Why Shorthorns ?!?

[JTM]

Okay I understand the shorthorn breed has a long history in the show ring, but what good are the rest of them and why do all these people breed them ? I know for a fact that the big feedyards and buyers don't care for them. I have hauled livestock for years all over the states and not once , anywhere , hauled in or out a load of shorties ? Am I missing something somewhere ? I've seen a few sell here and there and they fall way short of the other breeds of cattle ? 

It's simple for me. Believe it or not. I feel they hold the key ingredient to move carcass quality forward. Without even trying, shorties will test as tender or more tender than anything. Here is another little dirty seceret no stockyard buyer wants you to know. All those off colored calves that they buy at a discount rate are the reason they can turn a profit. Come to Mt Vernon, Ohio salebarn and sit in the back and watch the 3 or 4 buyers there. It is a JOKE! If I had the funds, I would just go to all the sale barns around and just buy the off colored calves. Even if they do happen to eat a little more, who cares, you can absorb the costs because you stole the cattle at the salebarn. Doesn't take a genuis to tell a good calf and a bad calf in the ring. When raising freezer beef, I have found it is essential to have at least 50% shortie in the equation. They keep it tender even  on grass and can flat grow. The trick is finding and using the lines to fit your needs and not fall prey to the hustlers of the hard doing high input cattle. Which leads to all the bad press floating around about how bad our breed is. Like so many other things in life, the reality is far from the perception.

Thank you TrevorGreycattleco. That is exactly right! The Shorthorn beef is some of the best tasting beef you can get. There have been some studies done that have shown the Shorthorn breed is full of good tenderness genes and may even grade choice more often than Angus cattle. I have to agree with a lot of the other comments too. Docility is awesome compared to the Angus, Maine Anjou, Simmy, and crossbreds that we have had. For the first time I have felt unsafe walking out into a pasture with a bull... That's because I bought an Angus bull. The black cattle are always the ones you try to corral in and they turn and run to the other side of the pen or field. The Shorthorns are a pain because you have to tail them so much to get them to move. I'd rather deal with the latter though...

 

[Shorthorns4us]

Good thread.  Just had to chime in on the topic about why anyone would have them if they take a cut in the sale barns.
Shorthorns IMO- are a great work in progress back to the commercial/feedlot acceptance.  Yes, generally the loads of shorthorns going to the feedlots are smaller or less in numbers than their black counterparts, but when you hang them on the rail-- they have it where it counts. 
When you are feeding on the "meat" or on the "grid" color makes no difference.  Lots of feedlots sell this way.  It is just going to take more exposure back in the commercial circles to even up the divide between the colors.  I think the ASA is trying to work towards this circle more-- they have the feedlot tests going and are on an agressive campaign this year to promote the Shorthorn cross- they have been asking the membership for photos and info about crossbreeding scenarios. 
I am excited to be apart of the breed this decade and look forward to the future.  I agree with JIT that everyone of us breeders should give 2 heifers to our "other" colored neighbors and let them try it for themselves. 
ALTSIMMY79-- we did have simmi's several years ago and crossed them up with the Shorthorns and had some very nice crosses- but right now we don't have any of the simmi crosses left.  Nothing wrong with the simmi cross-- may try it again someday if I can sneak it in without my husband knowing-- he is anti-simmi-- he had a very bad experience with them as a kid.  I have to choose my battles-- LOL.  Kind of like some people have bad experiences with dogs, cats, horses and etc and they won't touch them again.

 

[knabe]

you stole the cattle at the salebarn.

a good friend of mine, that's pretty much all he does.  he buys cattle he thinks he can make the cheapest gain on regardless of breed, color, age.  he groups them by truckload and sells the pregnant cows to his son who sorts the cows by their calves to keep back.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Thats a smart man. I always think about doing it, just never the guts to take the leap. Not yet anyway.

 

[kfacres]

Thats a smart man. I always think about doing it, just never the guts to take the leap. Not yet anyway.

or the funds/ space to kick start off of (IMC) (In my case)

 

[ALTSIMMY 79]

Once again , thanks for all the opinions and information . We started originally with pb angus , then went to chi angus , then the simmys . The chi angus were wonderful critters , ya right ! Never tried the shorthorn deal but have always been curious about them , I can't deny that !

 

[sh breeder]

If you try your chi-angus cows with a good shorthorn bull you can make some pretty good cattle that show and feed good. When I was a kid we had shorthorn cows and my gramma bought a chi-angus bull 1/2 blood chi that we had fun showing back in the day and now we only have a handfully of backs and are shorthorn plus and 2 are blue roans the blue roan  is hard get but we will try hoping for 3 this spring

 

[aandtcattle]

I was born and raised on a angus outfit and married into an angus outfit.  My wife and I bought our first shorthorn females in 2003 and have built our registered shorthorn herd to about 80 females.  5 years ago between my family's ranch and my wifes family's ranch there were 100% angus sired calves born at both places.  In 2010 approximately 50% of the calves were sired by either purebred shorthorn or shorthorn plus bulls both natural and a.i.  This is out of over 600 head!  At the in-laws place we only ran 1 purebred angus bull for clean up last year and a.i.ed the majority of the cows to shorthorn.  Keep in mind this is a dyed-in-the-wool angus outfit that has had nothing but angus for over 40 years.  My wife and I did not press the shorthorn issue, but led by example, running our shorthorn females alongside the black cows, demonstrating the superior fleshing ability, mothering ability and disposition comparatively.  When we started getting carcass data back on the purebreds and f1's, it was a no-brainer for both operations.  Shorthorns fit in every facet of our production system.

