American Rancher | Shorthorn Assoc of America Feb. 4, 2019

coming up you just get that true heterosis when you put a short horn back on your other British brief those resulting stare pods me are extremely profitable they grow up on their mom and grass birth weight cavities and carcass traits and they have the conversion factor they put it all in a pretty nice package short horn cattle deliver profit traits that are in high demand next on the American Rancher [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to the American Rancher I'm Pam Minich today we spotlight Shorthorn cattle the groundbreaking work of the american Shorthorn association is steadily growing the awareness and promoting the benefits of short horn genetics in the commercial beef industry three successful short horn breeders are demonstrating that growth by delivering profit traits that are high in demand with commercial operations nationwide our first stop is family owned and operated Paint Valley Farms located in Millersburg Ohio Lee Miller and his family started Paint Valley Farms in 2005 and since then the herd has grown to a hundred and twenty five head of Shorthorn and Shorthorn composite cows a select group of Angus cows are mated to Shorthorn bulls to produce f1 Shorthorn cross Angus seed stock the Paint Valley breeding program focuses on raising bulls that meet the needs of commercial cattlemen using short horns to produce their own replacement females Paint Valley Farms was recognized by the Ohio Cattlemen's Association as the 2018 seed stock producer of the year in our herds we focused on birth weight calving ease as well as performance and carcass traits but we really focused on a lot of maternal traits also but we believe the real value of a short run bull and a beef industry as a maternally tracy brings the Coward the selection traits were focusing on at a Valley Farms starts with calving ease and fertility as well as the maternal traits of the mama cow we believe in longevity we believe that's a key indicator for profit to beef beef cattle sector as well as the carcass traits which include muscling and marveling very specifically people come here to look for a bull because they're they start with they're looking for calving ease they're looking for some style they're looking for some growth they're looking for rib shapes muscle shape some do ability back in those cattle and I think one of the other reasons people like coming here is I think they do they're looking or customer service so they're looking for bulls that can be trusted bulls that are guaranteed and and and they know that if they're halfway across the country that will get the Bulls tool in our own herd we brought in Angus cows that we're now using shortened Bulls also or we're using shortened bolzano's Angus cows also and our hosts there is that we can create a British f1 female that we can either retain or sell back to our calculator Paint Valley Farms collects comprehensive performance data to help them and their customers make the best decisions for improving their herds paint Valley Farms hosted female production sale a maternal event on the second Saturday every December as well as the bull sale on the first Saturday in April held this year on Saturday April 6 the bull sale will offer 50 Shorthorn and Shorthorn influenced bulls from paint Valley and their partner violence or horns in our counter we collect a lot of data it starts at calving with birth weight utter scoring and disposition scoring who leads on the weaning Waits yearling waits carcass scan data as well we also get we do frame score of the cattle and we've now added genomics as well that gives us a lot more accurate data that our customers can trust the data that you're getting is accurate for us I think customer service starts with offering all the data photos and videos of every bull we also offer those at auction so that everybody has an equal opportunity to select and buy the bow they're looking for so one of the challenges with the shorter and breed is a lot of people have forgotten how good those cattle were 30 40 50 years ago right and so most people today are not exposed to any shorter in genetics right so they never really get to see the quality of those cattle and my suggestion and somebody told me this when I sort of buy shorter cattle is if you keep looking and look long enough you will find the quality you're looking for so the quality exists it's a matter of getting out and finding him after the break if we have assisted bursts for calves outside of abnormal presentations they're technically called or if they're a bull calf they will might be castrated now guys are starting to look for for heterosis to to go with predominantly black herd in the solid red color pattern which is is a is a focus here for us is it's something that they're looking forward to more Shorthorn breeding programs demonstrate how their development of high demand profit traits can benefit your operation you're watching the American rancher if you're in the stalker business you know exceptional care and good nutrition are the keys to healthy profitable cattle the gain smart stocker program provides all the tools you need to minimize stress at receiving stimulate appetite quickly and create efficient gains on forage or feed Plus feeding gain smart makes your cattle eligible for superiors first-ever value-added nutrition program learn more about the gain smart stocker program and find a dealer near you at gain smart calm [Music] we want a trust relationship with our customers we want them to