what breed to cross longhorns with for best replacement

[TexasBred]

For sure CB.....I don't want to offend anyone but I personally could never justify having a field full of longhorns. Bill is making it work for him. When I sell eveything off I might buy me a big old steer or two to lounge around in the front pasture. I know they are rugged, tough, and calf easily but as I said...there are reasons they are no longer the dominant breed in the southwest. I've seen a few big ones....most of them tho can't hit 900 when they're "old" and 100 lbs. of that is horn. I've been eating limousin beef now for almost two eyars.....very very lean and flavor out of this world.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Thank you Caustic & Backhoe for your positive remarks!

Bill

Deer hunters hate me. If he's over 18 months old, I don't shoot him. I eat deer. It aint about horns for me. My eldest bro (the one who died) killed that 28 point white tail out of my deer stand on Dad's place in Glen Rose while I was up in Colorado chasing dreams. If I saw a deer like that, I would take it.

I have always appreciated your perspective RAB. Enjoy peaking at your website from time to time. Like the way you show the use of a medina gate. "Medina Hinge Gate" for some. I pretty much liken them to what the bull riders use at a rodeo. I remember when that was all we had with gerts back in the 60's on grandaddy's place. Worked better than a squeeze chute in many cases. Less stress on the cows too. I still use them. Usually when I am just helping out a single cow for something or another.

I also appreciate you knowledge on Reynold's numbers and Bernoulli's equation. People get on here and talk about irrigation and water flow through pipe all the time. Bill, you get on here sharing your vast experience and help them out.

 

[Caustic Burno]

For sure CB.....I don't want to offend anyone but I personally could never justify having a field full of longhorns. Bill is making it work for him. When I sell eveything off I might buy me a big old steer or two to lounge around in the front pasture. I know they are rugged, tough, and calf easily but as I said...there are reasons they are no longer the dominant breed in the southwest. I've seen a few big ones....most of them tho can't hit 900 when they're "old" and 100 lbs. of that is horn. I've been eating limousin beef now for almost two eyars.....very very lean and flavor out of this world.

Dang TB limousin beef that is getting mighty low on the hog right next to ground matter of fact.
Limmi crossed well and sold good worst calves I ever dealt with bar none. Just no way around it they were slap ass crazy. They made the F-1 tiger crosses look like Jerseys. If they would of had uppers they would have bit your arm off, they swung from the top of the trailer all the way to Crockett every load of them for four years. Old neighbor was running a good looking Limmi bull I told him if he didn't sell that dang bull and change that calf crop I was through helping him. He had no choice cause he can't drive anymore. Seriously there was some DNA in that cross that was crazy. I was the youngest man in the pen and everyone of them would fight you like a buzz saw. He has gentle cows, he bought a Char and Hereford what a difference, there is still the ocasinal nut but not the whole group.

 

[Angus Cowman]

your friend could eat piedmontese beef.it is more healthy than LH.it is available for order on the internet,quite expensive but it will make his doc happy.

Who says it is healtier the people selling it at those High prices
doubt sriously you could get any study group to say it was healthier unless you were paying
That is like saying CAB better beef than the Hereford branded beef program
it is just a marketing ploy and not backed up by facts

 

[piedmontese]

your friend could eat piedmontese beef.it is more healthy than LH.it is available for order on the internet,quite expensive but it will make his doc happy.

Who says it is healtier the people selling it at those High prices
doubt sriously you could get any study group to say it was healthier unless you were paying
That is like saying CAB better beef than the Hereford branded beef program
it is just a marketing ploy and not backed up by facts

i am basing that off of the nutritional facts of both.i am not biased towards any breed of beef.what i like the best is whatever i am eating at the time.look it up if u dont believe me.

 

[piedmontese]

your friend could eat piedmontese beef.it is more healthy than LH.it is available for order on the internet,quite expensive but it will make his doc happy.

