What breed to use

[J. T.]

I'm am going to crossbreed my Brangus cows to a bull of another breed. Presently, I'm considering a Horned Hereford, Charolais, or Braunvieh. The calves will all be marketed at weaning through the local sale barn. What is the recommendation from y'all?
J. T.

 

[Jake]

either hereford or charolais. I've got a charlois bull for sale now if that's what you need... cows too ;-)

 

[jt]

I'm am going to crossbreed my Brangus cows to a bull of another breed. Presently, I'm considering a Horned Hereford, Charolais, or Braunvieh. The calves will all be marketed at weaning through the local sale barn. What is the recommendation from y'all?
J. T.

one jt to another :lol: i would try to determine which sells best at the barn i will be selling at and go with that... here, sometimes the smoky calves will not bring as much as the black white face/motley face.

good luck

jt

 

[Scotty]

I have seen smokies outsale the baldies and vise versa. Sell what your barn sells the best. To me I would go with the Hereford. I watched a program that said the Brauynviegh works well but don't know. Looking forward to breeding five Angus and fiive Brangus to my neighbors. He really has a certified beef builder(1/2 and 1/2 Braunviegh/Angus). I really try to avoid the Char.


Scotty

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Definately check your market. I don't want to step on toes - but - in our area, anything that looks like a Hereford is pulled out of the group & sold seperately because the buyers pay less for them. If left in a group, the whole group suffers lower prices.
It's so bad, our extension Beef advisor, stated at a meeting, that if anyone is using a Hereford bull, they are losing $50/hd at the sale barn. Now that's pretty bold & we talked to him after the meeting. He had all the stats in his possession if anyone challenged him on it.
So, if you're in it to make money. Rethink the Hereford bull, and I'd be careful with the Charolais for calving problems. Braunveih would be my choice out of the three. They kind of intrigue me. Look like a real beefy Brown Swiss.

 

[txag]

Definately check your market. I don't want to step on toes - but - in our area, anything that looks like a Hereford is pulled out of the group & sold seperately because the buyers pay less for them. If left in a group, the whole group suffers lower prices.
It's so bad, our extension Beef advisor, stated at a meeting, that if anyone is using a Hereford bull, they are losing $50/hd at the sale barn. Now that's pretty bold & we talked to him after the meeting. He had all the stats in his possession if anyone challenged him on it.
So, if you're in it to make money. Rethink the Hereford bull, and I'd be careful with the Charolais for calving problems. Braunveih would be my choice out of the three. They kind of intrigue me. Look like a real beefy Brown Swiss.

i think it all depends on your area. not to step on any toes, but around here a blaze face and/or white stockings gets cut much harder than a white face. on the other hand, the baldie steers top the market and i've posted sales reports here before to prove it.

to answer the original question, i think a hereford would be the top choice followed by the charolais. the super baldies (brangus/hereford) steers sell as well as the baldies (hereford/angus) and the females sell even better because of the touch of brahman and make excellent replacements.

but.....why not try a polled hereford? i can give you a list of some breeders in your area. TRM in Ft Payne for one. not only could you get a good bull there but you might even get to meet Randy Owen.

 

[catl]

I'm am going to crossbreed my Brangus cows to a bull of another breed. Presently, I'm considering a Horned Hereford, Charolais, or Braunvieh. The calves will all be marketed at weaning through the local sale barn. What is the recommendation from y'all?
J. T.

JT., My advice ,to you, has been given on here many times.Go to your local sales barn and see what is selling best at that time.It will probably change weekly.There is a lot of difference in areas and specially from New York to Texas. Just my local sales barn,in the past six months i have seen the prices shift from black to baldies to smokies(1st time i had seen that)to charolais and back again. Have a nice day.

