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<blockquote data-quote="jhambley" data-source="post: 615398" data-attributes="member: 1535"><p>With any important business decision, I would think you would hedge your bet against the possibility that your latest and greatest direction could be flawed. Why do people always assume it's all or nothing? Burning every bridge to the past in the process is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.</p><p></p><p>I spoke to the grandson of a well known Hereford breeder who at one time was the President of the American Hereford Association. His herd had been tightly bred to the Hazlett cattle for many years when he passed away in his nineties. Sometime in the late 80's the farm bank came in and suggested to the family that they cross this one-of-a-kind registered Hereford herd with black angus bulls to improve the bottom line. In a matter of a few years, this unique gene pool was entirely destroyed. Only a few of the cattle (who were sold prior to the old man's death) were saved. By not retaining a small group of these cattle or even holding a dispersal sale, they destroyed several lifetimes of genetic improvement. The saddest part of the story is the resulting crossbred cattle were so inefficient, the same farm is now trying to breed Red Devons.</p><p></p><p>My point is...Markets are fickle and if you only breed for the current market you could end up like Ford and GM with a product that the consumer no longer desires. Everyone blames GM and Ford for having no ""Vision" or a "Plan B" when the fickle market that demanded SUV and Hummers decided it now wanted hybrids and econo boxes. It seems there may be a lesson to be learned here for the cattle industry as well. When the cost of inputs go up...markets can turn against the very product they so hotly demanded only a few months ago. If you think it takes a long time to change the model line up at GM, just think how long it would take the cattle industry to change the type of cattle we're producing. Not to mention I'm fairly confident the federal government isn't going to "loan" me the money to ease the transition to more efficient, forage type animals when the cost of fertilizer and diesel go through the roof again (and they will). </p><p> </p><p>I wonder how many breeders wish they had retained the best of their line bred cattle that performed efficiently in a low cost range environment. Why didn't they run them side by side with their new and improved outcrosses just in case? Like GM, why didn't they have a "Plan B" just in case?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jhambley, post: 615398, member: 1535"] With any important business decision, I would think you would hedge your bet against the possibility that your latest and greatest direction could be flawed. Why do people always assume it's all or nothing? Burning every bridge to the past in the process is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. I spoke to the grandson of a well known Hereford breeder who at one time was the President of the American Hereford Association. His herd had been tightly bred to the Hazlett cattle for many years when he passed away in his nineties. Sometime in the late 80's the farm bank came in and suggested to the family that they cross this one-of-a-kind registered Hereford herd with black angus bulls to improve the bottom line. In a matter of a few years, this unique gene pool was entirely destroyed. Only a few of the cattle (who were sold prior to the old man's death) were saved. By not retaining a small group of these cattle or even holding a dispersal sale, they destroyed several lifetimes of genetic improvement. The saddest part of the story is the resulting crossbred cattle were so inefficient, the same farm is now trying to breed Red Devons. My point is...Markets are fickle and if you only breed for the current market you could end up like Ford and GM with a product that the consumer no longer desires. Everyone blames GM and Ford for having no ""Vision" or a "Plan B" when the fickle market that demanded SUV and Hummers decided it now wanted hybrids and econo boxes. It seems there may be a lesson to be learned here for the cattle industry as well. When the cost of inputs go up...markets can turn against the very product they so hotly demanded only a few months ago. If you think it takes a long time to change the model line up at GM, just think how long it would take the cattle industry to change the type of cattle we're producing. Not to mention I'm fairly confident the federal government isn't going to "loan" me the money to ease the transition to more efficient, forage type animals when the cost of fertilizer and diesel go through the roof again (and they will). I wonder how many breeders wish they had retained the best of their line bred cattle that performed efficiently in a low cost range environment. Why didn't they run them side by side with their new and improved outcrosses just in case? Like GM, why didn't they have a "Plan B" just in case? [/QUOTE]
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