Heterosis is really important to me on
this ranch. We really like the Beefmaster breed because it brings Bos indicus influence into the breeding mix, into the program to give us that
additional benefit of heterosis from bos taurus and bos indicus cross. The calves out of these Beefmaster cross females we see a real boost just from the heterosis aspect of it. Good healthy strong weaners
in the fall is really important. Our Beefmaster sired calves usually, well they always, outweigh
everything else we raise which is Charolais and the Red Angus, usually 50 to 60 pounds and they always make us anywhere from twenty to sixty dollars a head more,
that we put in our pocket, which that's what counts for me, what goes in my pocket. Hello and welcome to the American Rancher, I’m Pam Minick. Today we are going to talk about Beefmaster cattle and hear from commercial cattlemen who are utilizing Beefmaster genetics in their commercial cattle herds through the United States. The demand for Beefmaster cattle has increased over the years because Beefmasters are the best of both worlds. These cattle produce extremely fertile, functional and docile female that the beef industry needs to rebuild America’s cow herds, while also producing profitable and efficient feeder calves that deliver results in today’s marketplace. We’ve got a good show for you, we’re glad you joined us. So stay tuned, we’ll be right back. Welcome back to the American Rancher. Beefmaster cattle work in all regions of the United States in different climates and environmental conditions from north, south, east and west. They are found on ranches from California to Idaho to Colorado as far north as Wisconsin and throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast states. Beginning in
the early nineteen thirty's Tom Lasater the breed's founder develop Beefmasters
from a systematic crossing of Hereford Shorthorn and cattle that were the
foundation of the American Brahman. His purpose was to develop cattle that were
more productive than existing breeds. Cattle that would produce and make money during economic hard times in the harsh environment of South Texas. The breed was developed on what has become known as the six essentials: weight, confirmation,
milk production, fertility, hardiness and disposition. These essentials became the
economic strength of Beefmasters and have made them favorites with those who
depend on cattle for a living. Beefmasters are the only beef breeds
specifically developed to excel in these important economic traits. Lorenzo
Lasater, BBU past president and grandson of breed founder Tom Lasater, is
a fourth-generation Beefmaster breeder. He resides in San Angelo, Texas and has
seen Beefmaster cattle evolve over the years firsthand. One of the things that makes the
Beefmaster breed really unique as they were developed purely using economic criteria
we knew as the six essentials. This philosophy evolved a little bit by accident. My grandfather came from a commercial background out of the depression but he saw quickly that the way to affect the kind of change that was meaningful in
cattle is using economic traits, as opposed to any kind of
aesthetics, which is how most beef breeds develop. Most develop around an aesthetic like color or size or type and so Beefmasters were developed uniquely only using
these six essentials in that resulted in cattle that I think are genetically
quite different than a lot of other breeds that are
available because those economically viable traits are imprinted in them. These are all traits importance to the commercial cattlemen, not to some
other other interests but basically to producing beef in a low-cost environment. Roaring Springs Ranch headquartered in the high desert of southeastern Oregon
covers one-and-a-half million acres and is in the business to sell boxed beef
through the Country Natural Beef program, so the ranch relies on Beefmaster
cattle to provide a solid well-rounded beef product all the way from the pastor
to the plate. Stacy Davies has managed Roaring Springs Ranch for the past 18
years and is a progressive leader in the beef industry. He relies heavily on the
Beefmaster female to raise a calf year after year in the vast and harsh landscape
of the high desert. The unique part of the high desert region the United States is the big wide open spaces. Grass plants are fairly far apart and cows really got
to be able to cover country to make a living in this part of the world. As you can see from this view this ranch is big. It's big country
and we need cows that will travel. Our cows graze year-round on native bunch grass plants, very limited to no hay or outside feed brought in. We use salt
occasionally, we use a little protein supplement occasionally but not a
considerable amount of any supplemental feed. The Beefmaster really benefits
our breeding program because it does that, it gives us cows that number one will get pregnant, number two will have a live calf and then raise that calf to a weaning
weight that we can work with and make a yearling out of. One thing that's really
important is good feet and legs. This country's pretty rocky and if cattle
don't have good feet and legs they don't survive. If they don't do well enough to
breed and raise the calf, then they get shipped off and we need cows that'll really
thrive not just survive. Longevity and fertility are the top traits that a cow/calf producer should take interest in when considering his bottom-line. Tom Lasater
use to say "give me a calf or be culled". Beefmaster females have responded to years of selection pressure and continue to excel in consistently bringing forth
a heavy weaning calf, year after year. Johnny Horton of Quanah, Texas and his
family have been ranching since 1888 and they demand a lot from their cattle, that
have to survive on little forage and rainfall. He has always been a fan of Beefmaster cattle and is pleased with the continued improvement in Beefmaster
