Braunvieh

[Joe Boy]

What can any of you tell me about Braunvieh cattle?

Do they cross well with Maine's?

How can you compare EPD's?  I have looked at EPD's of several breeds over the years and have always wondered why they do not have a standard way for all breeds.

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[SKF]

They are excellent milkers, gentle disposition, great muscelling, but they can throw some strange colored calves when crossed with other breeds.

 

[afhm]

They have excellent carcass traits, trails have shown them better than the Angus.    They do have nasty hair and as a breed they are a tick straight up front and hook legged in the back.  I have seen some pretty nice ones that are the results of crossing them with Maines.  They cross really well with ANgus.  Thorne's in OK have crossed them with several different breeds with good results, check out their webpage for pictures.

 

[garybob]

Here we go again! Show ring evaluation of a useful breed. They are heavy fronted, due to centuries of selection for soundness in the Alps. Has nothing to do with ''purtiness''. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Form follows Function. Like begets like.
These cattle also have the ability to go out and hustle in dry conditions. As many of you know, I spent a couple years on the border.I saw a lot of Braunviehs (also known as Suizo, to the Mexicans) coming across from Mexico. I asked about the calves at a local feedyard, the Mgr, Javier Villanueva, said those cattle out-feed and out-marble anything produced by any cattlemen in the USA. Their Moms cycle and rebreed annnually, whether in Deserts of the north and central Mexico, or the Tropical climate by the Guatemalan Border.

Color? Who gives ten cents about what they look like. It's about how they PERFORM.

 

[Show Heifer]

I work with a herd of braunviehs and love them. They are gentle, and easy to handle. I would say a bit on the larger frame and body capacity sized. Breeder claims they are easy keeping and eat less than his angus commercial cows.
If bred to black, calves will be black. If bred to ANY color, calves will be red, black tiger striped.
His son showed a braunvieh steer and was placed mid class, after the carcass  contest, the steer kicked butt and was first in the carcass class!! In fact, I think he went prime (only one in the whole fair)!!!
This year he has a steer that is a half blood and he can't wait to see its carcass!
Anyway, if trying to produce good, functional, easy keeping, easy handling, easy feeding cattle, this breed is definately worth looking into!!!

I will show my ignorance: when I first went to the herd, I laughed and said "well, I sure don't know where the bramaha influence is, but I can kinda see the gelbvieh influence! Luckily, the fella just smiled and told me what they really were and their history!!! I sure learned a lot that day and am  glad he had enough class not to laugh me off his farm!!!

 

[itk]

Here we go again! Show ring evaluation of a useful breed. They are heavy fronted, due to centuries of selection for soundness in the Alps. Has nothing to do with ''purtiness''. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Form follows Function. Like begets like.
These cattle also have the ability to go out and hustle in dry conditions. As many of you know, I spent a couple years on the border.I saw a lot of Braunviehs (also known as Suizo, to the Mexicans) coming across from Mexico. I asked about the calves at a local feedyard, the Mgr, Javier Villanueva, said those cattle out-feed and out-marble anything produced by any cattlemen in the USA. Their Moms cycle and rebreed annnually, whether in Deserts of the north and central Mexico, or the Tropical climate by the Guatemalan Border.

Color? Who gives ten cents about what they look like. It's about how they PERFORM.

Stocker and feeder buyers will give you TEN CENTS less for a group of mouse colored calves then they will a set of soild black calves. Atleast they aren't roan shorthorns that buyers claim have longhorn in them so they give you a discount for that.

 

[NHR]

10 cents less per pound but if your bringing a calf that is heavier at weaning to the sale then you will make up the 10 cents, my shorthorns might not bring the premium per pound because of color discrimination but they will out weigh the angus at the same age which makes up the difference.

 

[SKF]

Here's  a picture our braunvieh. As you can see she is a great milker. She is one of our best cows. Always looks good and raises a great calf every year.

 

[Joe Boy]

What I have noticed about them is how well they grow and I love the rear ends on them.  I think the cows are far prettier than the bulls.....now, I know women are better looking than us men in general, but I mean the cows are lots better looking to me than the males.  Many of the males are like older Angus bulls, resemble buffaloes.  I have had Chi-Angus bulls that did that too.  They have massive front ends with age, and most bulls do a little, but some bulls are really extreme. 

I have toyed with the idea of using a Braunvieh on my Maines and I would have if there was not the PHA test.  From what I have read they have one of the better carcass going.  We are in business to raise the best product for the consumer, so if they are at the top it makes since to use them to gain in our end product.

The bad thing about many of them is Brown Swiss get the credit for what the Braunvieh has contributed to some of the cattle.  I know they are in the same family like we use to see....shorthorns and Milking Shorthorns....

 

[Joe Boy]

Why do buyers try to get off colored cattle bought cheaper?  Are they just trying to make money or is it that they do not know the difference?

Is it a Braunvieh or Jersey?

Is it a Maine or Holstein?

Is it a Shorthorn or Longhorn?

If it is black hided is it an Angus?

The same is true of vaccination knots on the neck.....

It seems too often to be a buyers market.

 

[shorthorns r us]

when i was 8, family banker taught me that ag producers are price takers not price makers. this is less true now than ever b4 as more producers selling direct to the public. JIT told us about his profit on a pen of zoo cattle and i think profiting from those loads is pretty common. buyers won't come forward to tell you that they make more on a load of coloreds than on a load of blacks, blacks are a commodity. look at the calves the buyers end up running. that's not because they got stuck; it's the profit.

 

[cowz]

Here are some local boys with their Braunvieh bull....got Reserve Braunvieh at the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic show and sale.  My only exposure to Braunvieh has been through these kid's herd.  They are quiet, easy fleshing, and seem to be great milkers!

 

[garybob]

Why do buyers try to get off colored cattle bought cheaper?  Are they just trying to make money or is it that they do not know the difference?

Is it a Braunvieh or Jersey?

Is it a Maine or Holstein?

Is it a Shorthorn or Longhorn?

If it is black hided is it an Angus?

The same is true of vaccination knots on the neck.....

It seems too often to be a buyers market.

The problem I see is, at least in my area ( NW Arkansas), $$4 corn will make these discounts more common. Since they can't make any money feeding top-quality blacks after paying premiums for them ( cuz only 19% make CAB) , then they will have to make adjustments somewhere to allow themselves a little profit margin.

The other problem I see, at least here, is that NONE of these buyers learned anything about genetics from anyone else, but, their Daddies! Okay, maybe their church deacons and the other producers at the Coffee Shop might have influenced them a little (LOL). None of the buyers here, that are in my age range, who make their living in the cattle biz, even took Ag (outside of two semesters of AG Mechanics or Welding) in high school, nor were they in 4H. I remember them as Football and Basketball players who beecame Team Ropers after flunking out of a local Junior College( in a Liberal Arts program).

Now, they're Cattlemen!

 

[Jill]

I think Blakely's, Diamonds in the Rough, have some of these also, you might check with them, I would guess if they still have them they would have crossed with Maines at some point.