The Future Of Beef

[Jabes0623]

With the beef industry becoming more & more concerned with the quality of the beef being produced. It seems reasonable to me that in the next few years some of the breeds of cattle that are currently fringe or niche breeds will become considerably more popular. I know Angus produces high quality beef but with anything & everything black being labeled Angus these days it seems to me that the Angus folks might have overplayed their hand.

Which leads me to my questions. Does anyone else see this change on the horizon & what if anything are you doing about it? Also what breeds/crosses of cattle perform well in a commercial setting & produce very high quality beef? Shorthorns come to mind but that would require a pull back from the black craze, which is entirely possible though unlikely.

 

[Kingfisher]

http://www.nationalbeef.com/Products/VA ... -Beef.aspx

 

[cow pollinater]

South Devon are a breed that pops into my mind as competition with angus but still well positioned in a quality grade market and similar enough to what everyone else is producing that there's no discount.
There are not many buyers that get fooled by a black hide. They know they're buying angus with something else. The angus is the easy choice for quality grade and the something else helps yield.
Quality grade is NOT the whole picture though even if most of the cattle are black and at least half angus. There are very few grids that I've seen that don't pay premiums for yield grade 1-2 and that's easy money!

 

[Taurus]

You won't see shorthorn cattle being popular breed for us commercial folks because of the club calf craze and the dock on them at the sale barn so most folks would preferred to get away from the dock as possible by switch to something that works just fine, no matter what breed or color. I tried shorthorns and they didnt work very well for us because of crappy wean weights.

Feedlots wants British x Continental cross feeders and that is why many continental breeds are sold for crossbreeding programs and put them on Angus cows.

 

[bulldurham]

Plenty of solid red shorthorn cattle out there that have no clubby influence.

If you had a bad experience with Shorthorns, chances are you need to improve your selection protocol. Like all breeds, Shorthorns come in all shapes and sizes.

According to USDA-MARC across-breed EPD adjustments, Shorthorn offers you MORE...

--Post-Wean Gain, Milk, Marbling, Muscle and Cutability than Hereford.

--Weaning and Yearling Growth, Milk, Muscle, and Yield Grade potential than Red Angus.

--Docility, Milk, Muscle, and Yield Grade potential than Angus.

 

[M5farm]

Welcome back Massey

 

[cow pollinater]

Welcome back Massey

Funny you should say that. I was just getting ready to say the same dam thing in another thread and decided not to honer him with a response. Maybe we can pit him against cg8 this time around and watch the death match. As long as there's one winner we all win.

 

[gizmom]

We sure saw some good looking shorthorns at the NWSS.

Gizmom

 

[cow pollinater]

We sure saw some good looking shorthorns at the NWSS.

Gizmom

I put out a few straws myself but didn't get a live calf even out of my old standby's. I took that as an omen...

 

[Taurus]

Nothing wrong with shorthorns, just not enough selection of solid red shorthorns available to the commercial folks.

 

[Waterway65]

I compliment the angus breeders on very successful angus certified beef. It seems though everyone forgot the good red angus that originated from the same genetic pool and has a long history of sound genetic selection.

 

[bulldurham]

We sure saw some good looking shorthorns at the NWSS.

Gizmom

I put out a few straws myself but didn't get a live calf even out of my old standby's. I took that as an omen...

Try JSF Gauge. I hear Select Sires has done pretty well w/ him.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Ground beef is the future. There will be more demand for it, and less for prime cuts.

And the pull back from black has already begun.

 

[highgrit]

I never knew black cows didn't have hamburger meat.

 

[M5farm]

We are already a ground beef nation already for the working class. as long as we have welfare prime cuts will be sold.

 

[Supa Dexta]

I never knew black cows didn't have hamburger meat.

Where did you read that?

 

[WalnutCrest]

As the DNA testing labs come out with more refined approaches to measuring feed efficiency, niche breeds that really excel there will have a real leg to stand on.

There are some other new DNA markers that are getting promoted by one breed association or another (see this bit of research promoted by the Tarentaise Association and the same research referenced on the British White association website for one example of this type of research) that could have material impact to the public's perception of healthiness of eating beef.

Also, any other niche breeds that are known to really excel at any one thing can have reasonable or better future in North America. To wit ... there are already quite a few people who have successfully crossed Japanese cattle w/ North American cattle for high-end, niche beef buyers.

Common perception is that the top prices are only paid for black hides. While I know that's not always the case as other non-black hided animals will routinely out price black-hided animals in various markets for various reasons ... I would imagine the premium you'd get for 'proven feed efficient' and/or 'proven ecoli resistant' cattle would be even higher ... especially if combined with 'proven to be really really tasty' genetics.

So, yes, there is a market (and will be a market) for niche breeds ... as long as they really have something that is valuable to add.

 

[Supa Dexta]

Was talking to a guy the other day in the midst of a FE study. Turns out in the findings so far, the spookier animals have been the most efficient, and that the more efficient a bull, the less fertile they've been.

So that's great news, we're all gonna have a herd of crazies, that don't wanna breed. :lol:

He wouldn't tell me anything on breed specifics yet, but I should have a report sometime in feb as I had heifers in the test.

 

[AllForage]

Was talking to a guy the other day in the midst of a FE study. Turns out in the findings so far, the spookier animals have been the most efficient, and that the more efficient a bull, the less fertile they've been.

So that's great news, we're all gonna have a herd of crazies, that don't wanna breed. :lol:

He wouldn't tell me anything on breed specifics yet, but I should have a report sometime in feb as I had heifers in the test.

If what you are saying is true, it tells me again there is moderation in all things.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Ground beef is the future. There will be more demand for it, and less for prime cuts.

And the pull back from black has already begun.

wouldn't count on that...they can always adjust, me! I say raise what you want. But be realistic..