Pioneers of Angus in Texas.
Prior to the introduction of Angus in Texas, Herefords were the predominant cattle breed. A popular characteristic of cattle in the fifties and sixties, was short height. However, we started our registered Angus herd with cattle that were taller than most. When the exotic, (European) cattle became popular, many Registered Angus breeders cheated to make their cattle bigger. They bred in a percentage of Holstein (Dairy Cattle) or a dark colored European breed to get more size and height. This was especially true with some of those breeders that showed their cattle at stock shows. This not only reduced the hybrid vigor when crossing with other breeds, but also hurt other characteristics. Angus have always been noted for small calves at birth. But they have also been noted for prime and choice carcasses. As a whole that is still true of the Angus Breed today, but as you may suspect, some Angus are better than others.
We have always been very careful about who we buy herd bulls from. We have only bought females two times, other than the original cows we started with. One group had some characteristics we didn’t like, and we sold all of them. The others were good, and were used to contribute significant improvements to our herd.
Pioneers in Performance Records.
The Angus Association was the first breed association to collect performance data on their cattle. We bought herd bulls from the Southwest Research Foundation, near San Antonio in the fifties and sixties when they were doing research on cattle performance records. This herd known as "The Essor", was one of the very first in this field of study. After talking with their scientists, we bought a set of scales in 1962 and began weaning weight records and a little later, yearling records. The Angus Association had begun a program of keeping records, so we allowed them keep track of our records. When the computer age came along the, the benefits of the records really took off.
Herds like ours, that have many years of records have an advantage of breeding true. The extra depth in statistics leads to a much higher predictability of the offspring. This is a great advantage we have over breeders with less experience. With the use of the computer, an animal’s offspring birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, carcass material value, and more, can be predicted with a fairly high degree of accuracy. Even the likelihood that these characteristics will be passed on to the offspring of the offspring can be predicted. The more records, the higher the degree of accuracy.
Data taken from university research, as reported in beef industry journals and magazines show, as more cattlemen used exotic (huge) bulls, less beef and more chicken was eaten. Finally, near the end of the century, ranchers began to realize that the effort to produce more efficient cattle, (more pounds per head), produced tougher steaks. And that was ruining their industry. They began to revert back to traditional English breeds, primarily Angus. Since then, the data reflects an increase in beef consumed when more Angus bulls were used. Recent research coupled with the use of the computer, we are entering and exciting era.
For customers that don’t have a lot of experience, we enjoy sharing ours. Whether you are a beginner in ranching, or you have years of experience and need some new herd bulls, come and see us. We'll be happy to see you.