Suggestions please

[KDailey]

I'm doing some research on different breeds of livestock so I can plan for my farm.

I would like everyone's opinion on which breeds of cattle you think are best for each category:

Meat
Milk
Dual purpose
Most colorful/unique

Thank you

 

[WildRoseBeef]

First of all some questions for you: Are you planning on starting a dairy or beef farm? Are you raising cattle for profit, pleasure or just to put some food (beef and/or milk) on the table? What size of cow are you willing to go with, if you are willing to start a breeding herd? How much are you willing to spend on feed (i.e., grain and/or hay)? Are you wanting cattle that are high-maintenance or low maintenance? How much acreage do you have on your farm that you can work with to raise and/or expand your herd?

There are going to be a whole pile of different opinions on what breeds are "best" for each of the categories you selected. The bottom line is this: YOU need to decide what breed is best for YOU, not based on what others think. People on this site are from all over the country, and some outside of the country (i.e, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, etc.) and they have their opinions on what breed is best for THEIR area: that doesn't mean you should follow in their footsteps because 99% of the time the breeds used in other countries won't work for you.

Besides, there is no such thing as a "best breed." Every breed has its pros and cons.

Okay, maybe I'll digress and list the breeds I think are best for the following categories:

Meat:
Speckle Park
Red Angus
Simmental
Simmental-cross
Shorthorn
Angus
Hereford
Galloway

Milk:
Holstein
Jersey
Brown Swiss

Dual Purpose:
Red Poll
Dexter

Most colourful/unique:
Speckle Park
Texas Longhorn
English Longhorn
Highland
British White

 

[KDailey]

We have a little over 100 acres. I'm plannin on having other animals as well as the cattle so I'm not looking for a bunch of cows. Probably anywhere from 5-8 cows plus a bull. Main purpose would be to provide for my family and enjoyment which is why I asked about color.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Are you looking for a family-milk cow, or just some cattle to raise for the freezer, or both? Or are you unsure about that yet?

 

[Royd Wood]

Most colourful/unique:
BELTED GALLOWAY
Speckle Park
Texas Longhorn
English Longhorn
Highland
British White

Good reply Karin

Are you living in Texas Kdailey?? Hows your grass - reserch Dexters and Galloways. If you work with Galloways from a young age they are very docile and the Belted ones are colourful / unique

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Most colourful/unique:
BELTED GALLOWAY
Speckle Park
Texas Longhorn
English Longhorn
Highland
British White

Good reply Karin

 

[greybeard]

Are you living in Texas Kdailey?? Hows your grass

Her "from" location says Bronson Texas, which is just a little NE of me, maybe 100 miles or thereabouts. Near the Louisianna border. I also have a little over 100 acres available and currently have over 20 head of cattle on it so she should be ok for her planned small herd as far as grass goes even in drought conditions. Coastal bermuda and Bahia are the most common, with Bahia being much more drought resistant, it's easily planted (seed) as opposed to Coastal which is sprigged, as is Jiggs--which is also quite common, tho I personally don't like it. She can plant a winter forage as late as November 30 here and still get good results.

KDaily--in your planning phase, try to make some allowances for a hay field--you'll be glad you did at some point and if the last 2 years are any indication, it can be a money maker for you or at least offset some of your other expenses. Do keep al reciepts related to farm expense and DO go down to your county appraisal district and apply for your Ag exemption--it will save you a bundle in annual property taxes. Minimum acreage requirement for Texas is 10 acres tho individual counties can up that (20 acres minimum here in my county) but you easily meet both those requirements. If part of your property is in timber, you can also use timber as an ag exemption, tho you do have to show some intent and action as far as actually "producing" timber--it can't just be a bunch of trees standing forever. If you need more info on the ag exemption, PM me.

Galloways are becoming more and more popular and numerous around here. So are Longhorns and suprisingly, Watusi. There's at least 3 Watusi herds within a 30 mile raidus of me and they do quite well if you like horns and lots of them. I do not, and tho they piqued my curiosity, I don't think I'll ever have any.

I have Charlais and Beefmaster , but intend to have all Beefmaster as soon as I can. They do well here in East Texas, require little care as long as your breeding program is well planned, and imo, are as "colorful" as any breed. Most popular on local small farms seem to be traditional Herford and Red Brangus. If you have an eye toward producing a few calves for the local 4H/FFA, most of the show steers I saw last fall were Red Brangus. Nothing is better for a small producer than to see some grinning kid stand there with one of YOUR calves being awarded that ribbon.

Good luck with your farm--lots of work, lots of rewards await you, as well as (like everything else) a few heartbreaks along the way. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 

[kelsey2017]

What about shorthorns? Dual purpose and colorful!

 

[77Herford]

ShortHorns are good cattle but I'm not sure how much milk they provide. There is a Dairy Shorthorn but many have been bred to provide way more milk than one family needs, but if you had some Pigs you could feed the extra milk to them.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

What about shorthorns? Dual purpose and colorful!

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/3312_013.jpg

Nice herd Kelsey! I love everyones pictures.