Low Line Cattle

[som farmer]

I had a good look at them a show, they were nicely shaped, good cattle, the price made me gulp.
But, to be honest, having seen a small herd of traditional a/angus, there wasn't a lot of difference in size, and they were a lot different money, plus you had a ped a/angus bull to go on the passport. Whether they still register them now, i'm not sure, they were finding it getting harder to sell bulls to dairy farmers, simply because they were to small to reach holstiens !!!!!!! with a lot of xbred dairy cows, might pay to look them up, currently use jx bull on heifers, but if we can't shoot caves, would be a better calf, ped or not.

 

[Danllan]

I had a good look at them a show, they were nicely shaped, good cattle, the price made me gulp.
But, to be honest, having seen a small herd of traditional a/angus, there wasn't a lot of difference in size, and they were a lot different money, plus you had a ped a/angus bull to go on the passport. Whether they still register them now, i'm not sure, they were finding it getting harder to sell bulls to dairy farmers, simply because they were to small to reach holstiens !!!!!!! with a lot of xbred dairy cows, might pay to look them up, currently use jx bull on heifers, but if we can't shoot caves, would be a better calf, ped or not.

Do you mean the Lowlines or the Herefords? Either way, once the price is <£1k for a decent heifer - preferably in-calf - I'll be getting a few, I am pretty sure that they make the best sense in the long-term on a kg per acre basis. They will also be able stay out a bit later and go out a bit earlier than the usual trad' beef and dairy x here. I also like the idea of having cattle that would have to try really hard to kill me, rather than those that can just do so casually.

 

[unlacedgecko]

@unlacedgecko What news? I've been avoiding doing the VAT and wandering round the net and found the cattle in the link below, any interest? I'll admit I'd not heard of them before, or don't recall having done so; some good looking beasts though, could be worth considering when the price comes down and if you can find a market.

Miniature Hereford Cattle - Chater Valley Farm

www.chatervalley.co.uk

Had a real good chat with @JP1. I reckon Galloway of some description (probably black) would be a better bet.

If you pm me your email address I'll forward the email I got from AB Europe which details their embryo transfer prices.

Later this week I'll be touching base with a few UK low line herds.

Miniature Herefords appear to be a bit of a gimmick. They seem to be targeted at the US lifestyler market. I'd be concerned about the KO% but don't know huge amounts about them.

 

[Danllan]

Had a real good chat with @JP1. I reckon Galloway of some description (probably black) would be a better bet.

If you pm me your email address I'll forward the email I got from AB Europe which details their embryo transfer prices.

Later this week I'll be touching base with a few UK low line herds.

Miniature Herefords appear to be a bit of a gimmick. They seem to be targeted at the US lifestyler market. I'd be concerned about the KO% but don't know huge amounts about them.

Will do.

I think the Herefords could go be a goer...

 

[Henarar]

Had a real good chat with @JP1. I reckon Galloway of some description (probably black) would be a better bet.

If you pm me your email address I'll forward the email I got from AB Europe which details their embryo transfer prices.

Later this week I'll be touching base with a few UK low line herds.

Miniature Herefords appear to be a bit of a gimmick. They seem to be targeted at the US lifestyler market. I'd be concerned about the KO% but don't know huge amounts about them.

so what are you going to with the calves,what age will you sell them and where,

 

[neilo]

The Lowlines are only going to be any use to the 'lifestylers' too. If you sell them anywhere other than in a box, you'll have you leg royally lifted.

 

[Cowcalf]

Will do.

I think the Herefords could go be a goer...

The only folk that will be interested are small holders, been bred with too much concentration on limited gene types

 

[neilo]

As for miniature Herefords, I'm afraid I'd struggle to take anyone with their background seriously. Have you looked at the rest of the website?

 

[unlacedgecko]

so what are you going to with the calves,what age will you sell them and where,

@JP1 says his finish off grass at 28 months and 280-320kg. That’s commercial at the mo.

Or cross with a Charolais for a bigger faster finishing animal and sell them off the cow as Charolais x stores?

 

[Henarar]

@JP1 says his finish off grass at 28 months and 280-320kg. That’s commercial at the mo.

Or cross with a Charolais for a bigger faster finishing animal and sell them off the cow as Charolais x stores?

you would need to cross them with something to put some shape in the calves if you were going to sell them in the store ring of the cow if you want to make half decent money of them IMHO, what would be best to put on them I wouldn't know
I am all for low costs but not completely at the cost of low sale price

 

[DanM]

@JP1 says his finish off grass at 28 months and 280-320kg. That’s commercial at the mo.