know that we care about them that our products work and will stand behind it to come back and purchase to bidden by their customers cattle they're very very dedicated to a customer's product and I think that creates a lot of longevity [Music] welcome back to the American Rancher level Dale Farms in Mason City Illinois was founded in 1852 and is focused on raising Shorthorn cattle since the early 1900s dr. les Mathers is the fifth generation to continue the family tradition of producing quality seed stock known as the headquarters for herd bulls since the 1950s level Dale developed practical cattle that generate profit for both the registered and commercial customers the breeding program at level Dale aims to raise low maintenance cattle that maintain growth superior carcass quality elite reproductive efficiency and production longevity the top cow families in the hurt are the result of many generations of Louisville Dale breeding we've always had short horns not always being promoted and not always does the only breed but primarily focused in the short horn business since the late nineteen teens early 20s they're expected to perform out here on pasture have their own calf and breed right back without any assistance we don't trim any feet we don't do anything special to them they grow up on their mom and grass particularly what we focus on at level Dale we have a lot of emphasis on controlling birth weight and calving ease but without trying to sacrifice growth or any carcass characteristics and we have very strict guidelines we go by that if we have assisted births for calves outside of abnormal presentations they're typically called or if they're a bull calf they will definitely be castrated of course we don't creep feed it all and haven't for decades but it's it lets us see how good the moms do and whether they breed right back and calves unassisted the next year as well and that's really what we're trying to put out there are attractive animals that are good structure and good movement and longevity and require no maintenance they have to function on their own or we we don't really tolerate it and we call any any offspring or older cattle that may develop foot problems other problems any disposition issues we don't give them any second chances it's they have to function or we move on level they'll host to sales annually a bull sale in March and a female sale the first Saturday in November this year level Dale's private treaty bit off bull sale is Monday March 4th with an open house to view the Bulls on March 2nd and 3rd the Bulls selling have extensive performance data including all weights frame scores Scrolls circumference and carcass ultrasound measurements the advantages with with the Shorthorn breed and for what we're trying to do is developing you know low maintenance cattle that will function in any type and environment and and take care of themselves and no matter where they end up or what breed they may be a composite with or crossed up with I think they're going to be functional cattle that anybody within the cattle industry can be successful and be profitable in the end and after weaning our bulls are fed additional nutrition but high fiber in order to assess best their growth abilities and to collect the data that we collect on all of our animals in half for many decades including ultrasound data for over 25 years this year's offering includes Bulls from their national Western Stock Show pen of Bulls level Dale exhibited the Grand Champion pen of five Bulls in Denver for 2017 and 2018 a testament to the quality that the operation is known for for more information on the bid off sale contact dr. Mathers or herdsmen scott wall marty and scott loving of loving farms have more than 300 registered Shorthorn cows loving farms has the highest number of elite performers defined by AAS a performance recognition programs an operation that started nearly 70 years ago in pawnee rock kansas loving farm success is attributed to their dedication to the commerce their progressive emphasis on data collection and their incorporation of innovative composite breeding to a strong genetic base loving farms will be selling more than 50 bulls and 30 females in their 2019 predictable genetics proven performance bull sale in Pawnee Rock Kansas on March 2nd they welcome visitors to the farm year round we treat our herd as as a commercial herd with our short 60 day cabin windows and spring and fall and our focus has been on on producing moderate to low birthweight bowls that that can work in commercial sector but still have a lot of growth now guys are starting to look for for heterosis to to go with a predominantly black herd in the solid red color pattern which is is a as a focus here for us is it's something that they're looking for and they're surprised that to find you know that the short horn cattle can be very good on the maternal in and also very good on the performance and carcass side they have the maternal ability the milking ability they have carcass grade ability and they have the conversion factor they put it all in a pretty nice package customers find more than superior cows at loving farms their innovative use of Angus and Red Angus composites keep the commercial cattlemen coming back for predictable calving ease growth and feedlot performance genetics the Lovings also offer customer assistance and marketing their calf crop cattle buyers backgrounding lots that are hungry for short form genetics and specifically our genetics we've worked with them for several years and they offer services