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Ya someone please remind me why it is I am in the Shorthorn business. In the real world of business why would anyone sell the same product as everyone else and get paid less.  Change a product name from Appendix to Plus after it took 15 years to get people to understand what they are in the first place. Spend tens of thousands of dollars buying cattle  to turn around and get beat by the breeders that sold them to you. HMMMM! Remind me again!

I am in it because, as a kid I met a lot of friends. I am in it because I happen to love being a little left of center with the cattle I breed. Trends come and go and so do the big spenders. I have seen a bunch of them....I mean a bunch. I am 42 years old and my family have become some of the "older" breeders in Indiana. Got my first steer at age 9 and he was a Shorthorn.

I have to admit I love my Red Angus cows a bunch as well.

You got burned at some point and your still around. Good for you. <beer> We are kinda walking the same path. I dont blame anyone but myself for my wrong turns. Reading your deal feeder duck is another reason why I have set out to breed my own cattle lines and quit worrying about the show deal. I may again someday sell some through the Ohio beef expo or something but I will never ever care where they finish in a show again. If my kids want to show, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

[thunderdownunder]

Why Shorthorns ?!?

Why not?!



But seriously, why any breed? For all the positives and negatives of each and every breed in the world, in the long run it all comes down to personal preference. Every breed has its place and to tar every animal in a breed with the same brush is unfair. Now the variation in type in each breed is a whole different discussion altogether!!!

 

[ALTSIMMY 79]

Lol thunderdownunder ! You find me one I can keep in a one wire fence , calve unassisted , raise calves that sell and grid better than the rest , never gets cranky or wild and I won't ask anymore dumb questions ! Just had to poke a little fun. Nothing too serious !

 

[Okotoks]

Lol thunderdownunder ! You find me one I can keep in a one wire fence , calve unassisted , raise calves that sell and grid better than the rest , never gets cranky or wild and I won't ask anymore dumb questions ! Just had to poke a little fun. Nothing too serious !

I just talked to a bull buyer that has purebred Charolais and also run part of their herd with Shorthorn bulls. They had used Shorthorns 5,6  and 7 years ago and had success. They tried Angus for a couple of years and between disposition and bull injuries went back Shorthorn this year. They bought two Shorthorn bulls for over $4500 each and had no bull losses this year.The other bullls run are charolais, again no losses. This up in the Peace River country and is real a ranching type set up.(550 miles North West of Calgary) Last year 3 of the 4 Angus were lost or had to be shipped They thought they had lost one of the Shorty bulls but he turned up in the bush with a group of cows. They plan on recording their Shorty x Charolais heifer calves appendix Shorthorns .These are big cows and calve end Marrch through the beginning of May. The steer calves averaged over $800 ea and the heifers mid $700 this year.
There are several Shorthorn bull sales in Western Canada in the spring and looks like there will be more this year.

 

[r.n.reed]

I'll vouch for the 1 wire deal with Shorthorns,I've even had a couple local cattlemen ask me what kind of charger I use!

 

[cebwtx]

I don't know about 1 wire for shorthorns personally. I do however know that we had an angus x limi bull that from 1 year on could not be held with 2 and 3 wires. He never wandered far but never stayed in either. We sold him to another friend and never roamed on him. His temperament was as docile as they come though. Saw him a year after we sold him and he ran up to my wife like a long lost pet. As far as other bulls are concerned we have never had any of our Hereford show interest in getting out.

 

[mlazyj]

Ok please don't hammer me to bad ,I'am just asking . What color/kind of cattle do you get if you use a Shorthorn bull on black cattle ? I need to buy a couple of heifers that I want to AI this spring . I have to own black cattle because of the deal I have with the ranch I work on . That doesn't mean I cann't have better black cattle than the Angus on Angus forever . I've known Shorties to be excellent milkers that are easy to get around , but I've never been around any that were crosses . I'am looking at if I have heifers out of good cows that they are going to be good keepers .

 

[comercialfarmer]

This is a heifer back in the summer I had and is representative of the color I got from BA x SH almost solid red.  I only have a handful for what its worth.  They are black with a slight red tint.  My understanding is that a roan x may give you a blue roan calf.  I haven't come across enough information on genes controlling roan markings to be educated, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what percentage of calves born from a roan bull to a solid colored cow will be roan or what major factors would be involved?

 

[trevorgreycattleco]

Ok please don't hammer me to bad ,I'am just asking . What color/kind of cattle do you get if you use a Shorthorn bull on black cattle ? I need to buy a couple of heifers that I want to AI this spring . I have to own black cattle because of the deal I have with the ranch I work on . That doesn't mean I cann't have better black cattle than the Angus on Angus forever . I've known Shorties to be excellent milkers that are easy to get around , but I've never been around any that were crosses . I'am looking at if I have heifers out of good cows that they are going to be good keepers .

If the bull is solid red, your calves will be black. I have never had a red calf out of a black angus cow. If she was a red gene carrier that may give you a red calf but for the most part, they will be black. You will get some awful good calves from this cross.

 

[aandtcattle]

I will second what Trev just said.  We have had hundreds of angus x shorthorn calves and only 2 red ones and both of those came from the same cow.  We havent had many from roan bulls, maybe 10, out of Top Hand, a very dark roan bull and amazingly we got quite a few blue roans so if you are shooting for solid black, definitely use a solid red bull to do it.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Been my experience that a solid red Shorthorn  bull that goes back to some maine will make em black-and thick