Reference Library

LONGHORN CR0SSES MEAN PROFIT IN THE POCKET
by Carolyn Hunter
Texas Longhorn Trails, October, 1993

Today's cattle producers face the constant challenge of producing high quality lean beef as economically as possible. In 1991, Texas A&M University began a valuable program to show cow-calf and stocker operators how their cattle fit the needs of the beef industry.

The A&M "Ranch to Rail" program is designed to measure feedlot performance, carcass traits and net dollar return for individual cattle on feed. Cattlemen delivered their calves in the fall to one of two feedlots in Texas where they were tagged, processed, and followed all the way through the feeding phase to slaughter.

The first year, 74 producers from Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma entered 666 steers in the program. Among them were several who sent Texas Longhorn crosses. Gerry Shuddle was one of those.

The Sabinal rancher took seven Texas Longhorn/ Salers cross calves. Of the seven, five graded choice or select, and carcass percentages were good. However, profits varied widely on the steers, so Shudde went home to make some adjustments in his breeding program - the purpose of "Ranch to Rail".

He entered five Texas Longhorn/Limousin cross steers in the 1992-93 program. When payday came, Shudde's steers brought him a return of $91.71 above the average for the "Ranch to Rail South" Program. This income was helped by the fact that the Texas Longhorn cross steers had zero medicine costs while the program had an average of $3.44. Death loss was also zero compared to the average $4.74. Carcass value/cwt was $4.30 above the average.

Four of the five steers quality graded choice and one select with yield grades of 1 or 2. The carcasses dressed out at an average of 65.38%, with ribeye area averaging 15 sq. in., ideal for packer boxes. Outside fat came in at an excellent .26" average. Excess fat lowers dressing weight and lowers yield grade, and means more trimming at the packing house.

"The steers returned $733 after feed cost, and ranch expenses came out of that", says Shudde. Putting your cattle into feedlots takes a planned system of grazing until they hit 600-700 lbs., but beats the $350-400 they would bring at weaning through an auction."

Bob Bachman, with Agri Ventures Corporation, Graham, TX, ranches in Texas and New Mexico. He runs mostly Brangus-cross type cows, and uses Longhorn bulls on all his heifers. Bachman sent 19 Longhorn X calves off his first-calf Brangus heifers to the Randall County Feedyards in the Texas Panhandle. His net profit per steer was $17.18 above the "Ranch to Rail North" average. All 19 graded choice or select. Carcass dressing percentages ranged from 62.5% to 71.09%.

Bachman has kept some of his Longhorn cross heifers as replacement females. His Longhorn cross cows run on some of his rougher country. He usually keeps a cow as long as her teeth are good and she's raising a good calf. "Generally, their mouth kinda peters out when they're somewhere around 10-12 years old. I think the longevity of these Longhorn crosses will be better," said Bachman in an article in the New Mexico Stockman. "I think we'll find these halfblood cows might get on out to 14 years. It costs a lot of money to get a calf into production, so if you get two or three years more, it's just that much money saved."

Shudde and his wife can't say enough about their registered Texas Longhorn cows and the cross calves. "They're ideal for this brush country," says Shudde. "They're small cows, that can browse efficiently. Right now, they've quit the dry grass and are licking on Huajillo brush. They're also easier to work than Brahman crosses."

Janelle Shudde chimes in. "What seems the strongest about our Longhorn crossbreeding program is being able to utilize this breed that has developed such strong "survivor" characteristics such as few birthing problems, range and brush grazing and effective mothering; combine those things to come up with something, not just preserving history, but effective in the production arena of the real world we have to make a living in."

"I've eaten beef all my life, and those Longhorn cross steaks are the best I've ever eaten," says Shudde. "That and the dollars are the bottom line, as far as I'm concerned!"