BCC's Philosophy on Breeding Texas Longhorn Cattle.
Breeding Texas Longhorn Cattle is easy. We breed for correct structures, color, longevity, small udders, that calves easily with the opportunity to have a lot of horn. With this in mind we believe that it has to be in that order. Not all Texas Longhorns will have the large horn so you need something that will produce a calf every year. It is going to be a 50/50 chance to get bulls and heifers, everyone raising seed stock would like to get heifers, so what do you do with all those bulls?
Not all bulls should be a herd sire. So we cull some of the bulls at weaning to make steers. The ones that have the pedigree, size, correct structures, color, and opportunity to have large horns (angle, tip size, and color of horn) we hold over and observe them. I believe that you need to cull hard on cows, bulls, and steers. With that thought in mind we have a result of lean beef. Promoting the culls off as beef instead of taking them to the local wholesale markets gives the opportunity to capitalize on a hidden industry that once someone eats this beef they are hooked on the flavor and health aspect.
In summary we attempt to raise quality Texas Longhorn cattle, knowing that not every cow is going to be that over 80 inch cow or bull. We strive on every breeding to go over the mark. We want a sellable color besides straight solid white and red cattle. Keeping in mind that not every animal will meet the standards of our breeding program, and thus make healthy lean beef. By keeping this philosophy it allows us to maintain a herd that has good manners, to purchase other cattle for lean beef and keep the cycle going.
When purchasing our original cattle I purchased cattle off of all different ages. Buying a few older cows to get a few heifers that could be breed for larger horns that have already had calves that were producing the big horn, correct cattle. We then bought a set of younger longhorns that had opportunity to make big horns on a budget and not spending a fortune. So now our young herd contains own daughters of Over Kill (79.5 TTT), Tempter (84.25 TTT), Drag Iron (83.375 TTT), White Dragon (73” Tip To Stump he broke off 6 to 8 inches of horn as a 2 year old and continues to grub off his short horn), Clear Win (83.625 TTT), Maximus ST (78” TTT) and Grand Slam (Sire of JP Rio Grande, and Maximus ST).