ALTSIMMY 79
Well-known member
Between the 2 bulls which one would be your choice and why ?
Upgrade or American Pride ?
- Thread starter ALTSIMMY 79
- Start date
Help Support Steer Planet:
LN
Well-known member
Depends on the cow, but at the moment Upgrade is more proven and the semen is more affordable.
mark tenenbaum
Well-known member
I am not all the way up on Simmis,but I would agree with LN-plus-Upgrade was NOT a small calf-how did American pride come so small? O0
firesweepranch
Well-known member
ALTSIMMY 79 said:
Upgrade, all the way! I have an awesome half blood out of him that we just love (we will see how she shows this season). He is more proven. Several people I know saw American Pride at stud and said he did not look that good when they saw him in person. These are people who have been in the industry for many years, so I will sit and watch what comes out of him over the next few years. Also, he cost too much for a new bull for me!
Just my opinion, but I have Upgrade in my tank, and one heifer we are consigning to the Missouri State Breed sale in March is carrying a heifer calf pregnancy by him.
WWS
Well-known member
Saw American Pride at JF's sale last fall and at the time I did not think he looked alot different than the pic. If you have ever seen bulls at stud they will look alot different after being at stud for a little while than being at home, since i haven't seen him at stud i can't say but upgrade will not work on everything, you better use him on a very soft made cow, this is speaking from experience and info from people affiliated with upgrade. So i guess it comes down to the type of cow your wanting to use them on if they are really soft big bellied cows i'd probably use upgrade, if they aren't and you are willing to use a bull not proven use American Pride. If you got questions on American Pride contact owner's they will probably have calves on the ground before anyone. I personally would refrain from calling a bull a fake or anything false if I haven't personally seen him, but that's just my way of doing things, first hand info is always better than second, third, or fourth for that matter.
ALTSIMMY 79
Well-known member
Thanks for the replys ! Ya I'm leaning towards Upgrade for now anyway. On the deepest softest bodied cows I have that is ! Still think they both are really good though.
Upgrade, all the way! I have an awesome half blood out of him that we just love (we will see how she shows this season). He is more proven. Several people I know saw American Pride at stud and said he did not look that good when they saw him in person. These are people who have been in the industry for many years, so I will sit and watch what comes out of him over the next few years. Also, he cost too much for a new bull for me!
Just my opinion, but I have Upgrade in my tank, and one heifer we are consigning to the Missouri State Breed sale in March is carrying a heifer calf pregnancy by him.
Where do I start Mrs. Callison I believe isn't it.
First of all, I would agree, Upgrade is more proven, as we only have the first few calves hitting the ground right now, about 40 so far I believe, so no, there is no direct comparison, considering Upgrade has a couple of calf crops under his belt, and has proven out quite well in my opinion. I do really like Upgrade, that is why when I photographed him, it took about ten seconds to decide to purchase a semen package on him, really good bull I really do like. Top producers jumped on using that bull, and I could not agree with them more. However, the hope is always that a great bull will out produce himself, and that is what we are hoping with American Pride. You say Upgrade was big at birth, do you not think American Prides mother could have something to do with helping lower that bw. She is half of the equation you know, did she or not, only his progeny will prove that out, but we certainly hope she did. Also, we are not about to start calling American Pride a calving ease bull, he is not nearly proven enough yet, however the reports we have had have been rediculously good on being low birth weights. This has been in a limited number of herds though, and for him to prove himself out, we are waiting to see what the birth weights are on a cross section of operations, with multiple environments and diversified pedigrees in those herds before we want to promote anything like that.
