Where are they now?

[BIZIN]

I'm a young guy, 22, I dont know a whole lot and im not gonna pretend I do, but i agree with you kansas and this is my opinion. I grew up around Horned Herefords and at a Bull test station of every breed, and even as a young guy I could tell you how we went from those short thick cattle to what there is out there today. I read this quote somewhere and its not word for word but this is the jist of it "If this breed of cattle fails, it wont be the cows fault". If you go to any show, anywhere in North America I see one thing, a whole bunch of purebred cattle that are as fat as most fat steers we have in our feedlot. So over fed that when they are put on grass, or taken home and put with your cows to winter, they go to absolute crap. Whatever happened to bulls that were bred and raised ranch style? Bulls you could toss out into your cows and not have to worry about his feet giving out or like a show bull we bought a few years ago, he didnt know what the hell grass was, and he damn near starved to death. Purebred breeders it seems are breeding cattle for other purebred breeders and bulls that will win shows, bulls that will go from one boiled barley ration, over to another breeders place onto his sileage and barley ration. It seems that genetics have gone out the window and good cattle are based on the quality of the feed they are on. What happened to ranch raised bulls, and cattleman's cattle? I would also like to go back in time with you Kansas, or bring back those old herefords and those old angus, back when cattle were cattle, and not babies or pet projects, or lived a better life then some people do.

But if your looking for those good genetics and those good stought bulls that arent over fed to look good, but have natural thickness, check out the breeders in the UK. Most of the original Angus, Horned Hereford, Welsh Black and other british breed bloodlines are still alive today and the breeders believe in genetics, not how good the feed is.

 

[goddy]

To be honest I nearly quit reading this post and following as it degenerated into the playground antics we see from time to time.

Once again thanks Doc harris for adding some reasoned, intelligent comments.

I will continue to follow.

 

[southoftheriver]

When was the shift BACK from the short stocky type herefords? 1970's perhaps?????

I had always thought the "mini" herefords were from the 50's to the 60's. My grandparents had raised and bred registered polled herefords from the 50's to the late 1990's. My father started into the breeding business in the 70's and 80's until his untimely death in 1984. I do'nt remember much about the good ol' days when it was a big business around here but going through the picture album just the other day I came across a picture of a bull from 1972 and it wasn't really short short like the ones Kansas might be thinking about. The bull doesn't look quite like today's hereford bulls either. Not quite as big. Kind of in between the shorties and todays. I would say this bull was stocky, with shorter legs, but overall a very good looking bull. Any info on the herefords from the 70's???

 

[Brandonm2]

When was the shift BACK from the short stocky type herefords? 1970's perhaps?????

I had always thought the "mini" herefords were from the 50's to the 60's. My grandparents had raised and bred registered polled herefords from the 50's to the late 1990's. My father started into the breeding business in the 70's and 80's until his untimely death in 1984. I do'nt remember much about the good ol' days when it was a big business around here but going through the picture album just the other day I came across a picture of a bull from 1972 and it wasn't really short short like the ones Kansas might be thinking about. The bull doesn't look quite like today's hereford bulls either. Not quite as big. Kind of in between the shorties and todays. I would say this bull was stocky, with shorter legs, but overall a very good looking bull. Any info on the herefords from the 70's???

A lot of us with commercial Herefords still had small stocky aged Hereford cows well into the 80s; but in the registered biz the type change began much earlier. WSF PRL Justa Banner, his son Enforcer 107H, Nick the Butler, Vindicator, Braxton Giant, 15G, 103T, BT Performer, the Line 1s, etc were the hot names of the day and they would STILL be considered "modern" type cattle.