Hill Creek Farm
Well-known member
What do you think the Hereford Breed has done for the beef industry?
what is your opinion on the Hereford Breed?
- Thread starter Hill Creek Farm
- Start date
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Genetic diversity which has helped contribute to hybrid vigor. Excellent maternal and foraging traits and contributed half of the black baldy gene pool. May have possibly been the first true "beef" breed imported to the US.
dun
dun
Hill Creek Farm":7j4b7miu said:
D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
If cattlemen had to narrow the list of breeds down to just a few, Hereford would have to be amongst them. They work well for us when crossed in the right proportions.
A. delaGarza
Well-known member
the true beef breed
Ellie May
Well-known member
I'll just say I agree with ya'll. I could say a bunch but I don't want your ears to fall off & you get angry so I won't. I'll just say they are one of the oldest, prettiest, beefiest breeds. Make good fullbloods & crosses with them.
Ellie May
Ellie May
Oldtimer
Well-known member
Herefords were probably the base breed of all commercial herds in this part of the country- over the years they were crossed with shorthorn, angus, and continentals and you don't find too many straight hereford herds around anymore.
When I was a kid I thought their were only two types of cows- herefords and milk cows. And even a lot of those milk cows were part hereford.
When I was a kid I thought their were only two types of cows- herefords and milk cows. And even a lot of those milk cows were part hereford.
Ellie May
Well-known member
;-)
Colin Chevalley
Well-known member
good cattle in ideal conditions. good to cross with,good base breed. 
A
Anonymous
Hello:
Well the Herford Breed did help develop the commerical beef industry here in North America both the USA and Canada. It is a very interesting thing to see how Herford genetics did creat the large Ranches of the Western and Southwestern USA and then how well Herfords did in western Canada.
Herefords where noted for there heavy winter coats, and the ablity to range on poor range land. Cover lots of land a day.
There roll and the part they played is very important!
At one time the numbers of the Herford cattle in the USA was a very high number!
The best black white face calves that I have ever seen where crosses of hereford bulls on holstein cows. In the 1970's to 1980 some dairys would breed the lower milking holstein cows to herford bulls. They would fatten easey and boy did they grow like weeds!
Now here in North America there are more breeds than what there use to be in the 1950's to 1960's. The North American now has many different breeds of beef cattle.
Note it is now hard at times for a film company to find a herd of Herford cattle that they can use as background cattle in the movies there now filming! Things have changed a lot here in the Western and Southwestern USA!
In the area that I live in at one time during the late 1800's this area was noted as being a strong herford area and now there are no longer herford cattle in the area!
Regards;
Lee
Well the Herford Breed did help develop the commerical beef industry here in North America both the USA and Canada. It is a very interesting thing to see how Herford genetics did creat the large Ranches of the Western and Southwestern USA and then how well Herfords did in western Canada.
Herefords where noted for there heavy winter coats, and the ablity to range on poor range land. Cover lots of land a day.
There roll and the part they played is very important!
At one time the numbers of the Herford cattle in the USA was a very high number!
The best black white face calves that I have ever seen where crosses of hereford bulls on holstein cows. In the 1970's to 1980 some dairys would breed the lower milking holstein cows to herford bulls. They would fatten easey and boy did they grow like weeds!
Now here in North America there are more breeds than what there use to be in the 1950's to 1960's. The North American now has many different breeds of beef cattle.
Note it is now hard at times for a film company to find a herd of Herford cattle that they can use as background cattle in the movies there now filming! Things have changed a lot here in the Western and Southwestern USA!
In the area that I live in at one time during the late 1800's this area was noted as being a strong herford area and now there are no longer herford cattle in the area!
Regards;
Lee
Ellie May
Well-known member
A
Anonymous
I think that Herefords should be "Marketed" like the Angus breeders are doing. I think there should be a Genetic Recovery program with Herefords like with Jersey's to get folks back into Herefords.
Black is boring, Herefords, red & white, sleek in the summer & curley in the winter, now that's what a beef cow should be!
Colin Chevalley
Well-known member
Yes they do need to be promoted like Angus,they are every bit as good as Angus. The Hereford breeders here in Australia are starting to do this.
