INTERSTATE

I was wondering what everyones thoughts were on the new smokey bull named Interstate. Has anyone seen him, if so than what does he look like.Thanks for any replies

I haven't heard anything, I know someone will chime in with so good information.

SW (welcome)

I really liked him. Very clean fronted, good bloodlines. I've heard that allias has some feet issues w/ his calves not sure about Interstate.
I've also hear really good this about Yellow Jacket. He's another Char X bull.

Red

It gets my attention when someone markets the photo of a bull slicksheared - which is what Kris Black did with Yellow Jacket.  I've also seen some of his calves from his first calf crop and I thought they were very good - both black and yellow.  He also comes from the most proven Charolais-X bloodlines out there. 

I have a friend that had extreme trouble with Alias on Habanero cows (crippled on the front).  She got one really good heifer, but nothing else.

In the for what it's worth catagory.... I thought Interstate was the best Char x bull in Denver. He was sound with a nice front and a great side view. Where I faulted him was in hip and lower quarter he is not as massive as some bulls. If you have soundness issues in your cows I think he may be better than his sire Alias if however your cows are  sound then Alias may be the better option. I have also seen some Yellow Jacket calves that looked nice but I think you will need a pretty fronted cow to make him work best.

ALSO IN THE "FREE ADVICE IS WORTH WHAT YOU PAY FOR IT" category:  We really liked Interstate at Denver.  He seemed deep and sound, and not all hair.

We raise smoky calves.  Dont discount the fact that if you have fullblood or purebred maine females, you can still raise an awesome smoke calf by using straight Charolais genetics.  (Especially if you have maine females that are TH or PHA carriers.)  Some on this board will disagree with my philosophy, but by breeding a true F1 cross with Charolais and Maine, you may be playing it a little safer.  Just do your homework on the Charolais side.  Pick a cleaner fronted Charolais to do this.  Madrid is a good bull, but not on small cows or heifers.  Hoo Doo and the Wyoming Wind lines are also popular.

I liked the HooDoo calves that I've seen.
I agree w/ chambero on Yellow Jacket's picture. Can really tell a good bull without all the hair.
We also have a new member that's a Char breeder. his website is the classifieds.
Red

You are totally correct in my opinion.  If any of the calves out of crossbred Charolais bulls are actually winning big shows I don't know it.  The best ones wre still the F1 crosses. 

The Lifeline x HooDoo is the most proven I know of. Raised multiple grands at Texas majors.

We used to use a Charolais bull names Troy (owned by Dan Leddy) on black cows and raised a Res. Champ. Charolais steer at Houston a couple of years ago.  Troy sired several other breed champions + the Reserve Grand Overall at San Antonio a few years ago (2004 I believe).  The bull quit producing so I don't know if Dan will still sell semen or not. 

The Grand at Houston in 06 was out of a purebred Charolais bull.

I've been outvoted by the family on the use of Charolais (doesn't fit our overall program) so I'm not keeping up with it as much anymore.  But I bet there are lots of stout Charolais bulls that might raise you better steers on black cows than using the halfblood bulls.

I'm with chambero and red on this one. It is hard to beat the lifeline x hoodoo matings. This has proven to be one of the most consistent matings out there. Just take a look over the years and how many breed champions and grand champion winners there have been at houston and san antonio out of this cross. We have also had good succes with using dan's bull Troy on our black females. One of our top sellers this year was a super stout freaky fronted smokie baldie out of troy and a black baldie wmw female. There is also a son of Troy that Steve Wimberly has that is supposed to be the real deal also on black females. I did not get a chance to see Interstate as a baby at Curtis's, but his females are very soggy made functional females. But i will let somone else try this bull and see how he works, lol, would hate to loose ground using him when you know the lifeline deal clicks everytime. We have sold the whole group of heifers this year, but those of you who are interested we will have about 25 females for sale this next fall out of the lifeline x hoo doo mating, and also out of a smokie bull called third degree that we purchased from Kris Black.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day. Sure is beautiful weather here!!!

eric

Just a couple observations on the last several posts.

The Hoo Doo Ranch in Wyoming operated as a closed herd genetically for a couple of decades.  Many Charolais breeders used the Hoo Doo Lines for a total outcross. 

The Leddy family is great to work with.  Donny Leddy worked as a fieldman for the AICA during the golden era of the Char world in the 80's and 90's.