genetics, such as higher conception rates, more weaned calves per cow and reduced
replacement heifer development costs. We're in a low rainfall area, lots of Mesquite
lots of prickly pear, short grass, primarily mesquite and Buffalo. The thing that got
us onto Beefmaster cows is how well they can survive on very little. We feed cake, cottonseed cake. No hay in the pasture unless there's a snowstorm and these ole' cows they can just keep doing well on very little. But for this area, low rainfall short grass, I've not run
across a better cow. Located in Desdemona, Texas Morris Greenhaw and his herd manager
E. Ray Smith started using Beefmaster cattle in their commercial operation for
their well-known gentle disposition and continue to be impressed year after year. We've had good luck breeding the Beefmasters. We like their dispositions. This man here been handling cattle quite longer than I have, as far as working directly with them and he's just kinda
fallin' in love with the way they handle ease of handling and we'd been told
that was the way it was and it proved to be that way. Beefmaster cattle are a solid foundation to vast numbers of commercial herds across the country. They are utilized for maternal crosses with Angus and Red
Angus cattle or use terminally with Charolais and other continental breeds. Beefmaster bulls are remarkably versatile they bring adaptability, structural
correctness and reproductive efficiency. There is more to come stay with us. Welcome back to The American Rancher. Beefmaster bulls are valued for the maternal attributes of their female
offspring that include early breed up, high calf survivability and overall
longevity in the cowherd. Beefmaster influence feeder calves are appreciated
for efficiency of gain, fewer days on feed and industry acceptable quality and
cutability with high dressing percentages. Tom Jones co owns and
operates High Plains feed yard located in Montezuma, Kansas. This 52,000 head
capacity feed yard commercially feeds hundreds of Beefmaster and Beefmaster
cross cattle each year. Jones is constantly impressed with the feed to
gain conversion of the Beefmaster bred cattle. I guess the most important thing
as far as profitability goes for these for us or the people who own them, is
probably their feed to gain conversions. It's very typical to have a feed to gain conversion underneath six. In fact, we have one group of cattle out here that
have a feeding history since 2009. Their average feed to gain conversion is 5.75 so they convert in the top 30% of the cattle that we have on feed. The cattle also, what I like about
them is we don't have much health problems with these cattle. We typically pencil in a three quarter percent death loss and we're there or
underneath on these cattle. They gain well, like I said they convert well and
we're not afraid of putting cattle in on a grid either. Davies uses Beefmaster cattle because they not only produce superior females but he also knows what to expect from them in the feed yard. Beefmaster cattle constantly convert feed and stay healthy. The Beefmaster cattle will
gain a consistent three to three and a quarter pounds a day, convert six pounds of feed or better and
the health of the cattle is exceptional. That's one thing that really makes a
difference on profitability in the feedlot sector is health. This set of cattle, there
were six hundred steers that came off California grass and there have been
two out of six hundred that have needed an antibiotic treatment because of sickness. We attribute a lot of that to the Beefmaster influence. The health of the cattle is a big deal. By picking up some hybrid vigor we get an additional
efficiency out of the cattle that really benefits us at the feedlot
phase. These cattle will go on to Sterling, Colorado where they'll finish and be
harvested at 1,250 to 1,300 pounds. We expect 75% of them to be Choice at that
weight and we expect that the average Yield grade will be at 2.7 or 2.8. Just right for
our branded beef program and what we need for the consumer. You hang up a Beefmaster carcass on the rail and another breed on the rail and cut a T-Bone off of that if they're finished the same, they're both going to be good beef. I am impressed and appreciate the
work that our seedstock producers are doing within the breed. They spend a tremendous amount of money to have bulls that are high performance bulls and make them available to commercial people like me. Steve Anderson, is heir and president of livestock operations for Martin O'Connor cattle company based in Victoria, Texas. The ranch has a long
family history in the commercial cattle business and appreciates the value of
heavier Beefmaster cross calves at weaning time. Steve also emphasizes the
resulting Beefmaster cross female keeps them using the breed. Beefmaster bulls add weight, weaning weight to my steers, they add pounds. They also make it where I can have really good replacement females and in South Texas they're very hardy, they're tough, they do well. Their disposition is a very big thing for me
in that we can handle them. We can cross them with anything and really get a
number one calf. We get number one calf prices for calves. Nail Cattle Company of Palm Bay, Florida has been a family cow-calf operation for three generations. Ryan
Martin has had very positive experiences using Beefmaster bulls in the
challenging location of their ranch. Night and day difference just from
the bulls we had to the bulls we have now, no comparison. On this little bunch
cows right here we wean these calves out at about 450 weight, was the average. This was the first year we brought Beefmaster bulls and put them on here
with the same cows, the exact same cows they weaned out about hundred, right out, a little over a hundred pounds heavier. Exact same time, exact same everything.
