"Four-Way Cross" Tolerant To Heat

"Four-Way Cross" Tolerant To Heat LIVESTOCK Beef 32-1-29 Breeding beef cattle to be more productive in hot southern states was one of the goals of Dale Eppard's crossbreeding project. For the past five years he's been working on a four-way cross by breeding a Saler and Longhorn cross ("Salorn") with Senepol and Angus cross ("Senegus"). The resulting offspring have shorter hair, about 1/2 in. long, which makes cows more heat tolerant and comfortable, so they eat and gain at a better rate. "They weigh 500 to 525 lbs, when weaned at 205 days old," Eppard says. Birth weights average 84 lbs. Crossbreeding adds to good hybrid vigor and faster growth, he adds. Eppard has 20 years of experience as manager for Mi Tierra Cattle Co., which raises mostly Salorns on 1,000 acres, in Granby, Mo. His new 4-way cross brings good attributes: calving ease as well as good udders and milking ability. When fed at a feedlot, the cattle have been graded choice and select. "We're real pleased," Eppard says. "The meat is tender with good marbling." He keeps detailed computer records and is doing Igenity testing, a DNA carcass composition test. The cross - which has not yet been named - is attracting the attention of beef producers. Mi Tierra sells stock and bull semen. "The goal is to make a more tender, meaty animal that will work in our environment," Eppard says, adding that by changing the breeding slightly and adding a little more Angus or Salers the breed could be more suitable for colder northern areas. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Eppard, Mi Tierra Cattle Company, 8757 W Highway, Granby, Mo. 64844 (ph 417 472-3130; dleppard@jscomm.net).

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