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Several years ago I had a conversation with one of our veteran, long time Beefalo Breeders and I mentioned a couple of Western cattleman who raised Beefalo. He shook his head and said, "I don't know them. They don't register their cattle. We need more people registering cattle." It seemed the idea of a Commercial Beefalo Breeder was foreign to him.
I think a lot of this has to do with being a long-time Association Member. If you belong to the Beefalo Association, It's assumed you'll register your cattle, and in most cases, take advantage of the Beefalo beef marketing program which is set up to target market beefalo. Many too, want to show off their cattle in the various Beefalo sanctioned cattle shows.
Registered Breeders overall tend to run smaller numbers of cattle to maintain controlled breeding programs, and when using multiple sires, make sure their offspring are parent verified via DNA testing.
A Commercial Breeder on the other hand sells to the contract buyer or at the sales barn. Most cattle in the United States are raised by the Commercial Cattleman. His main interest is raising cattle as cheaply as he can, and making the most money from them. He runs many more cattle than the registered breeder, will use multiple sires in his herd and could care less about registering cattle. He is interested in Traits, not papers, and when you start raising a hundred head of cattle or more,the idea of registering that many animals adds expense that cuts into profit. Since most of the bull calves end up as steers and go into a feedlot there's little reason to register cattle. When the Commercial Breeder uses Beefalo Bulls he will use solid colored Red or Black bulls. Fancy colors will detract from the sale price and, these cattle are never marketed as Beefalo but as "Composites or Crossbreds": Mention Beefalo at the Sales Ring and the price of your cattle will plummet. Yet when custom slaughtered and marketed locally Beefalo usually outsells other Grassfed or certified beef. Why? Commercial Cattle are mass marketed, there is little interest in high protein, low fat low cholesterol beef at this level.This fits into the custom slaughter market Beefalo excels in.
The Registered Breeder, be it Beefalo or any other breed serves as the source of new genetics to improve the commercial herd. In a nut shell a Registered Breeder is interested in selling cattle, whereas the Commercial Breeder is interested in selling Commodity Beef. Keep this in mind when you are dealing with National Association Issues. Members will usually be looking at Registered Cattle issues, as compared to Mass Market Beef issues. Both the Registered and the Commercial Breeder are needed, and both need to be kept in the proper
perspective, especially on the Association level.
I think a lot of this has to do with being a long-time Association Member. If you belong to the Beefalo Association, It's assumed you'll register your cattle, and in most cases, take advantage of the Beefalo beef marketing program which is set up to target market beefalo. Many too, want to show off their cattle in the various Beefalo sanctioned cattle shows.
Registered Breeders overall tend to run smaller numbers of cattle to maintain controlled breeding programs, and when using multiple sires, make sure their offspring are parent verified via DNA testing.
A Commercial Breeder on the other hand sells to the contract buyer or at the sales barn. Most cattle in the United States are raised by the Commercial Cattleman. His main interest is raising cattle as cheaply as he can, and making the most money from them. He runs many more cattle than the registered breeder, will use multiple sires in his herd and could care less about registering cattle. He is interested in Traits, not papers, and when you start raising a hundred head of cattle or more,the idea of registering that many animals adds expense that cuts into profit. Since most of the bull calves end up as steers and go into a feedlot there's little reason to register cattle. When the Commercial Breeder uses Beefalo Bulls he will use solid colored Red or Black bulls. Fancy colors will detract from the sale price and, these cattle are never marketed as Beefalo but as "Composites or Crossbreds": Mention Beefalo at the Sales Ring and the price of your cattle will plummet. Yet when custom slaughtered and marketed locally Beefalo usually outsells other Grassfed or certified beef. Why? Commercial Cattle are mass marketed, there is little interest in high protein, low fat low cholesterol beef at this level.This fits into the custom slaughter market Beefalo excels in.
The Registered Breeder, be it Beefalo or any other breed serves as the source of new genetics to improve the commercial herd. In a nut shell a Registered Breeder is interested in selling cattle, whereas the Commercial Breeder is interested in selling Commodity Beef. Keep this in mind when you are dealing with National Association Issues. Members will usually be looking at Registered Cattle issues, as compared to Mass Market Beef issues. Both the Registered and the Commercial Breeder are needed, and both need to be kept in the proper
perspective, especially on the Association level.
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