BEEF producers breeding straight bred Angus or Murray Grey are well advised to use Blonde bulls over their beef herd and will retain their black or grey coloured calves. Crossing with a Blonde bull will result in higher weaning weights, more muscle and better conformation in the cross bred calves.

Blonde bulls do not colour mark their calves so a Blonde bull mated to Angus cows will produce 100% black calves. All calves will also be 100% polled because breeds like Angus are homozygous polled meaning all calves will be born without horns.

 

 

Beef producers farming straight bred Angus cows can thus still remain visually all black and 100% polled when mating their herd to Blonde bulls. The only difference is that the calves will carry greater muscling and display improved spring of rib and a more pronounced rump profile.

High daily weight gains are genetically supplied by the rapid growing, well-muscled Blonde sire. When adding hybrid vigour to this equation, a producer using a Blonde sire will wean heavier and better muscled calves.

Beef processors like Harvey Beef now require heavier carcases and having lifted their minimum carcase weight specifications in 2009. In order for beef producers to achieve a market for their progeny, faster growing and heavier muscled calves must now be produced. This is where the Blonde sire has a role to play.

The above can equally be applied to Murray Grey or other British polled breeds. It must be concluded that beef producers still mating their British breed herd to same breed bulls are clearly at a disadvantage.

When adding improved muscling, a faster daily weight gain combined with the Blonde breeds’ known high dressing percentage, using a Blonde sire in a straight British herd will positively improve farm profits and the bottom line.