 

[mwj]

One rule I have found to hold true over 40 years of buying and selling, is good quality brings good money no matter what the color. :cboy:
your friend
Mike

 

[greenwillowherefords]

Alabama is not New York. I still have a hard time swallowing the idea that a black baldie would get docked $50 a head, and I think the man you were referencing has an agenda, Jeanne. Not to step on YOUR toes.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I still have a hard time swallowing the idea that a black baldie would get docked $50 a head,

No - BWF never gets docked. Great cross - buyers love them. Yes, they know they are Hereford crosses, but they still love them. That was just one man's comments. The feeder calf sales tell the story. Red cattle that look like Hereford's get docked - also anything small frame. I'm just stating a fact in our area.
That's why I told him to check out his AREA.

 

[Sherry]

JT,
What part of Alabama are you in?
I have not had any cows for 9 months, but when I did the white face sold good, especially black.

 

[CKC1586]

Since you are asking for opinions, I will offer mine. Have you checked out Piedmontese? There is a breeder in your state, Crossville. The breed has performed well in both hot and cold climates. Learn more also from http://www.pauscattle.org.
Good luck in your search.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Murray Grey's also will do well,especially on crosses.There are breeders in your state. Keep your options open. ;-) :cboy:

 

[Subsoil]

Considering that you have english and brahman breeding in your cows and you're selling at weaning, I think you should look at a continental breed for your bull. If your cows are mature, calving shouldn't be a problem unless you go crazy and don't keep an eye on birth weights when choosing your bull.

If you want a white face, why not consider a bald face simmental. You'll get more growth at weening and if you do decide to keep some heifers, the simmys are decent milkers.

 

[J. T.]

JT,
What part of Alabama are you in?
I have not had any cows for 9 months, but when I did the white face sold good, especially black.

I am in Northwest Alabama. Black sells here. Limousin and Simmental breeding is discounted at the sale barn that I market my cattle through.
J. T.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

OK, I'm going to stick my foot in my mouth - BUT - I find it hard to believe that the "modern" solid red or solid black simmental would be discounted anywhere. Yes, anything that is spotted is PERCEIVED to be a hard finisher, and would be discounted. Maybe the Simmental breeders in your area still have 9-10 frame type cattle, or are just poor quality Simmentals. There are good & bad quality in all breeds. I'm sure there are Simmies running around that are light muscled - just like some Angus cattle I've seen. Doesn't mean the WHOLE breed is that way. Angus breed is known as a muscle breed - but when they started chasing the large frames - they lost a LOT of their muscling. Struggled for a few years to get it back in the rear quarters. Your LOCAL sale barn/buyers may not represent MOST areas.
My comment about Herefords not selling well in our area was based on state feeder calf sales, not local sale barns. I would never market cattle thru a local sale barn. Out here, you are at the mercy of the 2-3 buyers that know each other & "take turns" buying a lot.
Actually, we sell our feeders privately, but the state organizes sales with lots of OOS buyers competing. Gets good money for QUALITY calves.

 

[dun]

We sold all of the calves that were still at the backgrounders last night. A pot load of heifers and two of steers. Had bids from 7 feeders on each of the 3 groups. TX, KS,Iowa (don;t know that abbreviation) were all represented. I think there was even one low ball from a local feeder in the pot.

dun

 

[mwj]

Dun
Were the bids as good as you thought they would be? I have been pleased that feeder prices have held up with all the hoopla about the March opening. But as always good cattle from a good source will atract buyers and the top dollar 8)
your friend
Mike

 

[dun]

We were pretty pleased. There was a writer for one ofthe national marketing rags that atteneded. He'ld seen the cattle in the morning and said he hadn't seen any cattle sell for anymore then ours did even at the prevac sales.

dun

 

[Subsoil]

Jeanne - I'm with you. Plus, I don't think a calf out of a Brangus cow with a Simmental daddy is going to get docked because it isn't going to look like a Simmental. With the Brangus cows, the exotic (simmy, limmy, maine, gelbvieh, charlais) will shorten the ear and your cow should keep the calves black. If the simmy gives them a little white on their face, that's even better. However, the average bull from any of these breeds for the most part will give more growth prior to weening compared to the average Hereford.