Belt Buckle Cattle

[librarian]

We eliminated a millenia old ecosystem. Probably the bison would reactivate their ancestral potential in about 5 minutes if we put them back into that environment .
If modern breeders have genetically modified bison in some way that closes the door to certain old trails, then the old way would have to re-evolve.  My made up idea, anyway.

Who is driving selection in cattle, show or commercial? Exploiters and harvesters of short term trends to maximize profit. Maintaining unfashionable genetics, even if they are adaptive, probably will not ever be profitable, other than posthumously when the wheel turns.

In the meantime, retained ownership and selective marketing seems to be a realistic survival strategy for the iconoclast. IF the land is paid for......

Cabanha, I like your bull.

 

[aj]

Would man......try and move the natural calving date of buffalo from may to February? Would they try and level em out over the rump and try to make em "blue roans". Would they shoot for big horns or try an make em polled?

 

[librarian]

I annoyed my Shorthorn bull with a Stanley tape today, and he is 52" at the hip.
I guess that makes him a 3, so I learned something because I thought he was a 4.
I see that Beral, the sire of the Angus that I sold, was 2.7. Beral was bought by PCC.  http://www.pharocattle.com/Semen-Source-2014/angus.htm
Anyway, even though I do not accept the idea that Kit Pharo knows everything, here is a good summary of why frame 2-4 bulls work in his program. He even has the picture of Short Snorter!
For the record, I think 1300 lb cows are about right.
http://www.pharocattle.com/extrastuff/Cattle/Kit_s_Frame_Score_Lesson.pdf

 

[cowboy_nyk]

As the resident Angus guy I thought I'd chime in.  I'm no proponent of "belt buckle cattle" or even what some people are calling "moderate" these days.  I do however believe that the proportions of cattle that were desired at that time had some merit.  I believe more scale is better of course but the depth of body and width of chest in those little cattle was something we need to pursue in today's larger framed cattle.  Below is a pic of my 7 yr old cow.  If you didn't know that she was 2000lbs you could almost picture her as one of the old style angus.  That is the type of dimension that make cattle profitable.  The scale of the cow must then be adjusted to suit your environment of course.

 

[knabe]

Below is a pic of my 7 yr old cow.

why don't you have 50 just like her? :}

 

[cowboy_nyk]

I wish I had 50!  we probably only have 10-12 that would be in the same "mold" but it definitely is a goal I'm working towards.  The heifer I posted in my other thread is actually wider in the chest floor, top, and hip.

 

[justintime]

This may be slightly off topic but not too far, I think. A couple weeks ago, I read an article that stated that the average carcass weight for cattle slaughtered in the 3rd week of November, broke the all time high average weight. The average carcass weight for that week was 902 lbs. I found this almost too crazy to believe, as that is an incredible average weight for all cattle slaughtered that week. The article went on to say that every 1 additional pound of carcass weight on all cattle slaughtered represented another 10,000 head of cattle being slaughtered. With the record high prices for cattle, most feedlots are feeding for additional weights and slaughter plants are raising their carcass weights before discounts occur.
I think there is a niche market for smaller framed cattle ( belt buckle ) but I do not think the industry as a whole wants to go back to these cattle again. Right now I see breeders moderating frame but increasing volume and weight in their cattle.
The Supreme Champion Bull at Canadian Western Agribition this year was an Angus bull from Remitall Farms, that weighed 2620 lbs as a two year old. He sold in the Power and Perfection sale at Agribition for $62,000 a few days before the Supreme show.

 

[oakview]

I'm hearing that around here the spread between feeder steers and heifers is much larger than normal.  They tell me that is because the feedlots want to feed the cattle to heavier weights and the steers are more capable of doing that.  JIT's comments indicate that is true. 

 

[librarian]

I wonder if those weights have anything to do with Holstein cross steers? I saw a lot of them in some feedlots.
The environment behind that beautiful Angus cow really tells a story about how larger, dense animals use less energy to stay warm than smaller animals. Lower Metabolic rate or something like that. Animals are bigger in the North for that reason. I think bigger cattle actually work better and make more money for the producer. I just have to balance that with early maturity in my situation. Anyway, I sure like that cow.