I sold a cow to a Scottish cattleman a few days ago. He raises Angus cattle, but he says the Shorthorn popularity is so high that he wants to be a part of it. He will flush the cow here in Canada and send the embryos over to Britain. From what he was telling me, any animals that are at least 50% British receive a premium price, but if the British portion is Shorthorn, the premium paid is almost doubled. Also interesting that roans are most popular, followed by whites. Reds are the least popular, but still are saleable at strong prices if they are good enough. Twenty years ago, you could hardly give a Shorthorn away in Britain, and the breed almost disappeared. They are now the fastest growing breed in popularity, and breed numbers are multiplying quickly.. Interesting how times change.
It was also interesting in that I sold this female to him during a phone call he made. He has not seen the cow and knows very little about her pedigree. He has seen a daughter in Britain that he really liked and that was all he needed to know to make the purchase.I have only flushed this female once and sent 4 embryos to Britain and 3 calves resulted. It was one of the easiest sales I ever made. He asked if I still had the cow and if I did what did I want for her. I told him I still had her and quickly priced her. As soon as I priced this cow,he said he would purchase her and wired the money the next day and it was in my bank account less than 24 hours after the sale was completed. No other questions, no worries if she doesn't flush well etc. I hope she does flush good as I wouldn't mind selling him a few more cows!!