Nothing's changed but the bulls. Kelly Altenbaumer uses Beefmaster bulls on his commercial Beefmaster, Brangus and Angus cow herd. He loves Beefmaster for the
added weight he gets in his calves at weaning, as well as the great disposition
of the cows. The main reason I went to them was to gentle my calves down. Also for to
keep the heifers for replacement cows. My Beefmasters to me are the best of
both worlds. Your mama cows that you keep for the maternal side and to raise calves, along with if you don't own Beefmasters and if you're just doing crossbreeding, the growth on those bull calves, on those steers are excellent. In today's cattle industry, where the
nation's cattle herd is being rebuilt Beefmaster cattle are just as relevant
now as ever. Their unquestioned longevity fertility
and docility team with generations of range proven hardiness make them a solid
economic choice. Stay with us. You're watching The American Rancher. Welcome back to The American Rancher. The most scientifically proven way to create a efficiency in beef production
is utilizing maternal heterosis. Bill Pendergrass is the Executive Vice
President for Beefmaster Breeders United has been working with commercial
cattle producers for several years. He knows that the commercial cattleman is
looking for efficient and productive cattle and he believes that the Beefmaster breed is the answer. What makes Beefmasters such an important crossbreeding tool? It's retained heterosis. The genetic makeup that we have leads to 63% retained heterosis. We need mother cows that survive on the range and give us a calf every year. We want feedlot gains that are three and a quarter to
three and a half pounds a day on a natural ration. No ionophores, no antibiotics, no implants. We need carcasses that are low Choice, Yield Grade 2.5 to 3.0, with a 750 to 800 pound carcass weight. We really like the Beefmaster
breed because it brings Bos indicus influence into the breeding mix into the
into the program to give us that additional benefit of bos taurus and bos indicus cross. The calves out of these Beefmaster cross females, we
see a real boost just from the heterosis aspect of it Good healthy strong weaners
in the fall is really important. By crossbreeding, gaining the heterosis
effect and breeds that complement one another well we have a finished product
that consumers loves, efficient production system throughout the life of
the animal and mama cow that work well on the ranch. At the feedlot level we could have
cattle gaining four and a half pounds a day. We could also have cattle gaining two and
a half pounds a day. We're after three and a quarter. We want them to convert six
pounds of feed to one pound of gain. We can do that and still have cows that
work well and still produce meat that of a high quality for the consumer. The maternal heterosis that Davies refers adds more to the bottom line than any other single management practice a commercial cattlemen can perform. Calf survivability
is higher, newborns are more vigorous, have stronger
immune systems and also capture growth advantages. His impressive operation
utilizes the Beefmaster breed for the proven heterosis advantage that it
offers his breeding program. Davies attributes this heterosis advantage for
his good and heavy weaning weights. John McCarthy of Dade City, Florida has been a long time commercial cattlemen that uses Beefmaster bulls on his commercial herd
to produce superior females. The key to our operation is the Beefmaster
female. She's kinda cow that we turn to for our production. She's kinda the mainstay of our operation. Our cattle are born after Christmas, there will be a couple before. But they're all born after Christmas and we
put the bulls with them usually the first of March for 60 days and we'll average
somewhere around eighty percent conception rate in 60 days. So they're
somewhere between 12 and 14 months of age when we breed them and they have to breed to stay in the herd that we keep our heifers out of. They have to breed by 14
months and have us a calf before they're two years old. This spring we sold some
seventeen year old cows and they had never miss. They calved as a two and
never missed until they were 17. The key is the Beefmaster female. They bring more money, they put more dollars in my pocket and that's what counts from me. If you're gonna stay in the beef business they got to produce and I gotta have you one every 365 days or she needs to go to
McDonald's. Commercial cattlemen and women across the United States find that adding that extra maternal heterosis that Beefmaster bulls offer to their commercial females is an added benefit because the
female calves they produce have the needed maternal traits for superior
replacement females, while the bull calves have the extra weight needed to be
competitive in the current marketplace. Beefmaster Breeders United is an
association that is committed to the commercial cattleman. For more
information and a look inside how the Beefmaster breed offers the best of both
worlds check them out online at beefmasters.org or like them on Facebook. While you're there check out The American Rancher and like us as well. Or
you can visit our web site. We want to thank all of our generous sponsors for
helping bring you this inside look at Beefmaster cattle. That's all the time
we have today. From the entire The American Rancher team, thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time.
