Quote:
Originally Posted by MRM
Why do you want to get out of Herefords? I grew up with a mix of Angus, Herefords, poled Herefords (when we could get them) and mostly Angus/Hereford mixes. We lived in dairy country, so we inevitably had some Jersey, Guernsey and even a bit of Holstein bred into the herd, courtesy of neighboring bulls over the years. It actually worked out well. They produced well for their calves and still put on weight. We had a small herd so it was easy to nip the horns on any young Hereford that needed it, but it seemed to me that the Herefords were easier to raise than the pureblood Angus.
My dad ran an operation similar to yours, working in town by day and running the farm every other waking moment. I learned a lot from the experience, some of which is how comfortable it is to trade in the farm for life on a pleasant half acre plot of land in a quiet suburb. Life here is not as rich as it was on the farm, but it is a quieter life for sure.
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Herefords are great cows, easy going, easy calving but there are drawbacks...
Horns. Cancer Eye. Lower price at the auction come sale day.
Last year we got raped on our calves at the auction. My angus cross and shorthorn free Martin heifers did way better.
I put our Hereford bull in the freezer last fall.
Here is my plan for this year forward...
I plan to grow my registered shorthorn herd. I have great cows and a good bull. I bought semen from an even better bull to AI my 3 heifers. These will all be sold as breeding stock.
I plan to crossbreed my angus and Hereford cattle with my shorthorn bull. These calves will go to auction as commercial cattle. My bull is white so the herd will be a bit of a rainbow herd.
I plan to AI my Holstein nurse cows with Wagyu semen. These cattle, I will butcher and market directly as Wagyu cross. Others are doing this and the results are great, good marbling, tender beef with a decent size carcass. My shorthorn bull will be my clean up bull for these.
I currently have 3 Fleckvieh calves, these will also go to auction this fall.