Crossbreeding with Beefmasters

master calves that we've marketed so far up here to outperform our straight bred calves about 75 200 pounds which is about every eight calf you're getting an extra calf after every eight calves so we've been real pleased with that - on the steer calves that we go to town well I kind of feel like in my own heart that no breed has it all corner you know there's good scimitars there's good I ain't this is good beef masters I feel like you can't overdo anyone breed and I feel like with a beef master I don't care what you put it on you're just going to help it you know it's there's no downside to using a beef master [Music] hello and welcome to the American Rancher I'm Pam Minich if you're a commercial cattleman you simply cannot afford not to be crossbreeding the benefits of a crossbred cow to any commercial herd are undeniable and highly documented beef masters are the most important part to any crossbreeding program because of the powerful impact they have on maternal efficiency if your cow herd is predominantly Angus brine Gus or any other breed using beefmaster bulls on these cows will create superior crossbred females to capitalize on maternal heterosis today we're going to visit with cattlemen who are excelling with their commercial herds because they are crossbreeding with beefmaster cattle stay tuned we'll be right back welcome back to the American rancher the demand for beef master cattle has increased over the years because beef masters have the optimum traits needed to excel in maternal efficiency these cattle produce extremely fertile functional and docile females 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 beginning in the early 1930s Tom Lassiter the breeds founder developed beef masters from a systematic crossing of Hereford Shorthorn and cattle that were the foundation of the American brahmana his purpose was to develop cattle that were more productive than existing breeds cattle that would produce and make money during economically hard times in the harsh environment of South Texas the breed was developed on what has become known as the six essentials wait conformation milk production fertility hardiness and disposition these essentials became the economic strengths of beef masters and have made them favorites with those who depend on cattle for a living beef masters are the only beef breed specifically developed to excel in these important economic traits even though the beefmaster breed was developed for the brush country of South Texas this breed of cattle excels in all climates and is efficient in numerous environmental conditions this hardy breed has rapidly expanded into the Midwest and central regions of the US and beef masters are found on ranches as far west as California and as far north as Wisconsin beef masters excel in maternal efficiency no matter the climate it is not new news that Missouri Oklahoma and several other states in the central region are highly concentrated with black hided cattle we visited with several commercial cattlemen in these areas that are demanding more performance from their cattle thankfully their demand for increased performance has been met through crossbreeding with beef masters numerous cattlemen in Oklahoma and Missouri say that crossbreeding with beef masters adds maternal efficiency to their replacement females and increases tolerance to the toxic fescue grass found in the region one of these Missouri cattlemen is Roger Gurley I've used about every breed of cattle there is Simba senator true this beef master Red Angus guilty semi tall and I just love the short hair that the Bremen influence puts on animal and I like of all the eared breeds I think beef master has the best disposition I kind of feel like in my own heart that no breed has it all corner you know there's good sympathizers good Angus there's good beef masters but I feel like you you can't overdo anyone breathe and I feel like with a beef master I don't care what you put it on you're just gonna help it's there's no downside to using the beefmaster Roger is not the only one that loves using beef masters on his commercial cow herd we visited with several more cattlemen who use beef masters on their commercial herds the added efficiency as well as heat tolerance docility and increased weaning weights are some of the reasons why they started using beef masters and why they continue to use beef masters in their crossbreeding programs I started using the beefmaster cattle because of more or less the heat tolerance is the most thing I need because I don't have much shade on a lot of my pastures that I got and I just wanted to slicker Heidi cattle cow that you know that would take the heat better so that's the main reason I'd really I started and then we raised them back in the eighties and we all you know our kids was always 50 75 pounds bigger than you know our balance our base calves so that's another reason we went we've went to them just kind of get a little more weight on because we sell everything you know just through the market we don't retain nothing back I used beefmaster cattle because I I just wanted them to something easier to calf and I appeal and easier to calf and and a little more heat tolerant and not such a large animal as what the char lays were run a few more head on the same acres the beef masters seemed to be more heat tolerant and don't go to the ponds to stand the fescue the toxicity and fescue the end of fight has a tendency to raise the blood temperature