the Association. So what's the problem?

 

[Frankie]

Well that makes sense. We always fed our show calves grain, but they lived in the pasture and came up when we called. I've never noticed much of a difference in body condition when the heiffers were just put to pasture. The steers, well we never brought them back home.
It's much hotter here and the only problem we had with the long hair breeds was growing the hair. The hair tends to stay pretty short when its +- 110 in the summer and 50 in the winter.

I don't have any problem using bulls who were also successful in the showring, as long as they've also produced sons that do well on performance tests. I just don't use it as a selling point for potential buyers. For some people it might be a good point to bring up when making a sale.

 

[ollie]

I'll try to be polite here: the perception among many people is that the show operations are not as likely to report accurate weights as performance operations. And, at least in the Angus world, you often see show cattle with high birthweight EPDs.

More double speak. If they were going to lie about the ww or yw wouldn't they lie as well about their bw. Or if their bw epd is accurate isn't their ww epd?

Pay attention now, Ollie. It's a fast moving world. I said "...not as likely to report accurate weights..." I didn't say birth weights or weaning weights or yearling weights. Obviously if cattle have high birthweight EPDs, someone is reporting high actual birthweights. That's how EPDs are built; off the actual weights reported to the Association. So what's the problem?

You yell for emphisis only when your caught in the wrong.

 

[Frankie]

I'll try to be polite here: the perception among many people is that the show operations are not as likely to report accurate weights as performance operations. And, at least in the Angus world, you often see show cattle with high birthweight EPDs.

More double speak. If they were going to lie about the ww or yw wouldn't they lie as well about their bw. Or if their bw epd is accurate isn't their ww epd?

Pay attention now, Ollie. It's a fast moving world. I said "...not as likely to report accurate weights..." I didn't say birth weights or weaning weights or yearling weights. Obviously if cattle have high birthweight EPDs, someone is reporting high actual birthweights. That's how EPDs are built; off the actual weights reported to the Association. So what's the problem?

You yell for emphisis only when your caught in the wrong.

No, yelling is all caps. The bold is for emphasis. And you're trying to change the direction of the conversation because you're wrong. I said some show cattle have high BW EPDs. Those EPDs are based on weights reported to the Angus Association. Obviously someone is reporting heavy birthweights to cause those higher BW EPDs. Some people may cheat on reporting data, but your rant about producers lying about EPDs is unfounded and I pointed that out. :lol: :lol:

 

[Simply Bovine]

Okay you all have helped me alot.

Now I've only watched and helped out at with my old 4-H group with a small cattle show. I've never been to anything bigger. What about adults showing cattle? I hear alot about kids showing in my area, but not alot about adults. Are there seperate shows for adults that show cattle? Or whats the deal? What are the classes divided like? Again refering to beef cattle more then dairy.

P.S. What class would you show a more rare beef breed-like a highlander? Would they compete against the common beef breeds?

 

[Terri]

It's also possible that the cattle being shown are being picked because of the high BW and no one is mis-reporting. They are just choosing to show the larger animal.

 

[TheBullLady]

As an adult, you'd only be allowed to show in "open" show divisions.. primarily at the larger livestock shows, like the Beef Expos up north, some of the state fairs, Fort Worth, Houston, Denver, etc.

With Highlanders, you'll have to find shows that offer classes for that breed. Most of the Expo's would offer them, but check with the breed association. They can give you a list of shows.

 

[Jena]

This is my somewhat inexperienced opinion. You just got to decide what you want to do, how much time you have to do it in and what your goals are.

I have zero interest in showing cattle. I don't have time, don't want to mess with training them and can't get away from here long enough to do the show circuit.

If I were more interested in selling seed stock, then I suppose I would need to show them to get the word out about my cattle.

If I wanted to try to get those 4-H dollars by selling show steers, then I'd better be showing.

If I really enjoyed showing, then I would be doing it just for fun.

All I want to do is raise good beef. I don't need to show to that. I don't sell seed stock and I don't get too many 4-H buyers. That's fine with me, since that is not the emphasis of my operation, nor the generator of my income.

Jena