Hey there, elwapo

[Hanta Yo]

Hi, El,

We finally got hold of Carolina Fortune semen last year, here are some calves out of first calf heifers. A steer and a heifer. I'm looking forward to them growing up

Here's another one all by his lonesome

 

[elwapo]

they look good so far. THanks for the pics and keep me posted. I am always on the look out for a good black semen sire. What were the birth weights?

 

[sw]

elwapo, haven't weighed any of them yet, but they are in the 70-75 range, all of them have come unassissted out of these heifers that are 1000-1050 range. We also used Balanced Design another ABS bull, they are sometimes a little too big. The best thing we got going this year is ET calves from BR Midland so we can side by side compare our Gelbviehs and Balancers to a big name Angus raised in the same environment, got the first one of them yesterday. We will also get some Fortune calves from a few of the older cows too, will keep you posted.

 

[elwapo]

how do you find the market for balancer bulls?

 

[sw]

elwapo, sorry I did not see this, sometimes the yellow don't show for some reason. I haven't really tried to sell that many balancer bulls. Most of them end up being to a neighbor, someone who came and helped brand or saw the cattle sometime. The last two years we have not been keeping many bulls, mostly enough for our own use, and I have had people calling and emailing all year wanting to know if I have any, most want Balancers. This year we are keeping more, by the time they are grown up, nobody will want them Tim Sheifelbein (Swift) says that the best all around animal for the feedlot, the rail and for making a profit is a 1/4 to 1/2 GV and Angus. With our Montana Branded Beef, for us the 50/50s have made the most profit for the last two years. They have the carcass quality and size to make the most profit. As you would expect, the Angus sired have a higher marbling score but are smaller, the GV are bigger but have more selects. The balance between the two breeds works. I think that as more and more people see what the Balancers can do for them, there will be a bigger market for them. Too many people are getting straight Angus genetics in their commercial cow herds and forgetting about heterosis and complimentary traits. The black is beautiful mentality I think is also the reason why we still are getting so many YG 4s and 5s and seeing a decline in the amount of choice cattle in the mix, anyone who claims that an Angus sire with a negative EPD for marbling is a carcass sire is full of it. I can see a market for the balancers on these herds that are straight Angus or Herefords that want to put some exotic back into the cows.

 

[elwapo]

Our second high selling bull last year was a red balancer. I am a true believer in the gelbvieh breed, but I am realistic and have to provide what the customer desires. We have a very good market for a handfull of top quality balancer bulls. Did you make it to lewistown for the central montana gelbvieh sale last spring? Don Danell had a high selling purebred gelbvieh bull with a four star genestar result. Ken Flikema bought him.

 

[sw]

I did not make it to that sale but I did see that Ken bought that bull, maybe I should test it for him? Susan Willmon from AGA stopped by here last week, we may be sire testing for them again. She said that she is starting a big genetics project that involves Balanced Design and since we have carcass data and have used him three years I told her that we would be happy to share data, that is how we can improve the breed. Susan also paid us a very big compliment. She said "the only problem that I have with you sire testing for us again, is that I would have to find bulls that will improve your herd, not make it go backwards. I don't know if I can do that." We'll see. Got a couple more Carolina Fortune calves from older cows yesterday, they look good but we will see what they do in the end.

 

[elwapo]

I wonder what that bull ken bought looks like. It is fine to try and improve carcass traits without sacrificing the traits that actually sell the offspring. From the catalogue the bull had a decent profile. I may be interested in semen if he is phenotypically good.
We sold a bull to semex a few years back that also had a very good genestar result (WJW Freedom Fog). We are intending on using him more now that he is proven.

 

[sw]

I should find out from Ken where the bull is, if he is at one of the studs here in Billings I could go see him and take a few pictures. I did test Berreta for Ken quite a few years ago, if I remember right we compared him to Boo Boo. Have some of the Berreta daughters left but most of them are/were too big. I'll see if I can find out about that new bull and where he is.

 

[elwapo]

My main black herd sire is a berreta sired bull out of colvers Kati et cow. He is actually very moderate. I do miss coming to Montana for bulls.