I often wonder how many people get caught in a #8 trap when it
comes to bulls.
This time of year bull sales are on every single farm related flier.
The bulls are usually dirty tailed, which to me says ‘he’s been fed REAL GOOD!’ For the last—- who knows how long.
The buyers walking the aisles looking at each ones paperwork, and take little more than a glance at the bull in some cases.
The bulls head and neck is often clipped, and we can’t see if he had a curly head or not.
The bull often looks more like a fat steer, actually.
What about fly resistance? We can’t assess that till June, July, or August when the fly population in the bull pen out numbers the human population in the world! Or so it seems.
Then we dip our head down to take a look at his “seed factory” and of course it’s cold out so they are sucked up close to his body. Pretty hard to see if they are shaped well and symmetrical or not.
We should be able to expect a bull producer wouldn’t let something sub par into the sale, we’d hope!
How many of these bulls are little more than a “glorified steer” or a “cow settler”?
Then we get to the sale, take a
seat, and get to the business of bidding.
What is a bull worth?
What’s a certain bull worth to me?
Maybe the cow herd the buyer has
is 20 cows, maybe he has 50 cows.
The bigger herd may warrant 2 bulls, or a bigger budget for 1 good bull. So
many variables!
My best advice is to make sure you buy a bull raised the same way you plan to keep your bull. Don’t try to “bond” with him, and do your homework before the sale.
Buying a good bull is worth the effort as his influence is 50% of every calf he produces. Where the cow only contributes 1 calf per year, your bull should be siring all of them.
If you have a pretty uniform herd, your calves should also be pretty uniform if you get the right bull.
If there’s a trait you want to add, or change, a single bull can sure do that!
People comment on how “deep” my bulls are. Yes, they are deep. No, we don’t pull calves from these bulls either. Maybe it’s our own cow selection and they are easy calving cows, or alternatively, the bulls are masculine and shorten gestation for vigorous calves to be born.
It’s hard to tell from photos, but LENGTH is an optical illusion! My deep bulls are as long as your “long” bulls, the difference is my bulls are deep chested. There’s a lot more red meat when the brisket is level with the knees vs only as deep as the elbow. It takes a longer tape measure to go around a U shapped brisket vs a V shaped one. A long rump matches a WIDE shouldered bull. Short rumps on bulls don’t make calving ease daughters! The more level the bull is from Brisket to Navel the better!
Never underestimate the quality of the bulls produced and sold by Rolling Hills Cattle Company. We scrutinize things most people haven’t started selecting for yet. And we will keep working hard to be leaders in British White beef cattle genetics for the commercial cattlemen and the purebred breeders. If it’s not bull material, it’s beef!