to these guys to be able to buy their cattle back basically to go to go direct to market with them and essentially it takes out the Commission's and some of the other things that evens the playing field for these guys where color doesn't become an issue and that's that's kind of opened up some some market for us to to be able to allow you know some of these cattle to have just a little bit of white or just a little bit of roan to them then the standard short horn traits that that people recognize we started originally started breeding some black composite bulls for black composite bulls that could go in and work in in a in a crossbreeding situation where their cows were already hashed Shorthorn and you know it's been a it's been an eye-opener for us given us a lot of a lot of a different look at at our short horns we see how that crossed how those crosses work with their black and red Angus the composites are popular in our bull sales to our customers they seem to be they seem to be grabbing on to that pretty well and so we've continued it we try to measure every every parameter that we can put a number to helps us analyze the cattle helps us produce a little more of a predictable product you know we want we want these cattle to go out and work we want them to work like they're supposed to work and really the only way that you can do that is by creating a data-driven animal that that's got predictability that performs as expected we have to remove 100% of the risk from these cattle and that's that's something that's stuck with me in terms of the way we breed cattle in the way we look at cattle anything that that is a risk for us is gonna be a risk for our customer you know and it's we don't need a reason for for a customer to go back to to doing what they were doing we don't need to give them that reason that's why we we feel like we've got to do a better job than most at the end of the day loving Farms is a family-run operation that works hard to breed the best Shorthorn cattle the result our high-performance Shorthorn genetics that deliver high demand profit traits for commercial cattle operation I'm proud of our Shorthorns out here and my family that's that stood with me to build this herd yeah my wife and my son Scott's involved heavily into it that they've invested a lot of time along with me and built this herding cattle to where we are today coming up it's a great opportunity for a breeder to be able to take their bull and compare it to some of the better bulls within the breed to see where they stand new science and Shorthorn genetics is building new foundations of profitability that's next on the American Rancher superior livestock auction is the largest cattle marketing Network in North America superior sells forward contracted and immediate delivery load lots of channel on video auction that are broadcast on satellite TV and streamed online superior does it by marketing your cattle to the largest qualified buyer base in the nation your cattle never leave your ranch until delivery day the superior rep will be there when the cattle are sorted and loaded and then write you a check when it's done simple as that superior livestock auction sells more cattle each year than any other livestock auction in the Un giving you the best opportunity for top dollar on your cattle superiors number one focus is getting you the best paycheck possible most producers only get one paycheck a year and that's why more cattle men and women trust superior livestock action to get the most out of every sale your hard work deserves top dollar so call superior or discover more online learn how superior livestock auction can work for you the superior country page is your 24/7 marketplace for buying and selling load locked calves feeders breeding stock and other cattle cattle ranchers like the country page because it's easy to use and they get the jump on current market conditions by putting cattle in front of buyers right now cattle are ready for sale in minutes so buyers can start bidding taller log on today to find out how the superior country page can work for you [Music] welcome back to the American Rancher the American Shorthorn Association and its members have made important strides in positioning Shorthorn genetics as a profitable choice for commercial cattlemen seeking to maintain British breed influence in a cross breeding program we asked several Shorthorn breeders to share with us why more cattle operations are adding Shorthorns genetics to their herds by using short forms those resulting steer progeny are extremely profitable the short hoard of the British breeds is the highest yielding highest credibility brief they marble is higher better than any of the British breed and so they're there recouping a lot of dollars on the steer progeny when their goal was to generate you know useful females for their for their environment if a producer excels at weaning and they want cattle that have high growth then there are short horns that can do that if someone is retaining ownership and feeding out their calves then that's something else that short hearts can do as well so I think that no matter what the end goal is in mind that our breed can do a lot for the commercial cattlemen they wanted to use the short horn to try to make them more docile they liked that f1 cross you get the heterosis so you get some good fertility they feed out well good marbling the guys that are buying the steers are saying hey these are profitable calves and the feedlot and better than the straight red black calves that we've