Black Herefords

[Shortgrass]

I had an uncle that has since passed away, but his "claim to fame" was White Angus :? . I still think that my white bull jumped the fence, but he was sure it was a white gene in the angus breed. There just is no demand for white angus. My white on white (Charolais) is not a popular program, but, hey, my calves grow & sell. I like it, & since I'm the boss on this outfit, its what we do!!!!!!!!!!

 

[andybob]

I have never felt the 'black' requirement for cab is the wrong benchmark,the British system requires the meat to be sourced from Angus sired steers and heifers which means it is in fact Angus beef.
Years ago, when my grandfather bred Aberdeen Angus, they were fed on a high energy barley ration and marketed as Scotch Beef, all Scotch Beef was Angus. Using red breeds or hybrids especially in hotter climates makes more sense, and using a black Angus bull will satisfy the market requirements giving a black calf, while taking full advantage of heterosis.
Blackhereford, while the breeds I mentioned are minority breeds in the United States, they are major breeds in other countries, especially south of the equator, where function is more important than colour, the Tuli on an international scale is one of the fastest growing breeds in the world,having risen from total obscurity when first exported in 1977.

 

[Blackhereford]

This entire discussion before I came in (12+ pages) was about how silly the black hereford people are and how it is not needed. I am not going to try to answer every tangent in the previous posts but I would like to summarize my arguement.

Everyone agrees heterosis is great. Everyone recognizes there is a preference for black cattle (right or wrong). Everyone has agreed that black baldy cattle GENERALLY top any sale.

So, why is it so crazy to breed up the exact answer to this need?

No one says you can't raise whatever works for you. (Incidentally, andybob, I lived in South Africa for two years and I would shoot any of those cows that came near my herd. Just my opinion of course. To each his own. I don't raise cattle in Africa.)

There is no perfect answer for every situation. But for the average cattle rancher who has followed the market trend toward angus then a black hereford perfectly complements his current breeding program without adding anything he might not want.

So please raise whatever suits you, but there is no logical reason why Black herefords can not be commercially successful. On the contrary, everything discussed above points to why they will work when this strange and excessive antagonism is overcome.

 

[Soapweed]

This entire discussion before I came in (12+ pages) was about how silly the black hereford people are and how it is not needed. I am not going to try to answer every tangent in the previous posts but I would like to summarize my arguement.

Everyone agrees heterosis is great. Everyone recognizes there is a preference for black cattle (right or wrong). Everyone has agreed that black baldy cattle GENERALLY top any sale.

So, why is it so crazy to breed up the exact answer to this need?

No one says you can't raise whatever works for you. (Incidentally, andybob, I lived in South Africa for two years and I would shoot any of those cows that came near my herd. Just my opinion of course. To each his own. I don't raise cattle in Africa.)

There is no perfect answer for every situation. But for the average cattle rancher who has followed the market trend toward angus then a black hereford perfectly complements his current breeding program without adding anything he might not want.

So please raise whatever suits you, but there is no logical reason why Black herefords can not be commercially successful. On the contrary, everything discussed above points to why they will work when this strange and excessive antagonism is overcome.

Being a good attorney by trade, you can probably eventually make a case for Black Herefords. Hope it all works well for you.

 

[efb]

Well since I started this discussion some time ago , some very interesting dialoug (sp) has taken place. The main question in my mind was, if you use a black hereford bull on an angus cow will you get the same heterosis as if you use a hereford bull ? I have always believed the maximum heterosis obtainable is in the F1. The black hereford is the F1. Another question just entered my mind. A lot of guys keep black baldies heifers for replacements. How many keep black baldie bulls ?? Why not ?

 

[Doug Thorson]

Well since I started this discussion some time ago , some very interesting dialoug (sp) has taken place. The main question in my mind was, if you use a black hereford bull on an angus cow will you get the same heterosis as if you use a hereford bull ? I have always believed the maximum heterosis obtainable is in the F1. The black hereford is the F1. Another question just entered my mind. A lot of guys keep black baldies heifers for replacements. How many keep black baldie bulls ?? Why not ?

I am no expert but I was taught that a crossbred bull may well never throw a calf as good as he is while a linebred bull will almost always throw bunches of calves that are better than he is. Something about using all the heterosis to be good himself but not being able to pass it on because his gene pool is wide.
Crossbred cows on the other hand milk better than either their dam or granddam.