crossbred calves

[cowman]

I have noticed a trend in the area I live in to go to an Angus cross bred calf the last several years. Now this year they are really discounting the lightweight cattle and paying top dollar for the heavy CharX and SimX calves. I will admit they are paying well for big heavy AngusX calves too, but the fact is nothing grows quite like those Char and Sim calves! So what should we make of all this? I know my two Red Angus bulls are gone and will be replaced by 2 Chars. What kind of signal is the feeding industry sending us? Is the "Angus advantage" over?

[jmillang]

Your right the feeders are sending you a message, but becareful as to what the message they are sending you. The feeders are a middle man (just as the packers are)and are being squeezed by short term economics. There is no money in feeding light calves to slaughter right now. Makinng genetic decisions on one years short run prices may make short term sense but what about the long term demands of the consumer. How many 16 T-bones does the outback steak house sell these days?

There are advantages to every breed and every breed mix, the key is to find out what market you are going to be in, and then make sure your product is what the consumer wants.

Switching genetics makes it hard for the buyers to develop that realtionship with you and your cattle.

[cowman]

I agree with you somewhat, in regards to the buyers, but the fact of the matter is no matter what, these smaller cattle always have to pay a premium because the fact of the matter is you sell pounds. That old garbage about the 16 oz. T-bone is history. How many T-bones are sold anymore? It's all 8 ounce steaks and a knife sure works good to make one. The only thing I like about Angus is they give me a tough little crossbred cow and of course small calves for the heifers.

[jmillang]

I think you have got the right idea. There are reasons to use any specific breed for any specific market. For your base herd you have decided to use a "rugged" cross bred cow, and in order to retain your own heifers you need that genetic. But what do you do with the other calves, the marketplace is asking for something different (atleast this year)Can you create two separate breeding programs for different markets? and can you manage both herds from a genetic standpoint differently but from an operational standpoint keep them together?

[cowman]

It is very hard to do. I use a lot of A.I. and I try to keep as many of the heifers' calves that can make the grade. The last few years I have bred more Angus because I was trying to expand my cow herd and the right kind of replacements are hard to buy. What I try to do is A.I. my best cows once and then put them out with CharX and SimX bulls. By the way usually they are high end crossbreds from my own herd. Occasionally I'll buy a bull but it just seems my own bulls work a lot better for me. They have the top genetics and they aren't overfed.