Canada Shorthorn People.

[trevorgreycattleco]

At about 1:40 it starts to talk to a feedlot fella. Interesting to hear his thoughts. Just watched this and thought i would share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ1sFHwDyrI&feature=player_embedded#at=167

 

[kfacres]

legit concerns and points brought up in the entire video clip...  seems interesting to me anyways...  next year I think I  should hit up that trade show!

 

[aj]

Commercial farmer. I thought that eared cattle were incorporated in order to introduce heat tolerance and whatnot down south. And that they were fed in Texas feedlots mainly. Texas has swamps in the east and deserts on the west side. I would think that if ear cattle would be replaced with something else if they didn't fit some enviromental or money making scenario.

 

[Mark H]

When the feeder mentions more faster growing cattle than gain more efficiently what he neglects to mention is that this invariably means harvesting leaner cattle at a given end point.  With out a leaner carcass all the talk about having greater feed efficiency is unobtainable.  This has been my experience feeding a few pens over the years.

 

[aj]

I think the growth curve determines cow size. There are cattle that hit the ground growing like crazy,mature early, and eventually quit growing. Then there are cattle that hit the ground growing like crazy, and then grow and grow and grow and grow and we are still calculating WDA on a 3 year old cow thar weighs a ton. Why do we celebrate,build monuments to these cows. We transplant them and build cow families around them. Especially why do maternal breeds even consider this model. Shouldn't maternal breeds have smaller cows then have a hard charging terminal breed sire used on them?

 

[Mark H]

Every breed of beef cattle collects EPD or ROP  data to encourage selection for growth.  This because at very least half the calves produced by any bull will be sold for beef production meaning that their ability to grow and produce an acceptable carcass will price them.  If a maternal breed can't produce an acceptable calf from a growth and carcass point of view then the cost of using that breed will exceed the benefits and the producer will use breeds that don't get the discount.
The cow size problem is dealt with by using a terminal sire (big, high growth) on a smaller crossbred cow designed for her environment.

 

[kfacres]

in a perfect world in a commercial setting.. this is also refered to as hybrid vigor..

now on the seedstock side of things.. this plan of action, will not, and never will work...  Those type of operations must have breeding programs centered around mass producing a 'certain' type of cattle.. whether it be moderate thick ones, or tall lanky, muscular ones..  They must be the ones generating those cows and bulls that the commercial guy can use.. and they have to do it in a predictable package.

IMO, for a Char, Lim, or belguim blue breeder to tell an angus, or shorthorn seedstock guy how to run his operation, what to focus genetics on, and the such...  is just plain rediculous.

 

[aj]

So you are saying we need maternal breeds of moderate size and acceptable growth. Let the terminal bull breed top off the equation(who has been selected for growth and not nessecarrilycow fertility,stayability.udder quality). Isn't that the reason for different breeds. Breeds are deveoloped to fit certain needs. I just don't see how a maternal breed can select a whole lot for carcass traits and maximum growth and still try and do the maternal things right. That is alot of indexes to try and figure out.

 

[jaimiediamond]

Single trait selection is very narrow sighted, and not necessary. There are Shorthorn cattle producers that manage to combine maternal, calving ease, growth, and carcass data into a neat package.  I have attached an example of the Austrailian bull Belmore Jackaroo and his current EBVs.  We have a yearling by Jackaroo gaining over 4lbs a day.  If people need more examples it wouldn't be hard to find them on the American Shorthorn Association or on the Austrailian Shorthorn Association as there are North American Shorthorns being used over there.

 

[aj]

So he's a good muscle bull(rea) and a little under par for imf if I read it right. He is 7 years old and he only has 7 daughters in production. Is there a udder problem here or are the progency not recorded.....what up with that? How big are his daughters? Do they breed back? Are they good dispositioned? How are there udders and there pelvic measurements and do they do a stayability measurement over there? Looks good on numbers.

 

[aj]

His daddy had a 1400# yearling wt. I would be scared of big frames out of this deal without looking at the cattle. jmo

 

[thunderdownunder]

As someone who helped raise the above bull, and broke him and a number of his calves in, I can quite confidently tell you about him.

His daughters have only started calving themselves in the past two years. If you want to know what they've done, look them up. The details at the bottom (7) don't reflect the number of daughters in production, just the ones that sufficient data is available to analyse.

The Jackaroo daughters are, for the most part, moderate, easy doing, muscular cattle. I have seen few bulls with better calving ease, and his daughters are spitting out calves just as easily. The udders are perfect. They are not what I'd term big framed cattle. They are exactly the type of cattle both feedlots and replacement female herds want.

His mother is, well, the only way to describe her is tremendous. Says it all.

Jackaroo's temperament is second to none. I have never broken an easier bull. In fact, I wouldn't even say I broke him in. I put the halter on him one day (at about 13-14 months old), brushed him and fussed over him in the pen (usually we do this in the cattle crush), then he went back out in the paddock (no leading). We brought him back in about 6 months later to move him to a paddock that was difficult to get to. I threw the halter on him, and led him out to the paddock no problems. Not long after (when he was 2), I walked into the paddock with a feed bucket, threw the halter on him, and we loaded him onto a horse float to go for collection. To this day, he has never been to a show.

Testament to his fantastic temperament, after being away for about a year, I went to visit last July and walked out to the paddock he was in, straight up to him, and gave him a nice scratch between his back legs. He didn't move and inch and when I gave him a hug round his neck he just stood there.

 

[aj]

Sounds like the perfect bull. Where may we find semen on him?

 

[thunderdownunder]

Sounds like the perfect bull. Where may we find semen on him?

Quite possibly. One of few that tick most of the boxes. But then, you wouldn't expect anything less from Australia!
As has been mentioned several times before, you can speak to Okotoks on here about semen.

 

[DRB]

His daddy had a 1400# yearling wt. I would be scared of big frames out of this deal without looking at the cattle. jmo

I saw Scotty at Shadybrook, and by no means was he a tall bull, I would say he would be classified more as 'short/small framed' with lots of thickness and muscle (which I'd say is where the weight comes from). 

 

[aj]

Is the semen available around the world? Where is it stored? Are syndicates available? Do semen companys carry it? who owns the walking rights? What is okytoks website? Is there a photo of jacks dam?

 

[Okotoks]

Belmore Jackaroo Z109 while" made in Australia" combines genetics from Australia, Canada and the US! In North America his  semen is only available in Canada, not in the US. I believe he is seeing use in Argentina as well.

 

[justintime]

Only in Canada?  Pity!

 

[frostback]

Only in Canada?  Pity!

Ha ha that made me laugh out loud. Its kinda a inside Canadian joke, for those that dont get it. It was a tea commercial.

 

[justintime]

Only in Canada?  Pity!

Ha ha that made me laugh out loud. Its kinda a inside Canadian joke, for those that dont get it. It was a tea commercial.

Ding, ding, ding! we have a winner! I should have known frostback would be the first one to get this. It was a TV ad for Red Rose tea, and you have to be a certain age to even remember the ad...... not that you are old frostback  ..... er....  I think I should shut up now!