When my parents bought the farm in 1953 it had some dairy cattle on it. So that was the start of the cattle on this farm. As time went on they bought a herd of Jersey cattle and started to ship cream. They also started breeding those cows to different beef breeds. In the late 60’s the family decided to get out of dairy and going more into hogs but still keep cattle. By doing AI on the cows and using Black Angus bulls and then Charolais bulls in the 70’s through to the 90 ‘s the herd became a mix of different breeds. In 1997 we got started with a Limousine bull , a red one and then later on a black one.
We kept the cows tied up in the barn for the winter months, letting them outside for water and exercise during the day. Much time is spent keeping the cattle happy. The cattle need to be docile and that is when I thought I would try the Shorthorn breed, a decision I will never look back from. The Shorthorn breed is VERY docile (calmer cattle gain more weight ) and easy to work with. They are great milkers to raise and very nice calfs. Ease of calving is a plus when raising cattle and the Shorthorn breed has that build into them. They also have marbling of their meat that the consumer is looking for.
In the spring of 2017 I bought my first 4 registered Shorthorn heifers from Tom Walls. In fall of 2018 I purchased two more registered heifers calves from him. Tom has been my mentor when working with Shorthorn cattle and has guided me along. I do have a Shorthorn bull I use for AI and plan on doing more AI ing and picking good genetics to produce good sound, fertile, docile and easy fleshing off spring. Shorthorns are beautiful cattle. They come in many different colour combinations such as the solid Red Shorthorns, the Red and White Shorthorns, the White Shorthorns and the famous Roan Shorthorns. It is a common occurrence to see people stop on the road to admire them. When crossing a White Shorthorn bull or a Roan Shorthorn bull to a black cow you can get a Blue Roan calf which often stop people in their tracks. These cattle can be a great 4 H calf with all the wonderful traits of the Shorthorn breed and a distinctive look. Using Shorthorn bulls on any other breed of cow will only improve your calf crop.
The AgriPost Writes
AgriPost January 29 2021: Read an article about my Heifers here!
Or view a PDF "Keep Beef Replacement Heifers on the Right Track"
Mixed farmer maintains five income streams
By Jennifer McFee
Although he might be among the last of the small mixed farmers, an Ar-gyle man enjoys trying out new forms of agricultural technology.
Ian Smith generates his entire in-come from fi ve different sources on his quarter-section that he bought from his parents, Malcolm and Au-drey, in 1994. The industrious farmer cares for a couple hundred naturally raised pigs, 15 head of cattle, 85 laying hens as well as three fi elds — one for canola that he sells, one that he rents out to another farmer and one for bar-ley that he uses for feed...
The Stonewall Teulon Tribune.ca