Who says it is healtier the people selling it at those High prices
doubt sriously you could get any study group to say it was healthier unless you were paying
That is like saying CAB better beef than the Hereford branded beef program
it is just a marketing ploy and not backed up by facts

i am basing that off of the nutritional facts of both.i am not biased towards any breed of beef.what i like the best is whatever i am eating at the time.look it up if u dont believe me.

piedmontese 3.5 oz serving calories...95,protein...24,fat...1.7,cholesterol...32.1. longhorn 3.5oz serving cal...140,pro...25,fat..3.7,cho...61.5. i have never eaten LH so i cant comment on its flavor but i do know that pied beef is exceptionally tender and flavorful.i have heard that u do not want to butcher a LH over 2yrs at the oldest because it gets tuff.we butchered a 3 yr+ pied and had alot of steaks and roasts and it was all good.again i have no personal exp with LH all i know is what i have heard and read,some probably true and some B.S.

 

[TexasBred]

CB I've never owned any limi's....bought this meat from a limi producer and it is dang good. But what I know about a limi wouldn't fill a thimble...come to think about it...that applies toa lot of stuff for me.

 

[CKC1586]

last spring i sold a piedmontese bull to a guy that was gonna put him on some longhorns.i will see if i can get some pics of some calves from him if he has some that hav calved.if i can figure out how to post.

Sure would like to see those pictures! My brother tried something and is happy with the result. He has a Longhorn bull he puts on his Pied heifers, first crop was last year and he is happy with not having to assist even one heifer. Now he is at the point of seeing how they finish/and quality of the beef. Don't mean to hijack this thread.... I'll try to get the picture of a couple of them to post...

These calves are out of Piedmontese heifers, sired by a Longhorn bull....Just to clear up any misunderstandings. Dun was kind enough to make the picture bigger a couple of posts after I put this up. I still haven't found the picture of the whole group at weaning, thought it was on my phone but....

 

[CKC1586]

Don't know why that picture came thru so small.

Because that is a thumbnail. If you change thumb to medium most of the time that will fix it

Thanks for your help dun! Sure appreciate your expertise. Still did not find the picture I was looking for of the whole group at weaning. He is happy with the performance of his bull, I haven't got a good picture of him. Sadly, he dehorned him, so he isn't as impressive appearing as he could be. We should know in a few months what the beef is like from these calves.

 

[cowspider]

I raise Longhorns, and I cross with Angus and Black baldys. My best calves are the blackbaldy / LH cross. no horns and great beefy bodys.
Longhorn bull on first year heifers and never lost a cow or calf yet. :cboy:

 

[piedmontese]

I raise Longhorns, and I cross with Angus and Black baldys. My best calves are the blackbaldy / LH cross. no horns and great beefy bodys.
Longhorn bull on first year heifers and never lost a cow or calf yet. :cboy:

never losing a calf and not having to help a newborn is worth alot.especially if u have a job away from the farm as many on here do.what is your avg weaning weight and if u got any pics please post them.

 

[TexasBred]

I raise Longhorns, and I cross with Angus and Black baldys. My best calves are the blackbaldy / LH cross. no horns and great beefy bodys.
Longhorn bull on first year heifers and never lost a cow or calf yet. :cboy:

A lot of folks run longhorns on heifers. Not for the quality of the offspring but for calving ease. Like squirting out a jackrabbit.

 

[Dixieangus]

Well i quite reading after page 7 and so i see we have mixed opinions my opinions are also mixed as well..But i think that LH can and do work out for many people so lets just do a little math...Now before i start not trying to pi$$ anyone off or take up for no one but here it goes and well see if they could make a little profit at MY place.....

Ok now before we begin class i am talking about the southern region of the u.s. in a PERFECT world...


OK so i have 2 pastures of 20 acre fenced good pasture im wanting to put cattle on.. Both sets of cattle i buy April 1st, and the grass is up and good..

So i buy 5 good beef cows 8 months bred for say around 900 dollars=4500

and i buy 5 longhorns cows 8 months bred to a Charolaise(SP?) for say 450 a piece=2250

Both sets get only grass, salt and mineral, and water..... All calves live in both sets..the calves from the beef cows wean at 500lbs and so do the longhorns....the beef calves are all black.....while the charloise are either solid white or yellow...

