Looking for miniature cattle

If they're black, they'll sell. If you call them Angus cross, they'll sell.

A friend of mine and I were laughing about this once. Most people will never be able to tell the difference between breeds when they're eating them. The difference between grass finished and corn finished? Sure. But not actual breed.

But Angus is what everyone wants. It's marketing, pure and simple. And the Angus folks have been marketing their brand as the one to buy for enough years now that folks believe them!
That's why cattlemen will tell you black sells.

BTW, there's no doubt in my mind that a good beef producer will be able to convince folks to buy other breeds.
But the brand recognition is already there for Angus.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Erin,

Thanks for the input. I wonder if I could convince him to breed a dexter to a lowline and let me keep dexter heifers....

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What are we up to? Come and see!

Read my earlier post about "Dangus" calves in this thread.

Any cattle that have black skins, or the black and white "black baldy' coloring, and are 1/2 Angus, qualify as "Certified Angus".

It doesn't matter what the other half is. Even a horned Dexter won't put horns on the calves, since all Angus (including Lowline Angus) are homozygous polled. The calves are guaranteed to get a polled gene from the Angus parent, and polled is domonant over horned. Voila, the calves are all horned.

Now, when you take them to the auction, no one will be able to tell them from everybody else's "Certified Angus" cattle. So they'll bring the same prices as the others. With one exception: Being smaller (about 3/4 size) the Dangus calves will appear to be younger than they actually are. Their lower weight will sell for higher prices per pound than heavier calves.

One last factor is the grading that is done at a lot of auctions before the sale. The Dexter in the Dangus calves will make them more efficient at converting grass to beef, so they'll hold better condition than pure Angus and subsequently grade higher. Angus have been developed to fatten quickly on grain, not grass. On grass, a Dexter will be much more efficient.

Don't try to take purebred Dexters to the auction. As soon as the buyers see the horns, the price plummets. If it's obviously mature, but small, then it's considered a runt, or malnourished. The price plummets. Everything we like about Dexters for our small farms goes against the wants of the beef buyers at the auctions.

For selling cattle at the auction, nothing beats black Angus. The market is there, and the Angus marketing is constantly at work to keep it there.

But, ... for providing a family with only a few acres with milk and tasty beef, Dexter rules. Angus ain't even close. They're two different worlds.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

Angus is also the way to go for selling beef direct to consumers.
Like I said, immediate brand recognition. Particularly when one is trying to create a new market.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Longhorn beef does taste slightly different with a different texture. I only had it once in Austin at the Burger Hut on 6th street. Want to try it again and compared the taste. It did taste good though.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett