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| It varies. Lol. I generally like to breed the best cows with the idea that those calves will be replacement animals. We've split the herd quite a few times in the past and bred say, the top third as far as potential in our mind, to a Hereford sire. The rest have gone with a bull of another breed. That has been Simmental, Angus, red Angus......, and we have sold or fed the crossbred calves. We have fed some calves in the past and, especially, if we went grade and yield, no ding on price from the packer. Greater O pays a premium for Hereford and baldy fats. I'd have to look but I think it might be a 15 cent premium. We've done some freezer beef, and like Jim says, it doesn't matter to the customer what color the calf is as long as they like the beef they get. I don't mind selling private treaty either. There are some cattle feeders out there that still like good Hereford calves. Just like some like only blacks, some like Holsteins, what works for one guy may not work for the next. Like LooseNut, Herefords in my family are kind of tradition. My Grandpa was a Hereford man, my Dad married into that family so he didn't influence me on that any, Grandpa was the formative person on my interest in cows. I like the breed so I tend to swallow the lump when I see blacks sell for more. I figure between the, usually, good nature of Hereford cows, the fact I know the breed and their particular problems, and that they work good for my style I'll deal with the downside.
Sorry to say we are not doing as much as I'd like with cows these days for some reasons I'd rather not go into on here and five droughts in ten years really hurt. Not as bad as some other guys I know, but bad enough.
Edited by Hereford Guy 4/19/2018 13:46
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Jim, LooseNut, Hereford Guy and others
