New guy questions

[WinterSpringsFarm]

New guy here from Md.  Interested in starting a beef herd and breeding some club calves.  I was a dairy guy prior to this and have showed dairy cattle on a national level so gentics and such are not new to me.  However, club calves and beef cattle are.  So I will be asking some questions and doing a lot of reading.

I'll start off with this one.....registering cattle I was showing was always standard.  I see this may not be true with cross bred club calves.  However some do have regisration numbers, what group are they registered with?

Thanks, and if there is some real good reading available please reccomend.

 

[Gargan]

Most club calves are registered Maine / maintainers (only have to be 25% maine to qualify as maintainer), chianina ( only have to be 6% chi I think to show at national level), simmental ( can register as low as 25% sim) and shorthorn ( can reg as low as 25% also I believe as a shorthorn plus). All of these have to have reg parents tho with the affiliated association. For example, man among boys is a popular bull at the moment, and is  registered 25% maintainer with amaa. So in order to reg a calf out of him with amaa, the dam of the calf would also need to be at least 25% maintainer with amaa. Welcome to the forum!

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

Thank you for the welcome and the answer.

So in order to make a step in the right direction I will have to purchase a registered female and go from there?

My thoughts were to run a commercial herd of simangus and do the club thing as well. I assume a registered clubby is worth more than non registered? And there isn't much of an option for registering animals from a non registered commercial herd.

 

[mark tenenbaum]

Gargan and me arent far from you-I used to have cattle in Union Bridge etc. I dont know whats up in the immediate Maryland vicinities as far as club calves but there are alot of good clubby cattle in Va and West Va, One of the best ways to hit it is to buy embryos. I for one am glad to put my 2 cents in if you are looking at some sales. Great fun O0

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

Thanks Mark, yea embryos would be the best way to go. I never gave that a thought to be honest.

As for what's around me, Bushy Park is about all I know of close to me.

Where are you located Mark? I have friends in the Union Bridge area. I am all about meeting people and learning.

 

[cbcr]

And for animals that do not meet the minimum breed requirements, they can be registered with the Composite Beef Cattle Registry www.compositebeef.com

 

[DSCSD]

Born and Raised in the Frederick area and now residing in SD, I still know some people that could "help" you and not just blow your money. There are some of those around that way that just aren't trust worthy. Good luck to you!

 

[WinterSpringsFarm]

cbcr I was reading about that composite registry, I was sure if it as legit. Glad it is.

DSCSD I would like to chat. We may know each other. I grew up in frederick as well.

 

[Gargan]

I have never registered any show steer prospects that I've raised. I've had a few that could have been registered but they were ultimately going to state or country fair that showed by finished weight and not by breed. The hfrs do seem to be a little more appealing if they are papered. So to answer your question about papers adding value, I'd say not all the time when it comes to steers. If you have a jackpot quality steer to sell, then he may be more desirable to someone if he can show as a different breed than in the crossbreds. Just my 2 cents worth.  (thumbsup)

 

[mark tenenbaum]

I think that there has allways been a fine and not so fine line between some of the cattle here.and some further west,both in "sale" prices" and demand in numbers for quality. However-if you follow the embryo deal -there are allways reasonable buys relative to what hits the gtound later-AND; if you get a great one out of known genetics-the big hitters do come through this area every year,brcause there are enough pockets of "up there" club calves around the tri state area.Teets in West Va is the largest-and Ive seen calves in thier sale $15000 plus. Gargan has produced winners at West Va State Fair which is becoming pretty competitive,and further out-especially Ohio-which also is one good place to buy-there are TONS of good cattle there.I have seen $350-400 embryos bred out the same top doners that produced 6-10000 calves . Even if you bought 3 $1000 embryos from Horne,or one of the top herds,and got a top female-you might sell progeny off your place for 4-7000- if you run them to the midwest or meet buyers part of the way. Locally-I think there will be a 2500-5000 market too.PM me-I'm 35 minutes from Frederick but have been known to do 3000 mile trips visiting cattle. O0