justintime
Well-known member
I agree completely with itk on this topic. There are probably more multi-purpose cattle at the major shows than I have seen at any time in my several decades in this breed. I certainly believe we have many more today than there was in the Ayatollah years with bulls like Lefty 83rd who weighed near 2900lb as a two year old. There certainly are more cattle that can make it in the real world than there was in the Rodeo Drive era. There are many more functional cattle today than there was in the Lancer years. There are many more functional cattle today than there was when the Irish cattle were the favour of the day. There are many more functional cattle than there were in the Leader 21st era as well. After saying all of this, there were good cattle in each of there eras and there were cattle of little use. As I have said many times before in this forum, there have been good cattle in every era and it is unfair to lump all cattle today in the same group. What I am saying is that I believe there are... on average.... more multi- purpose, multi- functional cattle in today's shows than in previous decades.Remember I said... ON AVERAGE. I will agree that there are some fluff and puff fur balls making it into todays shows, that should only be considered as pets as they serve no real purpose in the beef industry than to give some kids some fun as they drag them from show to show. But there are also some cattle that have much to add to the industry.
I think we all need to take 10 deep breaths and start to look at all cattle on their own merits. Consider the animal first and then consider the pedigree it has. I think if we started doing this, we maybe could be a little more objective and maybe we could see breed advancement at a faster pace. There will always be cattle that will not work in your herd, but they may work wonders in another herd... or in another enviroment. To me, this is a great thing. It means that we have a genetic pool from which there are options.Some other breeds would love to have the genetic options this breed has. You have to be smart enough to pick and chose what will work in your herd.
In my opinion, coyote and his family have done exactly that. They have developed a herd of moderate framed, easy fleshing, no nonsense cattle, that have super udders and are low maintenance. Thye haven't chased show ring fads, but they bring cattle out to the shows each year to present to the public what they are trying to produce. It is working for them. It seems to be totally ridiculous that so many breeders seem to follow what a few of the so called major breeders do. I would guarantee that if I could get one of three major breeders in the US to use one of my herd bulls, no matter if they were good or not, that I would sell a pile of semen from this bull within a few months.
I get real tired of all this bashing of certain genetic lines, of certain breeders, of certain trends in the show ring, of whether an animal has an asterisk on it's registration paper or not. As I said earlier, some of the cattle I see winning won't work for me... and I won't use them in my breeding program. When I do see something that I think will bring something to my breeding program, I certainly would not be afraid to use it.... and as I have said many times before on here.... if you don't like the cattle you see, develop your own breeding program. You may be surprised how many people will agree with you and the cattle you are producing.
I think we all need to take 10 deep breaths and start to look at all cattle on their own merits. Consider the animal first and then consider the pedigree it has. I think if we started doing this, we maybe could be a little more objective and maybe we could see breed advancement at a faster pace. There will always be cattle that will not work in your herd, but they may work wonders in another herd... or in another enviroment. To me, this is a great thing. It means that we have a genetic pool from which there are options.Some other breeds would love to have the genetic options this breed has. You have to be smart enough to pick and chose what will work in your herd.
In my opinion, coyote and his family have done exactly that. They have developed a herd of moderate framed, easy fleshing, no nonsense cattle, that have super udders and are low maintenance. Thye haven't chased show ring fads, but they bring cattle out to the shows each year to present to the public what they are trying to produce. It is working for them. It seems to be totally ridiculous that so many breeders seem to follow what a few of the so called major breeders do. I would guarantee that if I could get one of three major breeders in the US to use one of my herd bulls, no matter if they were good or not, that I would sell a pile of semen from this bull within a few months.
I get real tired of all this bashing of certain genetic lines, of certain breeders, of certain trends in the show ring, of whether an animal has an asterisk on it's registration paper or not. As I said earlier, some of the cattle I see winning won't work for me... and I won't use them in my breeding program. When I do see something that I think will bring something to my breeding program, I certainly would not be afraid to use it.... and as I have said many times before on here.... if you don't like the cattle you see, develop your own breeding program. You may be surprised how many people will agree with you and the cattle you are producing.