the truth said:more info... I'm currently in market, but unsure if I want a white, or black one..
Joe Boy said:What MVT says might be true in some parts of the world. It is not true here. A white or black calf will top the market here every time. Those colored like a longhorn or a Holstein will not do well in the sale barn, red and spotted calves will bring less than a solid black one. In the last two years Charlotte cattle have done equally well. 20 years ago Limosin cattle were the top dogs because of their muscled rear ends. When that market went south Limosin breeders added Angus to get the black calves and in my thinking lost some of their best attributes but improved their disposition.
In club calf shows any color will do at most shows. If I were showing in Fort Worth I would want a great black calf and at Houston I would want a great Charlotte or a Charlotte looking cross.
If you hang them on the rail, color does not matter. Even so called Certified Angus can be any color on a small scale. It is only a marketing tool. IMHO
in the showring, this may not matter.. but in the real world.. it does a ton. When you are producing feeder cattle for market, black is always tops.. We're stuck b/w a rock and a hard place, in regards to continuing to raise shorthorns, or turn in a black bull, and try to AI the shorthorns. Since we fall calve pretty well everything, our show calf market is pretty well nonexistant, except for heifers, which really doesn't matter when they are born. However, we are retaining all of our heifer calves to continue building our herd. So, for our fall calvers-- I think a black bull is a need.. now on the few spring calving cows-- I don't mind shooting for a show calf sometimes.. my problem is.. Wee don't need more than one bull.. So what do you choose? Make more money, or keep raising shorthorns on a dream???MYT Farms said:the truth said:more info... I'm currently in market, but unsure if I want a white, or black one..
Hey Truth, I'm going to just throw this out there. A good calf is never a bad color. And if it's a great one, throw color to the wind. Breed good ones and people will be in the market. I know I make my living with commercial cattle, but there is something to be said for quality. The white bull looks pretty nice. Stick him on that roan cow of yours and give it a shot.
Joe Boy said:I have many 1/2 shorthorns that are smoky or blue. They are half Maine, too. They are the best mothers and raise the thickest calves we raise. I AI to black bulls, but use my Senor Rojo Maine bull out of Lifeline as clean up or on certain cows breed them to him only due to their history. I sell the red calves for club calves if they are good enough and many times I am asked what breed do I show them under. I do not get involved in that. The calves are 3/4 Maines and often look just like a Shorthorn. Our best calve right now is out of this type breeding. He is solid red. My next best calves are out of Gucci. I have 8 really great bull calves out of 30, but 17 are out of my heifer bull, so they do not count and then we have many great heifers out of Triple X, Dr. Who, Gucci, Senor Rojo, and Hard Core. I am the most disappointed in the Hard Core calves this year plus I have the best heifer we raised last year out of him but she will not breed. She is a good breeder but will not stick. Next week she will go to hamburger city, and I really wanted to flush her.
MYT Farms said:I was under the impression that Truth was after show calves, and thus my mistake on color. I don't need to be schooled in what cattle markets are doing on the longhorn and dairy end of things. The reason I have Shorthorns in my barn is because of a dream. I've been dreaming for 16 years of taking cattle to Stock Show. So I am. Will they make it with my commercial mothers? Not likely, and they'll be bred accordingly. Will they make me money? I've sunk enough funds into them at this point to buy several commercial cows. Would I rather be making more money? I have a solid cow herd doing just that, and thus supporting my show habit. It probably won't last beyond my last year of eligibility in the Shorthorn shows, but it sure is fun for the time being.
'CAB said:I would think that by the looks of him, you should be able to sell him quickly. He is a JPJ right? What's on the bottom side? TH/PHA status? You had another shot of this bull up @ one time that showed his profile better?
Went and found the old thread that showed his profile a little better. The link is below.
http://www.steerplanet.com/bb/index.php?topic=17560.0
SKF said:We leased this bull last year and we very happy with his calves. We used him on heifers and cows and did not have any calving problems. We were happy with his calves when they hit the ground and feel they just keep getting better everyday. Plus all his calves have a great disposition. Here's a picture of a heifer out of a Kaboom x Jiffy heifer and a steer calf out of a Paddy O'Mally cow.
justintime said:This is a very good bull, and there is nothing better to use to remove spots or white markings than a white bull. You will get roans and whites, without the white spots. Good luck in getting him marketed. I almost feel sick when I keep hearing about the ridiculous discounts you have in America for cattle of color. While there are still exceptions in some parts of Canada, I am glad to finally see the markets buying based on quality rather than just color. If you take a poor black calf to town, you are probably going to get discounted as much as anything. I was a licenced cattle buyer for a number of years, and I sat and watched these guys buy cattle for a few years, and I came to the conclusion that cattle buyers are not neccesarily the smartest people on the planet. Here in Canada, you can get discounted for anything on any given day, as it basically depends on which buyers are sitting in the buyers section that day, but colored calves usually have a good chance of bringing top prices if they have quality.
Maybe they have strict orders because they can't tell the difference between a Maine Anjou with white legs and a holstein or a Shorthorn roan and a Longhorn... I think we might be on to something here.CAB said:justintime said:This is a very good bull, and there is nothing better to use to remove spots or white markings than a white bull. You will get roans and whites, without the white spots. Good luck in getting him marketed. I almost feel sick when I keep hearing about the ridiculous discounts you have in America for cattle of color. While there are still exceptions in some parts of Canada, I am glad to finally see the markets buying based on quality rather than just color. If you take a poor black calf to town, you are probably going to get discounted as much as anything. I was a licenced cattle buyer for a number of years, and I sat and watched these guys buy cattle for a few years, and I came to the conclusion that cattle buyers are not neccesarily the smartest people on the planet. Here in Canada, you can get discounted for anything on any given day, as it basically depends on which buyers are sitting in the buyers section that day, but colored calves usually have a good chance of bringing top prices if they have quality.
In the buyer's defense, you can tell that they have strict orders from the yards/feeders sometimes to" NOT" bring home any off colored cattle.