HOSS
Well-known member
I had a bull customer call me today. He bought a Gelbvieh bull from me a while back to put on one of his herds of angus cows. He got his first calf crop and they are about weaning age now. He said they are the heaviest weaners that he has ever had but he was not sure if he wanted to keep the bull or sell him. I guess he had a consultant come out from one of the local cattle alliances to look over his herd. He said that the consultant said he would cull the Gelbvieh influenced calves due to the looser hide in front and their legginess. The consultant said that he should go back to all angus bulls on his angus cows. He is entertaining the idea of joining this alliance and selling truck-loads right off the farm. I sell my commercial calves at the same sale that he does and my calves have almost always topped the sale and they are all Gelbvieh sired. I asked him how much it looked like his weaning weights improved in the Gelbvieh bull's herd and he judged that he was getting 40 to 50 lbs more per calf on the average. I told him to cull the Gelbvieh sired calves out and take them to the feeder calf sale that we both go to and sell his angus sired calves to the alliance. I think he is going to see that he will make more on the additional weight of the Gelbvieh sired calves. He seemed to swallow everything the consultant told him hook, line and sinker without really considering that the consultant worked for the alliance. I think he will learn but maybe the hard way.
