I just wanted to correct your thoughts that animals qualifed as CAB by the pen. They aren't CAB until the hide comes off and they're graded.
Pounds do pay. But the packers don't really want a 900+ lb. carcass. They don't seriously discount them yet, but they will. Perhaps the color thing has gotten out of hand. At a Limousin bull sale recently, it was a shame to see the mediocre black bulls outsell those good red bulls.
IMO, the demand for Angus cattle is driven by performance information. There are likely good Red Angus and Simmental cattle, and MAYBE Limousin and Salers, available. But the millions of performance records in the Angus database that creates Angus EPDs make them the most reliable. The largest cow/calf operation in my state won't buy a bull of any breed without ultrasound data. He has not bought bulls for years without EPDs. There are more Angus bulls with that sort of information available than any other breed and at reasonable prices. Consistency is important and reliable EPDs are the key to consistency.
Frankie thanks for the correction
> but your response still didn't
> answer my question. Why black? Do
> Red Angus not also possess
> desirable carcass traits? If an
> animal is accepted that is 49%
> white I would bet that there is a
> heck of a lot less Angus in him
> than a 50%. It seems that the
> color thing has gotten out of hand
> or perhaps it is just more
> convenient to call all the black
> ones part Angus.
> Don't get me wrong I'm not
> knocking the Angus breed as I
> raise reg. Red Angus And
> Simmentals. All things being equal
> when using similar type bulls of
> each breed ie: birth weight,
> mature size, dam size etc. there
> is little difference in perfomance
> on the top end calves. There is a
> difference however in CONSISTENCY
> of that performance throughout the
> two groups. Look out though when
> heterosis kicks in on the
> SimmAngus calves. Those calves
> really push the scale down and for
> us that's where it counts.
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