Charlais

[cowman]

My white and tan calves consistently outsold my angus calves! Probably weighed 20-40 lbs, more on average. Brought around the same dollar per pound or slightly better.
My son is a die hard Char fan and after seeing the results this year he intends to be looking for white bulls next year. According to what he saw at the mart, the chars outsold the angus pretty well all day.
I wonder if the angus craze is now starting to abate? Maybe reality is starting to set in and we will see the chars take off again?
In my own personal opinion there is no breed on earth that can pack the beef on like a Charlais!

[whiteface]

I like the great whites too, cowman. Incidentally, to get some really good buckskins, a hereford cow would be a lot easier to keep than some of those massive white cows and still get you premium calves. I suspect too that the "black" craze days are limited due to the fact that most blacks have been so easy to sell ( not picking on any black breeder in particular here, I'd probably do it myself! ) but they haven't had to "work on" their breed and many blacks are falling apart. Us hereford guys really had to work some problems out or go out altogether. Have a look at 'em now!
I've sold more hereford bulls to Charolais breeders than hereford breeders and they just love 'em! Incidentally, two years in a row now a hereford has won Supreme Champion bull at Agribition! Get a good hereford bull, raise yer own replacements since they're worth squat at the auction and then turn a white bull on them! If I didn't love to show so much, I'd be looking for a white bull too on these whiteface cows! Have a good day!

[grassfarmer]

Cowman, I'm surprised your Chars only weighed 20-40lbs more - the black elephant breeders must be catching up on weight! It was said many times in the last couple of years that Angus calves had finally equalled the price per lb of charolais calves - but if they were still trailing in weight what's the advantage?

[blackjack]

...cowman I think your son is making a wise choice...charolais cross calves are still the most consistent gainers in the business...

[cowman]

grassfarmer: The one char bull we have gets used on the poorer cows while the Angus/simmental types get used on the better ones. Don't keep any Char type females anymore as they just get too darned big! I don't even really like this Char bull as he tends to be kind of a miserable bugger.

[kato]

We have a white herd of cows. They average 1300 pounds. I don't think that's all that big. There are a few bigger older ones, but we've been buying moderate bulls for a few years now, and the younger ones are not all that framey, and are good and thick. We use the white bulls on the better cows to get replacements. By better, I mean trouble free and fertile, not necessarily bigger. Everyone else gets the Limo bulls. It works for us.

I think the thing with the Angus is that when the packers were having trouble getting enough triple A's for their branded beef they paid premiums to bring the supply up. It's bound to happen some day that if they become the majority of cattle out there, the premium will go away. If they don't need to increase their supply, they'll buy cheap as they can from what's available. We see it every day in all kinds of businesses. If there is not enough supply of a certain thing, the price goes up until there is enough of a supply, then it levels.

What does everyone think the trend in the future will be? Cattle that can finish younger to meet age restrictions? Or cattle that are cheap to raise and finish? Or something else?

[15444]

Hopefully we will see a trend towards cowherds of crossbred British breeds, being bred to terminal cross exotic sires. I personally would like to see more people experimenting with Galloways, Welsh Black, Shorthorn, and Luings, a resurgence of popularity in the Hereford and return to traditional cattle breed colours, although I think a lot of the exotics will just follow the colour trend from now on.

When this whole border situation turns around, I think you are going to see a large exodus by older producers and a lesson learned by younger producers that hardy cattle and production is key to weathering the bad times.

[15444]

calving ease is one trait that I have always selected for when out bull shopping.Not much profit when vet bills and dead calves are taken into account. I doubt if black cattle will go the way of the dodo bird, but each breed has its good points and whatever works best is what producers should stick with.

[PureCountry]

I've been away all year working, and it's good to be back home and get to read some of the threads on here again. I agree with you emerald that producers need to stick with what works for them. And I also agree with the comment about more British-based cow herds, being crossed with the exotic bulls.
In my opinion, no British breed can say it's going to get the same performance numbers as Exotics. And in turn, Exotic breeds cannot lay claim to superior maternal traits. But, have no fear, for we have something called - Crossbreeding!
To me, your cow herd should be absolutely as efficient as possible. Long-lived, easy-keeping, QUIET, good-footed, tight-uddered females that just get it done. Breed them however you like. Angus-Hereford, Shorthorn-Galloway, Devon-Highland, whatever you like. Just remember that selecting top-notch individuals in each breed, will get you farther than thinking that one breed is superior to another.
At that point I think, is where the Exotic breeds should come in. A thick-butted, long-topped, easy-fleshing sire with meat from his pins all the way down to his hocks, put on British cows, is the perfect recipe for fancy calves. The kind that make the order buyers look twice.

I don't know what the best cow will be for us. So far we've tried AngusXHereford, AngusXTarentaise, AngusXShorthorn, AngusXGelbvieh, AngusXSimmental, and straight Angus. The Angus-Shorthorn cows and the Angus-Tarentaise cows are the only ones that consistently push 50% of their body weight in production. But since the Angus-Shorthorn cows are smaller, and weaning the same weights, I have to kinda favor them. We'll soon know how Galloway cross females work, and I'm looking forward to it.
But anyway we do it, we can cross them with Gelbvieh, Simmental, Charolais, or anything. My preference is Gelbvieh, but that's just from my own experience.

[cowman]

Well we all have our own idea of what a cow should look like and that is a good thing. Obviously one size doesn't fit all?
I believe conditions should pretty much dictate cow size? So if you live in that tough old desert called eastern Alberta, maybe you should lay off those 1600 lb. cows!...and the other way is also true! If you believe in pouring the feed to your cows like there is no tommorrow those little British cows are going to be hog fat.
Personally I like a cow in that 1400 lb. range and calves born around 100 lbs. I sure don't help very many cows calve or heifers either. If you feed them right you can go for a lot bigger calf! I get around the country quite a bit and I would venture about 75% of the cows are overfed...in my opinion.
A range cow doesn't need to be greased to get the job done and she sure doesn't need barley or fancy alphalfa hay! Again in my opinion. I always believe in feeding them enough cheap feed, making them walk a long way for water, and giving them lots of good clean straw to fill up on and bed down in. Now that may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

[cakadu]

Welcome back PureCountry. I seem to recall you saying that you were hurt a while back. I hope that with you being back at work that it means that you are all healed up now.

When you come back to the site, kinda feels like home, doesn't it?