Who is buying cows?

[cowman]

We all know that in every herd there are superior and inferior cows, so the cow bringing home that 800 lb. calf consistently compared to a similar cow bringing home the 600 lb. calf...well which one makes you the most money?
All our cows don't bring home a 650 lb. calf...so all cows are not equal?
The cow consistently bring home 100 lbs. of extra calf is obviously worth more money?
A good producing cow at $1300 is a better buy that the poor producing cow at $800?
Quite often what you are getting at the auction is the poor producing cows...no matter how good they might look! I do believe to get the top cows you have to raise them and consistently cull out the lower end? Seldom do you get the opportunity to buy someone elses lifetime of producing a good cow herd! When you do you should expect to pay for it?

[cowman]

agreed cowman. I have a neighbour that never kept a heifer of their own, instead they went in to the auction every spring and bought cheap cow/calf pairs.
They dispersed their herd in January, and got an $840 average. Everyone knew they had built a herd of other producers lower end cattle.

[cswilson]

Not sure but I might be selling a load of black second calf pairs-this Bse deal has got me a little long on cows and short on grass-maybe adding 190 heifers in 2003 had something to do with it lol.

[PureCountry]

"Seldom do you get the opportunity to buy someone else's lifetime of producing a good cowherd."

Best line you've had in awhile Cowman. I couldn't agree more. When we went looking for pureberd Galloway cows, I went to the 2 or 3 best herds in Alberta. One guy wanted too much for 6 cows that HE HAND-PICKED, and we ended up buying 5 from a fellow who offered us pick of the herd. How can you measure that? Someone's lifetime of producing and developing an elite cowherd, and you're given a price, and your choice from the top end.

With an offer like that, I had no problems at all with paying a fair price. I'll do it again in a couple years, too. Maybe sooner than I think though if rkaiser's bodybuilding career keeps taking off.lol

[kpb]

PureCountry, I was looking at the pics of the Galloway sale this weekend and noticed that while some of the bulls are solid color, others have that belt. These are likely dumb questions but I'm going to ask them anyways--are there any differences, other than color, between the belted and solid color Galloways? And if you have a herd of, say, belteds are you likely to get offspring that are solid colored or is the belt consistent? Also, is the color or belted of any consideration at all to breeders? Do they breed between the two colors?

thx in advance for your answers


kpb

[PureCountry]

Most breeders do not mix the two. They are considered two breeds within the Galloway Herd Book. And most also consider the belties an inferior line, which is due largely in part to the fact that VERY few breeders have kaintained any numbers of them. Of course when that happens, quality goes down the tube with quantity.

They do always seem to be sort of pot-gutted. The only impressive ones I've seen have been in pics from herds in Ontario. Actually, the sale you mentioned coming up in Lacombe, those folks have a half dozen REAL good belted cows. I actually tried to buy a couple from him two years ago, but he wouldn't sell them.

As for heritability, the belt is actually very consistant. It is a breed characteristic, like the Herefords' white used to be.lol However, if you cross them to a pure Black Galloway, or red or dun, you can get a variety of colors. The first cross may still be a belted, or a partial belt, but after that you could get a solid, or just as easily a 'riggot' which are spotted and generally look like Speckled Parks.

Hope that helps.

[cswilson]

We've sold the pick of our cowherd a few times over the years-not many guys are sharp enough to pick your best cows-most guys can sort out the biggest-the prettiest etc but not many get the bill payers. To each his own but when I sell breeding cattle I want the buyer to be satisfied with what he's got so I give him his pick.

[grassfarmer]

Purecountry, speaking of Galloway sales I got a catalogue through for a bull sale in a couple of weeks in Lacombe. Some strange looking colours in there... reds, blacks, whites and speckle park colour ones. They describe the whites as being "white park pattern" - a similar pattern they may be but white park are horned cattle. They are more likely to be descended, or related to the other similarily patterned, polled, British White cattle. There is a bull in this catalogue that looks like a dark coloured speckle park animal which themselves, I understand, claim to be a throw back to a white park. I don't know what he is doing in a Galloway sale.
In Scotland, in Galloway, where i'm from there are many black Galloways, a few of Belties, a few less herds of duns, and two small herds of whites I know of. There are no red Galloways and there never has been any history of reds.
Belties have been quite popular in recent decades over there because of their distinct looks and as such have been kept on some very good land compared to the more commercial black cattle. As a result the belties in the UK are often far too big.

[cowman]

Personally the highest cows I saw sell last fall at auction were $1175 and they were young black cows with some "enhanced" Angus genetics!
Now I'm not sure about the quotes on $1300 cows as I don't go to the mart very much anymore and if I do just to see how the feeders are doing.
A few years ago the weekly sale was kind of a social thing but the crowd is getting mighty thin around here as so many guys are leaving cows! Just two days ago I was driving down the road and this old boy who's had cows like forever was out getting his mail, so I stopped to shoot the breeze. He told me he sold his cows last fall and the guy up the road did too! That is happening a lot around here.

[cowman]

I think the serious producers are expanding, so they are likely picking up good cows where they can.
I doubt if the niche market type of cattle are going to out sell the conventional beef animals in the future. Seems that most herds stick with the common breeds and likely keep to whatever pays the bills.

A fellow down the road bought a few belted Galloways several years ago. They needed to be bred to something with a bit of length and then turned out some pretty decent looking calves.
His daughters showed calves off those cows in 4-H numerous times, the ones that didn't exhibit the GUT did very well. I have to say that one particular steer was off one of my Limo bulls and won the champion ship on year.