been feeding we've got a big kick you just get that true heterosis when you put a short horn back on your other British breeds and we already have data to prove that you get an extra calf out of the lifetime of an Angus short horn cross in the lifetime of that replacement female so there's a lot of things that short horns can bring to the picture and really and truly there's a huge advantage today to a short horn bull in the pasture just because they haven't been enough of them in the pastures across the America over the last 10 to 15 years I see the place of short horn genetics in the commercial industry as really offering maternal heteros I think that's what we do best I think the the females given their docility their ability to mother and raise a calf along with then raising that calf and knowing that inherently they'll be genetic traits such as marbling that will be as good or even possibly superior to some of the other breeds whether you like them red or black or blue roan you have all that flexibility within the Shorthorn breed and that's a real tremendous opportunity to capture heterosis keep that docile easy fleshing maternal cow so I think they have tremendous opportunity to be seen as that other British breed alternative and crossbreeding programs the bull has to breed the heifers and he has to breed the cow herd so he's got to be cabin he's first but I think to answer your question maternal traits is where short leads to shine maternal ability easy fleshing ability milking modern milking good teat and utter we don't have a lot of problems that way good sound cows and if you have a Hereford Angus cow you know if you breed her back to an Angus bull you're gonna lose heterosis if you breed her back to a Hereford bull you're gonna lose heterosis you bring her back to a short horn bowl you're going to maximize heterosis with the three beef cross they're still going to be all British and you keep all those traits that are important to you and doesn't change your operation as far as feed or function of those cattle progressive short horn breeders are working with the American Shorthorn Association to prove the merits of short horn cattle in the commercial industry through increased data reporting and through programs like the American short horn associations national sire test at the University of Illinois practical data that is collected proves that short horn cattle are the British cross breeding solution the aasa' national sire test program is a unique opportunity to collect data on Shorthorn influence cattle in a system design with commercial profit in mind the 2017 calf crop just completed the trial with impressive reviews 85 percent of the cattle graded choice or better while converting at a rate of 5.30 to pounds of feed per pound of game over their five-month period in the feed yard the first two cat crops from that program have been born and there have been approximately 250 calves born all unassisted with an average birth weight of 83 pounds over the two-year two years of data what we need our cattle that can cross on those be productive and take advantage of hybrid vigor and those of us that raise short our cattle believe that they can do that but we need data that really quantifies that and takes the guesswork out and I think a trial like this goes a long way and making progress in that regard it's a great opportunity for a breeder to be able to take their bull and compare it to some of the better bulls within the breed to see where they stand to see if they're making a genetic improvement or if we're just kind of at a standstill and where we need to move at purebred producers because it's my feeling that we need to try to stay one or two steps ahead of the commercial producer who is our main customers who were focused on producing livestock for the data being collected that I find to be most interesting as the dry matter intake per pound of gain I think that this is data that's very difficult to collect as an individual breeder and to be able to do it in this setting with comparison among sires is very interesting because Shorthorn breeders are increasing their data collection and utilizing the technologies and the programs that we have available to improve their herds and accelerate genetic improvement within the breed I feel like they're able to offer a more high quality product to a commercial cattleman that's looking at utilizing Shorthorn genetics with with all the the tools that we have available and the breeders that are using them that our commercial customers are getting the best Shorthorn product that we can offer them for outstanding profit traits such as hybrid vigor docility and longevity in your cow herd consider Shorthorn genetics Shorthorn provides the british crossbreeding solution that provides feeder cattle that grade on par with the industry's finest commercial beef find out more by logging on to short horn org and to learn more about us log on to the American Rancher calm or connect with us on Facebook that's all for this episode I hope you enjoyed the show I'm Pam Minich for the entire American Rancher team thanks for joining us we'll see you next time right now the commercial industry is in demand of an alternative British breed to put on a black bass British counter we want to fill that void we take great pride in producing those animals and we want to have the data to back that up that was superior

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Id: kHbuu7saUyQ

Length: 26min 2sec (1562 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019