Okotoks said:
feeder duck said:
Ask me why I have fewer Shorthorn cows than ever? The breed is "Brain Washed" at the moment. Mass majority of people are chasing the purple and think only a handful of pedigrees will do it. WRONG. We have back ourselves into a narrow minded high birth weight corner. We have begun a set of Red Angus cows and I love them. I still love my Shorthorns, but until a few things change I am dead in the water. The high prices at sales and the constant rotation of the same names in the winners circle have driven the common buyer away.Most that spend the high dollars rarely stay around or make the high dollar cattle pay them back. On the commercial side I must agree with Troy (M-Bar) he has a very strong grip on the commercial side as well as the show ring.
With all the options out there it is a bit amazing how many people keep doing the same thing over and over again. It happens in other parts of the industry as well when it comes to shows. Does anyone ever ask why hair, straight legs and freaky fronts are so important in the steer shows? People are seeking out traits propogated by carriers of genetic defects with no regard to whether these animals would perform in the real world of feedlots and packing plants.
IMO, I think we have allowed some of this to happen to ourselves. Many of us, sit on show committees for local,regional and national events. Who gets selected to judge these events? Usually it is some college guy or some college trained guy who has been brainwashed into believing what a great show animal should look like. If even a few of these guys had to make their living ( or even most of it) from the actual production of cattle, I think we would see some changes in our show... and there would be less distance between the show ring and the commercial producer. That is my theory anyways. Some of these show ring fads ( that is exactly what they are) have no real benefit in real world conditions and some are even detrimental. ( I regress back to my rant on the big square hip on females that is desirable in females in the show ring, and I truly believe that this is resulting in more and more females that cannot calve a normal sized calf without assistance. A square hip is fine, if the slope ratio from hooks to pins is proper. I love the look that a big square hip gives a female, and I am OK with it if it doesn't alter Mother Nature's design). I am not putting all college judges in this basket, as I have seen some excellent college judges, that obviously have a connection to the real world yet. A person can no more put all college trained judges in the same basket as one can all cattle from a particular bloodline. If I may commend shows here in Canada, I think the selection of judges has not gone to the extreme I see in the US. I also believe this is why I feel there is far less disconnect between the sectors of the industry here in Canada.If you look at the judges selected at many of the leading shows in Canada, it usually is a cattle breeder. For example, at Canadian Western Agribition, which is the largest show in Canada, it has been many years since I can remember a none practicing cattle breeder judge a show. This is no guarantee that the judging is good, but I do think it does keep our shows a little closer based on what the industry needs. It also creates an atmosphere where there is less emphasis is placed on the award winners and people make their own decisions on what they like themselves.
Like most things in life, good things are always taken to an extreme. In many parts of N America, good hair is an important factor, but it is not more important than some other economical considerations. In selecting show cattle, hair is oftentimes one of the most important considerations, and I am assuming that this is because a good clipper with an a hair ball of an animal can cover a multitude of inadequacies. Try to market an animal with abnormal amounts of hair to an Australian breeder. It doesn't work very good. With their conditions, too much hair is a very bad trait. We need cattle with hair here, in most areas, but too much hair can create many problems as well. How many commercial operations do you know that will take the time to sheer their entire herds before going to grass? I know of some purebred breeders who do this and I would suggest that this is obviously a situation where we have allowed the show ring to move our industry away from common sense issues. In my world, I like cows that work for me, rather than me just working for them. And I still believe that cattle shows are an important part of marketing my cattle and I spend a pile of money each year to make this happen.
I do believe there is a definite place for cattle shows in our industry. I do believe that a cattle show should be an educational experience for those in attendance. Probably this is why so many college trained judges get picked... because they have all the canned reasons and are trained in public speaking on a mic in front of crowds of people. I must admit that I get a sick feeling when I hear some of these judges try to baffle the audience with their canned idiotic reasons that have no relationship with anything other than fads and fancies. In my perfect world, I would wish for an industry where there was more emphasis placed on showing breeding cattle rather than just breeding show cattle.
