Learning about lowline cattle

I would like to learn about lowline cattle.  I am not sure where are markets for this kind of cattle and where I could buy any if I wanted too.  I have seen people talk about them and was just wanting to learn about them.  I am located in Indiana, in Grant county.  Any information would help me a lot.

Thanks

Go to www.usa-lowline.org, you can learn a lot from this website and then you can go to several of the different ranches websites lots of good info.  Good luck and have fun.

CAMyers said:

I would like to learn about lowline cattle.  I am not sure where are markets for this kind of cattle and where I could buy any if I wanted too.  I have seen people talk about them and was just wanting to learn about them.  I am located in Indiana, in Grant county.  Any information would help me a lot.

Thanks

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What do you want to know?  The market is mostly seedstock, show calves, hobby farms, locker beef, grass fed beef & I've sold a fair amount of bulls to commercial producers to use on their 1st calf heifers.  The American Lowline website is a good start, but I think that you will get more info looking at the breeders websites, IMHO.    

Actually the grass fed beef thing is getting huge!  A guy near Madison, IN just bought 50+ head from Jerry Adamson and/or George Jenkins out in Nebraska.  I know several people wanting it (grass fed beef) & they can't hardly find it.  Store, restaurants... the opportunity is available for the taker... you just need the land & the cattle.   Like it or not, the grass fed market will probably keep on getting bigger & bigger & the cost of production is lower.  The only disadvantage is that you really need to keep them around until 18-22 months in order to finish them (to get them to grade choice) & you better have some pretty good hay/stockpiled pasture to feed during the cold winter months.      

If you want to see some in person, there is a small herd building near Noblesville.  Doc Holliday's co-owner has some cattle near Lafayette/Crawfordsville.  A guy near Madison, IN just bought 50+ from Jerry Adamson and/or George Jenkins out in Nebraska.  Actually, there are several others in the Madison area now.  A buddy of mine has a handful in Washington, IN.  Some people near Santa Claus just bought a few.  I'm in Kentucky, but not too far from Evansville, IN.  There are lots of others in Indiana.  

However, if decide that you want to buy, I will almost guarantee that I will sell them/find them probably as cheap or cheaper than most anybody else & I think that I have some pretty decent genetics.  Actually, no farther than you live, I'd probably haul them to you if you bought a handful or more.            

My email is [email protected] & my # is (270) 997-0041

Let me know if I can help!

TJ

A couple of other things, you can go with fullbloods (100% DNA parent verified) or you can raise percentage bloods.  Right now, you can register down to 1/4 bloods, but only 1/2 & above can compete at the major Lowline Shows (Louisville, Denver, Billings, Kansas City, Houston, Etc).  I'm guessing that 1/4 blood steers will be allowed to show at the NAILE in a year or 2, but not breeding stock, but who knows for sure.  The 1/4 bloods would be good for youth heifer & steer projects though.

Also, you will be extremely hard pressed to find better calving ease bulls for a group of heifers than a Lowline bull.  You may get an occasional fluke, but I'm not sure that you can find easier calvers unless you tried a mini Zebu (Don't!).    ;D 

CAMyers said:

I would like to learn about lowline cattle.  I am not sure where are markets for this kind of cattle and where I could buy any if I wanted too.  I have seen people talk about them and was just wanting to learn about them.  I am located in Indiana, in Grant county.  Any information would help me a lot.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hello, and congrats on wanting to learn more about a very interesting, and profitable, breed.  I started raising/owning Lowlines in about 1998 when I lived in the state of Wyoming.  I saw the display at the National Western Stock Show when they were first imported into the USA and was hooked!  The more people talk about them and their origins, the more, it seems, that it varies just a bit.  So, I'll first recommend that you learn the history of the breed, in general, that started as part of a research program in New South Wales.  Go to the Australian Lowline Cattle Ass'n website at http://lowline.une.edu.au/ for the true history of the breed.  The first Australian Lowlines were brought to the USA in about 1996.  The American Lowline Registry website has a tab for "Lowline Breeders" where all the members of the ALR are listed, organized by state.  There are quite a few in your general area.  Even though the numbers of cattle have increased in the US over the years, and the prices have leveled somewhat, there is still a strong and active market for Lowlines.  Since I don't raise cattle of any type any more, I do maintain a website where people can advertise their cattle.  I recently listed a group of 14 bred halfblood heifers (from Colorado) and within 4 hrs, the owner had been contacted by a buyer in Florida and all the heifers were spoken sight unseen.  Many of the Lowline breeders are in Denver right now for the big annual event at the NWSS.  The buyer of the heifers traveled from Florida to see them and wrote the check last night to the seller.  I think that is reflective of good quality cattle from a reputation herd bringing fair prices with very good demand.  Since I don't have cattle of my own to sell you, I'd be happy to offer any help you might want to pursue.  You can email me through the "Planet", here, or privately if you'd prefer at [email protected].  Best of luck and, I hope, welcome to the world of Lowlines!