Or cross with a Charolais for a bigger faster finishing animal and sell them off the cow as Charolais x stores?

Use a Charolais and you may find your labour input and requirement for calving equipment increases. In my experience; even so called “easier-calving” types will need assistance to avoid increased mortality, versus a native breed.

 

[Hilly]

You're right.

So an animal that can be outwintered and calves unassisted without being given away at sale. Does such a thing exist?

Yes it’s called an Aberdeen Angus, look around the world at countries that operate with no sub Angus at the fore in most of them others have them Brahma things.

 

[Hilly]

By the time I get cows these pups should be fully working. I'm pretty confident in them.

View attachment 829828

More profit in breeding dogs than suckler cows .

 

[unlacedgecko]

More profit in breeding dogs than suckler cows .

Not my dogs. I don't charge for pups, just make sure they go to good working homes where they'll get plenty of experience. And if I want a service or a pup back I get one.

The price on the ads was to keep away dreamers and morons.

 

[Danllan]

The only folk that will be interested are small holders, been bred with too much concentration on limited gene types

As for miniature Herefords, I'm afraid I'd struggle to take anyone with their background seriously. Have you looked at the rest of the website?

Alright, I'll admit I was having a little bit of fun, and thought someone might be up for it. No, I can't see any commercial future for the miniature Herefords other than as pets, which I'm sure will make some a tidy profit. I think @Cowcalf is spot on.

But, and I'm not joking now, I really do think that the Lowlines are worth considering. On average, here, I reckon we could have them out for about an extra month - rain dependent, a couple or more weeks earlier and later than at present, the differing factor being the damage our beasts do to the ground if they are out and it's wet. Of course the Lowlines aren't as easy on the ground as sheep, but they're half the weight of regular cattle, still less for continentals.

As I wrote earlier, I think there wouldn't be too much problem shifting them either, and clearly none if you do the marketing yourself. In the end it's all down to two things: catering to taste and money. The money side is a no-brainer on the kg per acre basis, so then it's down to taste, fashion even.

 

[Hilly]

Not my dogs. I don't charge for pups, just make sure they go to good working homes where they'll get plenty of experience. And if I want a service or a pup back I get one.

The price on the ads was to keep away dreamers and morons.

I was talking in general.

 

[Cowgirl]

I guessed the comments about Miniature Herefords were a joke (they are very rare in this country) but seriously I hope that no one confuses them with Traditional Herefords. Miniature Herefords are completely different and much smaller than ours. Incidentally ours also finish off grass at 28 months at 280 - 300 kg DW...

 

[NZDan]

I met one of the guys importing them a few years (5 or 6 I think) back at the Suffolk Show. He was there with them in the cattle classes as he said it was a cheaper way to promote them than having a stand. I'd never heard of these cattle so had a bit of a chat with him. They were bred at an Australian research farm for 30 odd years. From memory he said two lines were bred, highs and lows, as closed herds to see the differences between the carcases. The lows had better ko% and growth rates so that was what the concentrated on. I asked if they had dexter blood (didn't go down too well) but they are in fact pure Aberdeen Angus.
The breed was quite new here at the time and the animals were serious £, I don't know if they have more about now to make them a commercial proposition.

The two lines were selected on yearling weight, the Lo line for lo yearling weight and the hi line for hi yearling weight. The herd they started with was a pure Angus herd and remains so now. They are often used in the US to change frame size rapidly in Commercial herds that have got to big, they can change a frame score 6-7 herd to 2-4 in one cross.

 

[Woolless]

The two lines were selected on yearling weight, the Lo line for lo yearling weight and the hi line for hi yearling weight. The herd they started with was a pure Angus herd and remains so now. They are often used in the US to change frame size rapidly in Commercial herds that have got to big, they can change a frame score 6-7 herd to 2-4 in one cross.

To me, that's just selecting for poor growth rather than efficiency. The clever thing to do would be teasing out the cattle with the best yearling growth compared to mature size i.e. curve benders. Not easy to do but worth pursuing! I'm all for moderate mature size in a cow but there's a happy medium, surely?

 

[NZDan]

I guessed the comments about Miniature Herefords were a joke (they are very rare in this country) but seriously I hope that no one confuses them with Traditional Herefords. Miniature Herefords are completely different and much smaller than ours. Incidentally ours also finish off grass at 28 months at 280 - 300 kg DW...

My understanding was that miniature Herefords were bred from a traditional Hereford herd that went against the trend to produce bigger and bigger cattle?