A
Anonymous
Hooray for the Aussies! American ranchers need to follow their examples. The big fast food chains has been buying their beef because it is lean and healthy. Herefords can be bred to be lean and the beef is tender and very good! Why can't we do the same in America? Stubborn ranchers thinks their Angus is God's creature, YET they had to load them up on corn just to fatten them up....Herefords can get fatten up without so much corn as Angus does... Has this insight EVER occur to any of you????
The AHA has a marketing program for Certified Hereford Beef similar to CAB. With the depth and breadth of the Hereford gene pool there is no way it needs a genetic recovery program.
I did an unscientific observational census of cattle herds in this area several years ago. Other then the herds that had a sign stating they were breeders of a specific breed , 22 out of 27 herds had cows that were identifiable as Herefords. This from an area that most people bad mouth Herefords for one reason or another, and yet the baldy is alive and well. If it was easier to dientify CHB animals they might have a larger market share. To qulify for CAB the first thing is being black, if I remember correctly, the first requirement for CHB is being 51% whiteface and typical Hereford markings.
It's a lot harder to keep/get typical Hereford markings then it is a black body color.
To keep marketing on a quality grade grid, maintaine moderate size, good disposition a Hereford has a place in a crossbreeding program.
If you want those godzilla sized animals there are Herefords that can give you the 7 frames and still keep the other qualities.
dun
I did an unscientific observational census of cattle herds in this area several years ago. Other then the herds that had a sign stating they were breeders of a specific breed , 22 out of 27 herds had cows that were identifiable as Herefords. This from an area that most people bad mouth Herefords for one reason or another, and yet the baldy is alive and well. If it was easier to dientify CHB animals they might have a larger market share. To qulify for CAB the first thing is being black, if I remember correctly, the first requirement for CHB is being 51% whiteface and typical Hereford markings.
It's a lot harder to keep/get typical Hereford markings then it is a black body color.
To keep marketing on a quality grade grid, maintaine moderate size, good disposition a Hereford has a place in a crossbreeding program.
If you want those godzilla sized animals there are Herefords that can give you the 7 frames and still keep the other qualities.
dun
Colin Chevalley":314mzjgq said:Yes they do need to be promoted like Angus,they are every bit as good as Angus. The Hereford breeders here in Australia are starting to do this.
Oregonian":22d1rqdi said:
Has actually learning something EVER occurred to you before you start typing? Angus cattle are some of the most efficient feedlot animals (less feed for more pounds). All accross the US there are bulls being tested for feed efficiency at test stations. Angus bulls are constantly the high gaining bulls on test. Those bulls will produce calves that will gain well in the feedlot. There are Hereford bulls that gain well, too, but the Hereford ranchers don't seem as interested in using them. "Stubborn ranchers" are very interested in staying in business and that's why so many of them use Angus.
D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
Oregonian has been sniffing glue. Hereford cattle are beloved, but I bet there is no scientific data to suggest that they are genetically leaner.
Frankie":s4o7pwad said:
i realize you didn't say ALL hereford ranchers but it sounded kind of like a stereotype anyway. why wouldn't we want high-gaining bulls which will produce high-gaining calves? isn't that a major component of the bottom line? lower feed input for higher weight gain or in other words, conversion? as far as efficiency, herefords are right up there w/the angus. the place where angus beat herefords is in marbling. herefords just don't marble quite as well. that's why CHB is aimed more at mid to high choice vs prime like CAB.
on the lean subject, i'm not sure we want lean herefords. no, we don't want intermuscular fat, but as CAB & CHB is proving & has been argued here before, intramuscular fat (i.e. marbling) is what many consumers are willing to pay extra for. yes, some consumers want lean but there are breeds such as limousins (laura's lean) which can fill that niche much easier than herefords.
A
Anonymous
Hey enjoying the postings, I would just like to say we have about 50 hereford cows and run Black Angus bulls on them, our calves sell like gang busters and people line up to buy the heifers, we also raise some hereford bulls to sell to folks here that have black cows. We love the hereford breed but the cross calves sell better for us
Thanks
Thanks