As for seeing him at the stud, yes, he was at Strafford Mo, not thirty or so miles from you, and you could have went and seen him, yet you prefer to listen to an "experienced" producer that is also a rival, and would never want to like the bull on his best day. Even I would say that American Pride looked very tough at the stud. Strafford is well known for hardening the bulls up, which helps to produce more semen, with better quality, that is their job. When you take a yearling bull that at 13 months starts producing over 400 units of high quality semen per week, he is going to look more than a little tough. I wasn't to proud to look at him back then either, but I sure did like being able to ship good semen that settled a high percentage of cows for a bull of such a young age. He must have not looked all bad by Janssen's sale where he was on display as there was quite a struggle to see who would get the fall walking rights on the bull, which ended up going to KenCo.
The bottom line is this, Upgrade is a great choice, power bull that I love. American Pride I love many things about, his first offspring look super, but they need to be given time to grow up and see what they are before you start listening to very bias individuals and then posting third hand information on any bull in the future.
You might want to call Lance Ellsworth with Cattle Visions. He was at Janssen's yesterday I believe, saw some new borns he can give you information on, and some nearly a month old to see how they are growing up. Lance has taken a lot of semen on the bull since seeing those calves and will be distributing it quickly if that tells you anything. I am sure he, an independent supplier of many bulls would be glad to talk to you about the true offspring of American Pride. 5738193626 is Lances number, I am sure he would be glad to talk to you about any of the bulls out there, as he handles most of the better ones.
Mark Sneed
Just my opinion, but I have Upgrade in my tank, and one heifer we are consigning to the Missouri State Breed sale in March is carrying a heifer calf pregnancy by him.
Where do I start Mrs. Callison I believe isn't it.
First of all, I would agree, Upgrade is more proven, as we only have the first few calves hitting the ground right now, about 40 so far I believe, so no, there is no direct comparison, considering Upgrade has a couple of calf crops under his belt, and has proven out quite well in my opinion. I do really like Upgrade, that is why when I photographed him, it took about ten seconds to decide to purchase a semen package on him, really good bull I really do like. Top producers jumped on using that bull, and I could not agree with them more. However, the hope is always that a great bull will out produce himself, and that is what we are hoping with American Pride. You say Upgrade was big at birth, do you not think American Prides mother could have something to do with helping lower that bw. She is half of the equation you know, did she or not, only his progeny will prove that out, but we certainly hope she did. Also, we are not about to start calling American Pride a calving ease bull, he is not nearly proven enough yet, however the reports we have had have been rediculously good on being low birth weights. This has been in a limited number of herds though, and for him to prove himself out, we are waiting to see what the birth weights are on a cross section of operations, with multiple environments and diversified pedigrees in those herds before we want to promote anything like that.
As for seeing him at the stud, yes, he was at Strafford Mo, not thirty or so miles from you, and you could have went and seen him, yet you prefer to listen to an "experienced" producer that is also a rival, and would never want to like the bull on his best day. Even I would say that American Pride looked very tough at the stud. Strafford is well known for hardening the bulls up, which helps to produce more semen, with better quality, that is their job. When you take a yearling bull that at 13 months starts producing over 400 units of high quality semen per week, he is going to look more than a little tough. I wasn't to proud to look at him back then either, but I sure did like being able to ship good semen that settled a high percentage of cows for a bull of such a young age. He must have not looked all bad by Janssen's sale where he was on display as there was quite a struggle to see who would get the fall walking rights on the bull, which ended up going to KenCo.
The bottom line is this, Upgrade is a great choice, power bull that I love. American Pride I love many things about, his first offspring look super, but they need to be given time to grow up and see what they are before you start listening to very bias individuals and then posting third hand information on any bull in the future.
You might want to call Lance Ellsworth with Cattle Visions. He was at Janssen's yesterday I believe, saw some new borns he can give you information on, and some nearly a month old to see how they are growing up. Lance has taken a lot of semen on the bull since seeing those calves and will be distributing it quickly if that tells you anything. I am sure he, an independent supplier of many bulls would be glad to talk to you about the true offspring of American Pride. 5738193626 is Lances number, I am sure he would be glad to talk to you about any of the bulls out there, as he handles most of the better ones.
Mark Sneed