Beef calves-500lbs x 1.15 a pound= 575 a calf before hauling and commission and you sell the moms as opens for 800 dollars a piece=4000+2875 for the calves=6875-4500=2375 profit in a PERFCT world

LHx calves 500lbs x1.10= 550 sell moms for 350 a piece=1750+2750=4500
4500-2250=2250 profit in a perfect world....

looks like LH can work with very little start up cost and only a 125 profit difference...just my :2cents:

 

[TexasBred]

Dixie you can play with numbers and make them say just about anything when you're projecting. I don't think the LHx calves will wean 500 norwill they bring $1.10 a lb....not consistently anyway...and most likely the color will still be speckled to some degree with horns. Your start up cost on the LH is probably high for this area. You could buy them for $300...maybe a bit less....but the cull price would be much less as well..more like $200. These would all apply to your more "typical" longhorn cattle. Might still make money as I didn't calculate it out.

 

[Dixieangus]

Dixie you can play with numbers and make them say just about anything when you're projecting. I don't think the LHx calves will wean 500 norwill they bring $1.10 a lb....not consistently anyway...and most likely the color will still be speckled to some degree with horns. Your start up cost on the LH is probably high for this area. You could buy them for $300...maybe a bit less....but the cull price would be much less as well..more like $200. These would all apply to your more "typical" longhorn cattle. Might still make money as I didn't calculate it out.

This is all true i was in a perfect world and just thought id put it....i am not up to date with the longhorn market because of how cattle have been but as you said you will have some with a little horn or a little wild color but my neighbor runs lh with charolaise and 80% of the calves have no horns or just buds and are either solid white or solide yellow....but then there will be some wit more horns and yellow and white but none wild colored just yellow and white mixed

 

[Dixieangus]

i have also found that just about everything looks good on paper :cowboy:

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Dixie you can play with numbers and make them say just about anything when you're projecting. I don't think the LHx calves will wean 500 norwill they bring $1.10 a lb....not consistently anyway...and most likely the color will still be speckled to some degree with horns. Your start up cost on the LH is probably high for this area. You could buy them for $300...maybe a bit less....but the cull price would be much less as well..more like $200. These would all apply to your more "typical" longhorn cattle. Might still make money as I didn't calculate it out.

This is all true i was in a perfect world and just thought id put it....i am not up to date with the longhorn market because of how cattle have been but as you said you will have some with a little horn or a little wild color but my neighbor runs lh with charolaise and 80% of the calves have no horns or just buds and are either solid white or solide yellow....but then there will be some wit more horns and yellow and white but none wild colored just yellow and white mixed

Agree that one can buy a "generic" longhorn at a Sale Barn (or private despiration sale) in the $200 to $400 range. On the other hand, such animals will have attitude or hidden health problems from a Sale Barn and/or other stuff, such as no vaccinations or de-worming protocols, etc. One gets what they pay for. However, IF one is just looking for LH Genetics and feed efficiency, etc., then go for it. There is a "reason" LH's are found at the Sale Barn...read between the lines.

In our operation, the "cheapest" we've ever sold a weaned calf for is $450...and, those are in excellent health, etc. And, we would never take a LH to a sale barn unless it was "not suitable" for our or other's breeding program. Included in reasons are "attitude", low rate of gain (horn or weight), and we would never sell an intact bull calf (banded first) at a Sale Barn.

IMO we have an excellent program, good gainers, quality genetics from proven sires & dams, and comprehensive vaccination & de-worming program. All grass fed. A wide pallate of colors and solids.

JMO

Bill

P.S.: Some of our better gainers that are not used for our breeding program (and don't sell before 24 months of age) are "converted" to our own freezer beef and our USDA Inspected beef program for retail sales. We can get $1,000 to 1,250 worth of "beef" out of a 800# animal...sure beats Sale Barn or related sales!

 

[TexasBred]

I don't question a word on your post Bill but we both know youre operation is "NOT" the typical pasture of longhorns. Those more typical ones consist of that stuff you just culled.

 

[Northern Rancher]

That would be a good reality show "Ranch While You Can' give everybody a fixed amount of $-a chunk of ground-and you can run whatever you want-however you want to run it. After X amount of years the guy with the most equity gets to keep the whole deal.

 

[TexasBred]

That would be a good reality show "Ranch While You Can' give everybody a fixed amount of $-a chunk of ground-and you can run whatever you want-however you want to run it. After X amount of years the guy with the most equity gets to keep the whole deal.

Ain't that how you got in the business??