Good milking, sound and clean high % or even pure bred cows can produce good show cattle. Watch the sale prices for quality bred cattle - forget the fancy Monopoly, Heat Wave, et. al. show heifers - these are prices often driven by vanity and status seeking. Pay attention to the cattle being sold to MAKE MONEY. The right kind of maternal bred cows and solid bloodlines (also defect free) will bring much more than the "clubby" breds. The experienced guys in it for profit know where to invest, and it ain't in heavy composite cattle that won shows as babies. $10,000 spent on the right cow is a whole different deal than the same thrown at a show steer or even heifer. The right cow, IMO, can produce a variety of different ways (breeding or club) and do it well. They are worth their weight in diesel fuel & shelled corn
The picture is of a pretty darn good show steer out of a very sound, heavy milking, pure bred Dream On Simmental. She can equally produce really good breeding stock (pure bred or cross). To me there is no need to build a herd of one dimensional cows. I want my cows to be versatile enough to produce club calves, seed stock, or breed show heifers depending on how I breed them. I think it can be done successfully.
