Thinking about a diferent breed of bull

[AGN76]

temperament and milk put me off lims, we don't feed the calves anything bar PP grass and silage/hay and milk so cows have to milk

BB temperament will over rule the Lim temperament. And pick the right Bull and milk won't be a problem with the Limousin

 

[Woolless]

Actually given the strong trade for them in the store ring I think henerar should get a Fri bull

Joking aside it comes down to what will sell well in the store ring if you are selling suckled calves and those breeds are Angus (N/S ) Blue/ Saler and Lim.

Breeds like Sim etc are not popular among feeders ( rightly or wrongly )

Point of note, with the news about the new sub scheme today I can see there being a sub for out wintered native cattle post 2027 grazing low input grass land.

I am surprised about them rewarding outwintered cattle, would have thought there would be concern about soil erosion, run-off, poaching etc. What did it actually say?

 

[gone up the hill]

I am surprised about them rewarding outwintered cattle, would have thought there would be concern about soil erosion, run-off, poaching etc. What did it actually say?

Well it has the foot prints of the NT/RSPB all over it, basically after 2027 no area payments and all you will get paid for is stewardship schemes and high welfare stuff, these schemes work on native breeds being low grazed so I can see they will end up paying for native cattle/ sheep etc where as if you have say BB cattle you wont be able to claim the payment.

 

[Henarar]

I know you’re probably thinking of going with a more maternal/native type, but I’d seriously look at a Blonde. You’d get a stonking calf out of a blue cow that’s born easily, and Blonde cows are generally good mothers.
By the way we have a selection of young bulls for sale atm

not really thought about them, don't see many about, maybe not the thing for a less intensive non feeding system ? I don't know

 

[Henarar]

Not sure if that's a tongue in cheek comment?
A nice cow but I'm not sure it ticks Henarar's box of good saleable store bullocks. Could always call them blue x I guess then they'd sell on their merits

@Henarar you're welcome to come and have a look at some stabiliser x blue cows and calves here. (You never did come and see the bud box ), though these would be dairy x blue base.

don't you have to put them as the sires breed on the passport ?

yea keep meaning to come and have a look but you know how it is and a trip to darkest Devon needs preparation

 

[Henarar]

With @farmerclare on the case you can have all of the above and a few more in the tank for the cost of feedng a bull leave alone the risk of buying one!

yep that is true, you seem to get on well with AI it seems to work well for you, we do ok with it but not as well as a bull
this is only an idea we have been kicking around for some time not sure what way to go yet

 

[devonshire farmer]

South Devon, maternal cows, lovely and quiet.
Would be a good cross with a blue!

Also good cross with Hereford, or the other way around Hereford cow sd bull!

 

[Henarar]

Noticed over they last couple of years lots of breed change in the local suck cows ,was a lot of lim, Angus and even some blues, most seem the have gone back to Devonx , Herefordx and some south devons around to most would use a limousin or char bull. Can you not just ai your suck cows once rather than have another breed and let the blue sweep up?

that's more or less what we do now and its ok for the autumn calvers that are bulled inside after Christmas but not so good for the spring calvers that are bulled in June
as I said above its an idea we have been kicking about not sure we will do it yet

 

[Henarar]

Well it has the foot prints of the NT/RSPB all over it, basically after 2027 no area payments and all you will get paid for is stewardship schemes and high welfare stuff, these schemes work on native breeds being low grazed so I can see they will end up paying for native cattle/ sheep etc where as if you have say BB cattle you wont be able to claim the payment.

good job we have BRB cattle then isn't it

 

[egbert]

As I said not had to much to do with them but always liked the look of them, don't see many around and I have often wondered why

Loads hereabouts.There was a period after they went all beef - rather than dual purpose- when some got very coarse, and had an attendant reputation for bad calving. (There are some very big strains in the breed, as well as double muscle gene). That's pretty much sorted out now, leaving an extremely docile cow who'll live easy and is easy to live with, and breed calves that respond well to hard feed. Mystery to me why the country isn't full of them!

 

[Whitepeak]

not really thought about them, don't see many about, maybe not the thing for a less intensive non feeding system ? I don't know

Surprised you don’t see many about, there’s some very good herds down in the South West.
We run our cows on a low input system, they get no hard feed. But we do creep the calves and after weaning do push them on. So I’m not sure how well they would do on a forage only diet particularly the bulls/steers, heifers would probably be fine. But then again we try to sell finished or as fit stores.

 

[Paul E]

I can see they will end up paying for native cattle/ sheep etc where as if you have say BB cattle you wont be able to claim the payment.

But you wouldn't need the payment, as the calves would be worth more in the mart anyway.

 

[juke]

The problem with blondes is there exactly the same as limousins n came in after them .. nice cattle slow growing like limousins n thetsame cracker jack streak ....but they do kill out well

 

[Whitepeak]

The problem with blondes is there exactly the same as limousins n came in after them .. nice cattle slow growing like limousins n thetsame cracker jack streak ....but they do kill out well

Like limo’s only better
I will admit, if they had come over just a few years earlier than Limo’s then things could have been very different.
Slow growing? A lot of trial work and research has Blondes having some of the highest DLWG, often comparable to Charolais. But when they convert to carcass or meat yield gain they are far superior.
And all breeds have the odd fruit loop, but on the whole they are ok.

 

[juke]

Like limo’s only better
I will admit, if they had come over just a few years earlier than Limo’s then things could have been very different.
Slow growing? A lot of trial work and research has Blondes having some of the highest DLWG, often comparable to Charolais. But when they convert to carcass or meat yield gain they are far superior.
And all breeds have the odd fruit loop, but on the whole they are ok.

They were alot slower growing here not a criticsm of the breed but none of the contis can compete with a pure charolais apart from certain ch x cross up to weaning age and then charolais gains are much greater imo.
The weights I've seen on blonde bulls at carlisle would definitely be nowhere near that of charolais.

I would say blondes are easier calving that's for sure they haven't tried to go the same way as limis have , still stand by they are cracker Jack's the same as their ginger cousins, every injury or near Miss I've Had has been down to either a Lim or blonde . 90 percent of what I do is with charolais

 

[Northeastfarmer]

There are 2 types of blondes....show ones...and sh!t ones

 

[juke]

There are 2 types of blondes....show ones...and sh!t ones

That's the truth, only one man I'd want a blonde bull from.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

That's the truth, only one man I'd want a blonde bull from.

And I bet I know who it is

 

[juke]

And I bet I know who it is

Safe bet.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Safe bet.