Thanks for agreeing with me on the idea of using pure Char on pure maine.  If your goal is a true smoke,  don't forget the power of a real F1 cross.  Also, as the white gene gets diluted, your opportunity to predict color diminishes rapidly.   

Congrats, chambero!  Many Charolais folks were pretty excited when that calf won!!

My only caution for people is that the rat tail condition tends to rear it's ugly head when crossbreeding blacks on Charolais.  Many a rat tail calf has been fed out and in our freezers.  Cant sell them anywhere!   

Have a great day everyone!

Not sure which calf winning you are talking about.  The Res Gr in San Antonio in 04 was shown by a family that is a very good friend of mine.  We didn't have any other association with it though.  Dan raised the calf himself.

We raised the 04 Res. Char in Houston, but it wasn't anything that would have attracted much excitement from anyone but us.  By the way, its baby photo was on my previous post about good baby photos.

By the way, I believe the Hoo Doo-ranch raised Charolais are almost a thing of the past.  Kris Black said last summer that the ranch was going to start crossing them with Red Angus.

And yes, we've had a few rat tails too.  The few we've sent on to the feedlot didn't attract any negative attention though.

I'm not surprised about the HooDoo going to a crossbreeding program.  The golden era for Charolais in the western states is essentially over with the exceptions of South Dakota and California.  Mainly small Char breeders now. 

What caused them to fall out of favor?  In our area, the commercial buyers we deal with don't want Charolais influence.  Lots of people down here still argue their benefits, but our buyers don't want them and most of the big commercial ranchers in our region are getting rid of the Charolais bulls and almost all Brahman influence (thank goodness on that one). 

I was under the impression it was just a local preference thing down here.  I didn't realize it was a large scale trend.

Wow, it's sure not a trend out here. smokeys are hot! Now, I'll admit the Charlosis cows themselves aren't but if you can get a nice smokey calf, then you've got buyers!
It seems that it took a while for them to catch on out here in Ohio. OH B might remember but I think Winegardners started it off several years ago when they're girls would show the smokey calves. Now you'll see a lot of people looking for really good ones.

Red

It's a hard trend to put your finger on out here.  Part of it is just economics.  A lot of the larger ranches are being cut up to settle estates or are being sold for development.  After the hard drought out here 2002-2005, a lot of the older guys that used charolais bulls sold out.  If you drive by the feedlots in the northeast Colorado area, they are 75% Charolais influenced.  Our commercial calves bring a premium if we ship them to that area.  If we shipped to the area near Oklahoma, they would be severly discounted.  Go Figure.

There are several moderate Charolais breeders in Colo, Neb, and Wyo.  And a few smaller Char breeders (me).  My husband and I were herdsmen for a large place in South Dakota that bred, fed, and marketed 300 bulls a year.  Like I said, operations of that caliber no longer exist down here.

cowz said:

Thanks for agreeing with me on the idea of using pure Char on pure maine.  If your goal is a true smoke,  don't forget the power of a real F1 cross.  Also, as the white gene gets diluted, your opportunity to predict color diminishes rapidly.   

Congrats, chambero!  Many Charolais folks were pretty excited when that calf won!!

My only caution for people is that the rat tail condition tends to rear it's ugly head when crossbreeding blacks on Charolais.  Many a rat tail calf has been fed out and in our freezers.  Cant sell them anywhere!   

Have a great day everyone!

Click to expand...

Really...you've had true rat tails with the curly messed up hair, out of Charolais?  I thought it was only a Simmental thing.  I agree they are ugly things.

And on the colour, you're right, breeding to pure white Char gives 100% smoky, breeding to a smoky gives only a 50/50 chance.

Ok, I'll play dumb here. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a rat tailed calf. Anyone got pictures of one they can post? you can always say it came from the neighbor's down the road!!!

))

Red

No pictures, but the ones I've had just don't have much of a tail switch at all.  I don't know if those are "true" rat tails or not, but that's what I've heard them called.  Didn't know it was a big deal.  They are just kind of ugly.

I've heard some people say they don't gain as well, why would that be? I understand they don't have a good of a hair coat, so that would effect them in cold weather but it might be an advantage in hot.
Thanks Chambero!!
Red

Here is a journal of animal science article that will tell you their opinion on why they have inferior feedlot performance.  We have never agreed with the "poor doer" thing.  They feed out fine at home.  Feedlot buyers will discount them to the point where you are giving them away.

jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/77/5/1144.pdf