and they the cattle we have trouble with them going to the ponds and the creeks so it seems like the beef masters are more tolerant of that I'm a veterinarian and we've raised cattle pretty much all of my life I grew up on a farm in Perkins Oklahoma now we have a predominantly black Angus herd and of cows and we decided to try some beefmaster bulls on those mainly the reason we started with beef masters was because we had we're looking for the hybrid vigor and just the extra weight again we sell most of our calves across the scales for beef last year's calf crop that we kind of measured the beefmaster crossed calves weight out of approximately 75 to 100 pounds heavier than the straight red calves did I've had really good luck with the calves I've raised with their docility and the uniform 'no sand the calf crop that we got they've all nourished got up and thrived done well with very little assistance you know the beefmaster calves that we marketed so far appear to outperform our straight bred calves about 75 to 100 pounds which is about every eighth calf you're getting an extra calf after every eight calves so we've been real pleased with that - on the steer calves that we go to town with Schuyler more Co owns and operates Joplin regional stockyards in Missouri and markets cattle for a living over the years he has seen more and more of his customers buy beef master and beef master cross cattle because of their impressive feed conversion rates excellent performance on the rail and the outstanding durability of beef master cows one thing about right here where we're at you should get a shovel and dig down about three inches you're gonna get some rocks you know we've got a lot of hills we got a lot of rocks we got a lot of toxic fescue you know if you talk about durability as far as the motherhood standpoint goes you know I think a lot of them guys converted over to beef master crops and their cat just because of the durability I'm you know them cows last a long time it's a tough environment you know they can walk them hills you know they can handle the hot summer time with that fescue and when you get done you know they're still gonna raise you a big gift so I think as far as commercial side of it here you know you go back to the motherly side of it in these cows and you know they make really good loans we buy and turn a lot of cattle out you know and as far as it goes you know if they got a little beefmaster in them to me I'll give close to say my will for a Blackman just because of what I just talked about you know it's hot they can handle the fescue they're tough and you know when you send them on the feedlot you know it's when you get them hung up you know them cattle perform right along with some of these other breeds if you you know though great along that verb 80% choice I mean they have no great right along with the others the beef masters have made a tons of progress you know you could really see it the last ten or twelve years you still you know you see them here beef mashed it up tall lanky you know hard to get them to put weight on you know that's just a thought that the that you had 15 years ago well you know you see these beef mappers beef masters now you know they're way more type here you know they've read a lot of genetic symptoms so as far as you know conversion on feed how they feed you know you've seen a major major difference in the cat and the beef masters today than they had been 15 years ago 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 pasture to the plate Stacey Davies has managed Roaring Springs Ranch for the past 19 years and he 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 reach in the United States is the big wide open spaces grass plants are fairly far apart and the cows really got to be able to cover country to make a living in this part of the this part of the world as you can see from this view this ranch is big it's big country and we need calloused it'll travel our cows graze year-round on native bunch grasses plants very limited to no hay or outside feed brought in we use salt occasionally we use a little protein supplement occasionally but not 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 the one thing that's really important is good feet in legs this country is pretty rocky and if cattle don't have good feet and legs they don't survive and if they don't do well enough to breed and raise a calf and they then they get shipped off and we need calles little that'll really thrive not just survive it is easy to see that crossbreeding with beef masters works for commercial cattlemen from all over the United States simply put beef master cross bred calves on the average are better performers than their straight bred parents cross bred calves are more vigorous at birth and faster growing and will perform better for almost every trait ultimately making you more money but it gets even better cross bred cows improved calving rights calf survivability more calves born and weaned more pounds of calf and more calves produced over at the cow's lifetime with good management the maternal heterosis found in beefmaster cattle will make a rancher more money than anything else he can do there's more to come stay with us welcome back to the American rancher the driving factor for hybrid vigor in crossbreeding is retained heterosis because of the unique genetic content of beef masters sixty-three percent of the possible heterosis is retained this is significant because most American breeds