Funny commercial Shorthorn story from Ohio Beef Expo

JTM · Mar 15, 2014

So I thought I would be bold and walk up to the Genex table and ask them, "Do you guys have any demand for or get asked for semen on a commercial calving ease Shorthorn bull?" Of course I was anticipating a look like, "who is this idiot"? And yeah, that's pretty much the look I got. They directed me to the contact information of the person to talk to and I said thanks. So then as I'm walking away one of the other associates at the booth was talking to a couple and I hear him say, "no we don't have any Shorthorn bulls". (lol)

Needless to say I came to a halt and gave them my information.

J2F · Mar 16, 2014

And that is where it starts!
If we don't believe in our bulls why should anyone else. Keep up the good fight Josh.

sue · Mar 16, 2014

My experience with Genex ( 2010 in Denver ) was we could be an consignment or "added attraction" with a catalog fee ? Both RS 034 and Captain were bulls discussed at the time in the yards. Obviously Captain was not an option for Genex and I was not willing to consign a unproven son of captain at the time. We never pursued RS 034 . I have noticed Shorthorns in Genex's added attraction category over the years and I have heard that Homedale's Blizzard has done very well ! I would encourage any shorthorn breeder with proven bulls balanced epd bulls to approach Genex or studs like them that do not have shorthorn or shorthorn influenced bulls. I chose not to pursue Genex but have had positive experiences with the studs in Strattford,MO and also the one in Alabama.

Judge · Mar 16, 2014

What dose it say about your breed when a company such as genex dose not have a selection to choose from but carries polls, Piedmontese, and brahmas. I bet that dexter and Waygu will have more of a selection than the horns.

RyanChandler · Mar 16, 2014

Semex sure seems to be catching on.

aj · Mar 17, 2014

The free market will dictate what semen sells. I assume it will be a "one bull at a time" proccess. If you can get a bull in there that meets a need...they will be accepted. I often wondered if a pelvic measurement bull might help the proccess. Develop a Shorthorn bull......who sires daughters that have above industry averages......and yet don't have huge birth weights themselves. You have calving ease bulls like Homer in the Angus breed and Cherokee Canyon in the Red Angus breed........who's daughters sucked as pelvic measurement cows. just my opinion

CRS · Mar 17, 2014

Josh it was good to sit and talk to you through lunch at the Expo. You have a really good thing going and I hope it continues for you. I think I was most impressed by your knowledge and the fact that you are not a breed snob. Thanks for sharing with Jim and I at lunch, always nice to hear other guys perspectives and know there are guys out there doing things the right way. A lot of people on here probably are not aware that you raised the dam to the promotional bull Uncle Sy, who you sold as a heifer. Keep up the good fight.
Chris

mark tenenbaum · Mar 17, 2014

Judge said:
What dose it say about your breed when a company such as genex dose not have a selection to choose from but carries polls, Piedmontese, and brahmas. I bet that dexter and Waygu will have more of a selection than the horns./// It tells me that the rest of thier bulls are also UGLY vanilla safe S45678ttt that might be OK for Goober the sale barn supplier,but not for people that compete in the ring-which is basically what this site is about. O0

trevorgreycattleco · Mar 18, 2014

Added attractions in genex is just another avenue for genex to make money. Most of those bulls don't sell much if any semen. I worked for genex. They don't like shorthorns. Period. At least the didn't. They like to stick with what's made them money. Can't blame them. Shorthorns have a horrible rap still in the commercial sector. I just drove through Kentucky. I saw cows everywhere but I didn't see shorthorns. I saw black and black baldies. I bet most of these old boys would never even THINK about using a shorthorn. The weaning weights I just read in a prominent shorthorn breeders catalog were mediocre at best. Frail looking bulls for the most part. And these were on feed. I'd like to know how much semen select sires has sold on the two shorties they have compared to the top two bulls from any other breed they have.

garybob · Mar 18, 2014

-XBAR- said:
Semex sure seems to be catching on.

especially Globally. Semex has always marketed Shorthorn semen in Latin American Countries, in the Southern Hemisphere.

