Guest Commentary

Imposters & Mongrels

It used to be the “Elephant” and “They don’t fit the box” campaigns and now it is the “Imposters” and “Mongrel” campaigns. As cattle breeders, many of you have endured many extremes as the desired types of cattle have changed before your eyes. Surely many of you can remember when the Fullblood Chianina cattle arrived on the beef scene in the U.S. At that time, much of the U.S. cowherd was simply too small and too fat and the need for added growth and muscle was at an all time high but was just not popular with many British breed enthusiasts.

As these same enthusiasts watched what the continental breeds could do in terms of efficient beef production, many decided it was time to do something about it; they decided to fight it. The “Elephant” campaigns hit many beef production oriented publications and were soon followed by the “They don’t fit the box campaigns.” Just think where beef production would be today if the beef industry had accepted crossbreeding as well as the poultry and swine industries have. The most intriguing thing about these ad campaigns is that they may have helped the breeders of “Chi” influenced cattle more than some might think.

In response to these ads, breeders moderated their mature cow sizes yet maintained their production levels. After spending the last 15 years traveling the U.S. looking through cowherds of both straight British breeds and Chi influenced cows, I am convinced the Chi cows are more moderate in their mature size more times than not. Remember, size may be one of the easiest fixes in the beef industry.

After reading an article written by Larry Corah, vice president of Certified Angus Beef LLC, I felt that I just had to respond to some of the negative propaganda against composite cattle. The article does make a few correct points, such as the demand for black hided cattle is at an all time high and this is certainly in direct correlation to the success of the Certified Angus Beef program. I do believe this program has done a great job of promoting quality beef and has helped many breeders over the years.

As for the comments that industry interest in composites is waning, I am still scratching my head on this one. I wonder why the Simmental, Limousin, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Shorthorn, Maine-Anjou and many others have followed suit of the Chianina breeders in creating a composite program. Simply put, their customers are demanding it and understand the need for heterosis.

Straight-bred Angus calves topped the market everywhere was another comment, yet I sat in the local sale barn last week and saw a group of Limousin sired calves top the market (yes they were black) and sure enough, the sale report in the livestock paper listed them as Angus because they were black. Conversations with feedlot buyers and operators would lead you to believe they are not looking for straight-breds, but would rather have ¾ British ¼ Continental calves anytime.

Simply stated, crossbred cattle do not grade as well as straight-bred cattle. Well, I will give him this one for now but composite breeders have made great strides in this area and in many unbiased real world situations, composites match any on quality grade and still excel in cutability.

Straightbreds outgain crosses in the feedlot. Lets just forget everything you have learned about beef production on this one. For all of you scientists, grad students, beef producers, feedlot operators and common sense producers who have utilized composites to improve performance, you must have been wrong.

Straightbred calves are healthier. I am now laughing harder than ever and have pulled what hair I had left out. I will take a stab at this one myself, as just last week I finished doctoring another group of our straightbred calves. So to date since weaning, I have doctored 37 out of 155 straightbred british calves and yet have only doctored 3 out of 527 weaned crossbred calves. I guess real world data does not go far when compared to structured research data.

There are many other glaring mistakes in the same article such as claims that using crossbreds is less convenient and increases animal variability and creating composites is more costly due to added labor and expense creating them. As many common sense breeders would see, he evidently dislikes composites. Most all factual data comes from one database that just happens to have a registered Angus herd. Now that is a shocker.

The good news is that as composite breeders, you are evidently doing things right if the campaigns against you have kicked up again. Time after time when composites are compared against straightbreds in unbiased real world scenarios, the composites seem to always come out on top. As breeders of Chi composites, I challenge you to keep doing what you have been doing but with more compassion for these cattle than ever. Keep a sensible and practical approach to creating these composites. Not all cattle fit all environmental and management scenarios. Maintain a sustainable crossbreeding system and pay keen attention to making these composites uniform and consistent while maintaining a practical and efficient animal. Maybe better terms such as Improvers and Movers will take the place of Imposters and Mongrels.