retain 47% heterosis beefmaster bulls will pass along that 16% increase in heterosis in the form of more pounds of cap weaned and more productive females in almost every trait that equates to more dollars from every cow sired by beefmaster bulls hyper vigor but there's your number one hybrid vigor right there and be faster because they've already got the three breeds you know so there you gonna get your Harvard vigor in one shot in the past years we've seen a lot of black cows crossed on Harford bulls to get that hybrid vigor with beef masters you also get that hybrid vigor but you also get a little bit of the primary influence that gives them some size and scale that we've been really really really pleased with we need mother cows that survive on range and give us a calf every year we want feedlot gains that are three and a quarter to three and half pounds a day on a natural ration no ionophores no antibiotics no implants we need carcasses that are low choice yield grade two and a half to three with a 750 to 800 pound carcass weight we really like the beefmaster breed because it brings boss indicus influence into the breeding mix into the end of the program to give us that additional benefit of heterosis from boss taurus and boss indicus cross the calves out of these beef master cross females we see a real boost just from the heterosis aspect of it good healthy strong wieners in the fall it's really important by crossbreeding gaining the heterosis effect and breeds that compliment one another well we have a finished product that consumer loves efficient production system throughout the life of the animal and mama cows that work well on the ranch at the feedlot level we could have cattle gained and four and a half pounds a day we could also have cattle gained in two and a half pounds a day we're after three and a quarter we wanted 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's of a high quality for the consumer the maternal heterosis that davies refers to adds more to the bottom line than any other single management practice a commercial cattleman 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 weight John McCarthy of Dade City Florida has been a longtime commercial cattleman that uses beefmaster bulls on his commercial herd to produce superior females the key to operation is the beefmaster female she's kind of the the cow that we return to for our production she's kind of the mainstay of our operation the key is the beefmaster female they bring more money they put more dollars in my pocket and that's what counts to me you're gonna stay in the beef business they got to produce and they gotta have you one every 365 days or she needs to go to McDonald's all over the country from California to Kansas and Missouri to Florida beefmaster influence feeder calves are appreciated for efficiency of gain fewer days on feed and Industry acceptable quality and cut ability with high dressing percentages we'll be right back stay with us welcome back to the American rancher the unquestioned longevity fertility and docility of beefmaster cattle teamed with generations of range proven hardiness make them a solid economic choice for any cattleman 'if master cattle are not only a great crossbreeding tool for the commercial cattlemen but they are an all-around great breed of cattle it is the mission of all beef master breeders to strive for breed improvement and provide the best cow to the beef industry we got over close to 200 head of purebred beef master registered bulls and cows and and we had a lot of repeat customers new customers every year and and we supply you know the commercial side and and the register side in the last two years I think we've added we've started up eight to ten new people of registered breeders first-time breeders helped them along the way show them how to register those calves and then start out and and they've been successful and they're happy with that and it just continues to grow in southwest Missouri I see the demand for beef masters these days I think the demand has really increased since 2012 from the drought 2012 there's of my customers that have bought Bulls from me in the past that most of their commercial Bulls the commercial cows weren't breeding back we're having I problems pink eye problems and stuff from the drought and standing in ponds and and what I've they wanted to cross that the beefmaster Borobudur cab with their commercial cows are commercial and and kind of get more that heterosis more hybrid vigor and just have a healthier calf commercial cattleman and women across the United States find that adding the extra maternal heterosis that beefmaster bulls offered 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 the Association is dedicated to breed improvement through research data collection value indices and genomic testing for more information and a look inside how the beefmaster breed offers the best of both worlds check them out online at beef masters org or like them on Facebook 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 be sure to check out our website the American Rancher calm or find us on Facebook for the entire American Rancher team thanks for joining us we'll see you next time [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Beefmaster Breeder

Views: 56,067

Rating: 4.7866669 out of 5

Keywords: beefmaster, cattle, livestock, beef, brahman, angus, brangus

Id: VxTMu4U__n4

Length: 21min 46sec (1306 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 06 2016