GB

mark tenenbaum · Mar 18, 2014

trevorgreycattleco said:
Added attractions in genex is just another avenue for genex to make money. Most of those bulls don't sell much if any semen. I worked for genex. They don't like shorthorns. Period. At least the didn't. They like to stick with what's made them money. Can't blame them. Shorthorns have a horrible rap still in the commercial sector. I just drove through Kentucky. I saw cows everywhere but I didn't see shorthorns. I saw black and black baldies. I bet most of these old boys would never even THINK about using a shorthorn. The weaning weights I just read in a prominent shorthorn breeders catalog were mediocre at best. Frail looking bulls for the most part. And these were on feed. I'd like to know how much semen select sires has sold on the two shorties they have compared to the top two bulls from any other breed they have./// wherever Capiche is-he outsold almost everything they had-and is still very strong-which certainly rules out weaning wieghts and anything performance-unfortunately-the few Shorthorns that provide real CE are just like all the other CE bulls of the other breeds-THEY AINT VERY BIG-so the weaning and yearling EPDS are out the window-I havent seen anything close to the Angus curves-BUT IVE SEEN A HELL OF A BUNCH MORE ATTRACTIVE CATTLE-and Sullivan is in the game other than his TYPICALLY GREEDY SEMEN SHARE DEALS which eliminate any true records of performance. Forget about accurate bithwieghts or anything else when Cyclone Trace,Gana Nasty and the rest TRADE IN on the syndicate merry go round-where the next big thing like 100 Solutions,Pure Solution,and other 100000 disappearing acts come and go-UNLESS BOLLUMS OF MINNEASOTA-or someone HONEST buys a bull and lets regular people use them in real world conditions. O0

DakotaCow · Mar 18, 2014

"Commercial shorthorn" seems to be an oxymoron. Never have I had anyone ask for shorty semen, in fact I have many customers that make fun of the limited shorthorn bulls we do publish in both the guide and added attractions book. And keep in mind jungles are only 50 miles away.

RyanChandler · Mar 19, 2014

mark tenenbaum said:
wherever Capiche is-he outsold almost everything they had-and is still very strong-which certainly rules out weaning weights and anything performance-unfortunately-the few Shorthorns that provide real CE are just like all the other CE bulls of the other breeds-THEY AINT VERY BIG-so the weaning and yearling EPDS are out the window-

I havent seen anything close to the Angus curves-BUT IVE SEEN A HELL OF A BUNCH MORE ATTRACTIVE CATTLE-and Sullivan is in the game

I couldn't agree w/ you more, Mark. One of the biggest problems I see is that semen companies are buying bulls and then promoting them as if they're the best the breed has to offer. Capiche isn't even close to the best JPJ son yet, like you said, hes outsold almost everything. This is a disservice to the breed. Semen company profits but at what expense? I think the implicit understanding when an outsider sees a semen distributor carrying 1 or 2 shorthorn bulls is that these bulls are the best the breed offers. Especially when they go on to promote these bulls. Those within the breed know that's just not the case, but as long as there are those promoting for their own self interest and not for the betterment of the breed, I don't see a remedy. Its tough to find the middle of the road Shorthorns that the commercial man wants. To me we have 3 segments: the show bulls, the big bodied powerful bulls that the commercial man wants (but they have too much bw) and then the CE, fine made shorthorns that don't have the performance you see out of the same type CE Angus bull. This gap has to be closed quickly and I believe it will take the efforts of an Association promoting a single bull. A bull that is vastly superior. Not a bull that has vastly superior EPDs :

but one that has actual superior performance that you can expect to be replicated in his offspring.

Sullivan has the cash to make this possible. He could promote REAL bulls to a huge market and, I believe, single handedly turn the breed around. But as long as he enjoys playing w/ show cattle, this isn't going to happen. And by no means am I insinuating he has the obligation to or anything..., I just personally wish he would. In the Angus breed, you have people with that kind of 'influence' who want to raise productive cattle to better the beef industry. We just don't have it here in the Shorthorn breed and its frustrating. It's hard for me to be very convincing w/ 35 Shorthorn cows. Kinda like I tell the financial salesman who occasionally come knock on the door- "Are you rich? Then how do you plan on making me rich?" It's the same mentality. People want to see the spoils before they're just going to blindly follow.

