F1 Simmi X Angus bulls

[justintime]

I have attached pictures of two F1 bulls selling in the Wheatland Simmental bull sale . These two bulls are sired by Wheatland Bull 680S and are both out of purebred Angus cows. I think these bulls are pretty awesome. What does everyone else think?

 

[justintime]

Here are some more of their F1 bulls selling. All sired by Wheatland Bull 680S and out of purebred Angus cows all from Merit Cattle Co., Radville, SK.

 

[CAB]

WOW, can you say Deep Ribbed!!

 

[Okotoks]

Those are some stout bulls. They should sell well. The Angus Simmie cross is almost as good as the Shorthorn Simmie cross. ;D

 

[sjc]

Tried some F1 bulls once - never try them again. If you are looking for consistency in your calf crop you need to use a purebred. Sure the bulls look great but what kind of calves are you going to get? Ill tell you what i got - 1/4 look like Angus, 1/4 look like Simmental, and 1/2 somewhere and everwhere in between. All I had that year was 200 steer calves with weaning weights from 500 - 900 lbs in lots no bigger then 5. I lost money because they were not consistent enough to go into the ring as a pen of 50. Birthweights from the bull anywhere from 65 lbs to 124 lbs.

You are better off spending your money on a good purebred bull. Make steers that look like these bulls in the pictures. Using these F1s as bulls is a mistake and will set your program back.

My herd is mostly Angus cows and I use Charolais bulls now. Birth weight on steers last year 90-105, weaning weights 785-905lbs. Topped the market in Clyde the day i sold them.

Just my opinion but be careful using F1 bulls if you are wanting to make money on your calves.

 

[Top Knot]

I agree with sjc, put whatever name you want on them, SimAngus, Limflex, Balancers, they're all crossbreds. I can't believe the dollars these things sell for. How accurate are the EPDs? You know the breed EPDs from both sides of the pedigree, but what happens in the crossing? Give me a purebred base to work from and consistency I can count on.

 

[justintime]

Tried some F1 bulls once - never try them again. If you are looking for consistency in your calf crop you need to use a purebred. Sure the bulls look great but what kind of calves are you going to get? Ill tell you what i got - 1/4 look like Angus, 1/4 look like Simmental, and 1/2 somewhere and everwhere in between. All I had that year was 200 steer calves with weaning weights from 500 - 900 lbs in lots no bigger then 5. I lost money because they were not consistent enough to go into the ring as a pen of 50. Birthweights from the bull anywhere from 65 lbs to 124 lbs.

You are better off spending your money on a good purebred bull. Make steers that look like these bulls in the pictures. Using these F1s as bulls is a mistake and will set your program back.

My herd is mostly Angus cows and I use Charolais bulls now. Birth weight on steers last year 90-105, weaning weights 785-905lbs. Topped the market in Clyde the day i sold them.

Just my opinion but be careful using F1 bulls if you are wanting to make money on your calves.

I agree with you, about using crossbred bulls, but their popularity seems to be growing in many sales. Wheatland have been averaging $7500 -$10,000 so it will be interesting to see what these bulls bulls bring. These crossbred and composite bulls in some sales are selling for excellent dollars

 

[CAB]

I agree with sjc, put whatever name you want on them, SimAngus, Limflex, Balancers, they're all crossbreds. I can't believe the dollars these things sell for. How accurate are the EPDs? You know the breed EPDs from both sides of the pedigree, but what happens in the crossing? Give me a purebred base to work from and consistency I can count on.

You forgot a major player, "clubby", and we all know the kind of heterosis kick we get from those powerhouses!!!

 

[sjc]

I thought i woudl take some heat for my comments - nice to see there are some true cattlemen and cattlewomen on the site. I dont know how the big operations sell these F1 bulls each year but you are right - they command big dollars. I got caught up in it as well - once. I will not make that mistake again.

In a sale book I look for the F1 bulls though and see if they are out of the sires of the purebred bulls in the same sale. Then I get a chance to see how the bull works. I think if you had a pen of steers as good as the ones you showed us above - you would make some money. I might even consider using Simmental again - I just cannot stand those wasty front ends and sloppy sheaths. They seem to be slowly breeding that out.