Ohio1 · Mar 19, 2014

Sullivan isn't just playing with show cattle. That's the industry he chooses and he is very successful at it.
Just because there are commerical cattle doesn't mean company's have to carry those bulls. Shorthorn bulls aren't the answer to everything.

garybob · Mar 19, 2014

DakotaCow said:
"Commercial shorthorn" seems to be an oxymoron. Never have I had anyone ask for shorty semen, in fact I have many customers that make fun of the limited shorthorn bulls we do publish in both the guide and added attractions book. And keep in mind jungles are only 50 miles away.

Are you a Genex Rep?

GB

DakotaCow · Mar 19, 2014

mark tenenbaum · Mar 19, 2014

Ohio1 said:
Sullivan isn't just playing with show cattle. That's the industry he chooses and he is very successful at it.
Just because there are commerical cattle doesn't mean company's have to carry those bulls. Shorthorn bulls aren't the answer to everything.

Ohio1 said:
Sullivan isn't just playing with show cattle. That's the industry he chooses and he is very successful at it.
Just because there are commerical cattle doesn't mean company's have to carry those bulls. Shorthorn bulls aren't the answer to everything. //// Nobody said they were-Its just a shame that good useable bulls (according to thier owners) arent more available.I GUESS AFTER SO MANY C-SECTIONS WORD GETS AROUND-and the clubmembers need to improve thier image-even though it has no bearing on the direction of the breed.Ive had alot of different cattle-and in alot of instances Angus,Limmi,Simm ,etc arent the answer either Especially some of the crazy Limmies we had-and ANYTHING sired by EXT-flat out dangerous and STOOOOPID O0

JTM · Mar 20, 2014

Yeah it is sad that the state of the Shorthorn breed is that people make fun of them in a Genex catalog or believe "commercial shorthorn" is an oxy moron.
The reality is that commercial cattle is where the money is. You can't make money from show cattle. You think Sullivans is making all kinds of money from show cattle? They might be breaking even in my opinion. It's not any of my business really. All I know is that low input and high output real world cattle that work for me instead of me working for them is what is in demand. The potential semen sales of a Shorthorn bull being fully accepted into the commercial industry would be astronomical in my opinion. I don't know that my bull is that bull, but I do know he is one good rip and can do a lot of things good. If you don't dream, if you don't ask, you will never receive...

mark tenenbaum · Mar 20, 2014

Sullivan will improve the breed perse by default-sooner or later the DMCC LTD EDITION blood by way of Tim Loudouns Hartman Countess (basic to his Red Rewards etc) will make its way to SEK or Cattle Visions.And with the huge gene pool of great but strictly high maintanance show cattle-it will happen through females that if bred rhe right waywill produce functional cattle-and also put preassure in the show ring.Even I have had a LTD Edition x Cumberland bull out for 4 years called Panama Red-and hes as easy calving as anything-he just doesnt make them showy.If you can produce F1s that are CONSISTANT-and retain ownership and elimiate the sale barn goobers,and get paid by how they grade and perform,than you might be trading money,but facts support reality.There are some surprising transformations of Hienz 57 cattle into a uniform group of calves along with alot of desired taits by Irish Reds and Irish black bulls.All in one generation-Somebody like you or Trevor Gray needs to check that deal out.They are literally a breed created here in the US-and have been lien bred for years.And for all the Dakota DOPES-Shorthorns and other such cattle are not oxymorons a few miles North of thier border.

RyanChandler · Mar 20, 2014

Those bulls aren't Shorthorn- that's one of the primary problems. We need to close the damn herd book, do away w/ the asterisks, and establish what is Shorthorn.

Funny commercial Shorthorn story from Ohio Beef Expo

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