Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2007 12:49:14 GMT -5
Saw this on line at Sacbee.com
Mini cattle: A better fit -- and cute, too
Smaller ranches give rise to more manageable breeds
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, September 24, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A9
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Mercedes Danekas works in the ring showing a miniature Hereford calf and mother at the California State Fair last month. The cow/calf pair won first place. Miniaturized versions of cattle are making inroads in the livestock industry as ranches in the state get smaller, requiring animals of less imposing size.
Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton
See additional images
Ranchettes have replaced working ranches in much of California, and now there are pint-sized cows to match.
In the past two years, Bev Boriolo, 72, and her husband, Don, have built a herd of 12 miniature Hereford cattle, all well under 4 feet tall.
The couple, who live on a grassy 30-acre parcel near Plymouth, are raising animals for a small but growing niche in the livestock business: little cattle for little ranches.
The smallest of the miniature breeds stand less than 3 feet tall, full grown. They're cute, they keep the weeds down, and, as Boriolo says, "they're as sweet as the dickens" -- something she attributes to their small stature.
"They think that since they're looking up at you, they have to do what you tell 'em," she said.
On a recent breezy evening, the herd, with furry red coats and placid white faces, gathered by the fence behind the Boriolos' pool. There was not a moo of complaint.
For now, the money in micro-beef is in breeding: raising adorable cattle and selling them -- for $3,500 and up -- not as meat, but as the parents of another herd-to-be.
As starter livestock on limited acreage, miniature cattle make a lot of sense, said Glenn Nader, a Sacramento Valley livestock adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
"We try to tell people to pick animals that fit their environment," he said.
Miniature breeds generally weigh one-third to half as much as full-size cattle -- which typically run 1,200 pounds and more than 4 1/2-feet for a full-grown cow and 2,000 pounds and close to 5 feet tall for a bull. A mini-rancher, therefore, can often get by without building heavy-duty fences and corrals.
"These are little closer to the size of sheep, where you can handle them without a lot of expensive equipment," Nader said.
In California, at least a half-dozen breeders are producing miniature Herefords, the most popular show breed. They're an annual curiosity at the State Fair. Bob Potter, the owner of this year's grand champion bull, said he regularly gets inquiries from people interested in starting a herd of their own.
"It's just gone off the hook," said Potter, a wiry 75-year-old with a waxed mustache. He and his wife, Peggy, have 32 animals on 10 acres in Winton, near Merced, and another 16 on rented land in Texas.
"The California market is so strong, I may go down to Texas and bring 'em all back," he said.
On some ranches, the little cows are put to work. In the Panoche Valley, southeast of Hollister, Tracie Cone and Anna Marie dos Remedios use their miniature Herefords to trim the grass in their organic vineyard.
Several of their 12 animals also spend time on the road each year, showing at fairs and competitions. Ribbons at major shows boost the animals' value as breeding stock. For Cone and dos Remedios, both vegetarians, that's important -- they don't intend to ever sell their animals to slaughter.
Miniature cattle have been bred in the United States for at least 60 years, but they remain scarce. Kenny Petersen, a major mini-Hereford breeder in Nebraska, put the national population of the breed as high as 3,000. Miniature Angus cattle are somewhat more numerous, he said. The size of the national commercial beef herd hovers around 100 million.
Miniature cattle are descended from ordinary full-size cattle. Over the years, breeders have paired small cows with small bulls to yield ever-smaller offspring.
Richard Gradwohl, a retired community college teacher who runs the International Miniature Cattle Breeders Society and Registry (minicattle.com) from his small farm near Seattle, has developed 18 unique crossbreeds, including one with markings that resemble a panda's, and has spread those genes around the globe.
"We've shipped animals, semen, embryos," he said. "We've tried to populate the world with miniature cattle."
Gradwohl has been breeding mini-cattle since 1965. His latest advance is a "micro-mini" bull that stands just 32 inches at the hip.
Gradwohl promotes mini-cattle as pets, but most breeders seem to see themselves as a specialty branch of the beef industry.
"I really don't like the pet market," said Ralph Moore, who has a few mini-Herefords on 8 steep acres in the foothills above Jackson. "People are interested in 'em only for a few months, and then they lose interest and don't take care of them."
Potter said his slaughter steers sell for better than $2 a pound, more than twice the price per pound of a typical feedlot steer. Buyers appreciate the tender meat, he said, as well as the moderate size of the choice cuts.
For Bev Boriolo, a retired nurse, it's clearly difficult to contemplate sending her animals to slaughter. She has developed an almost personal fondness for the unique qualities of each member of her herd -- the curly locks of one of the new calves, the calm courage of a cow that she recently helped through a difficult birth.
"You come to love the individual," she said.
Still, the financial logic of a cattle operation dictates that, at some point, some of the young males will become meat.
"There's one little guy out there -- he's definitely beef material," she said.
"I'm a vegetarian -- but he can't wait," she said, jabbing a somewhat playful thumb in her husband's direction.
"It kills me to think about it. But that's what they're for."
Mini cattle: A better fit -- and cute, too
Smaller ranches give rise to more manageable breeds
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, September 24, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A9
Print | E-Mail | Comments (1)| Digg it | del.icio.us
Mercedes Danekas works in the ring showing a miniature Hereford calf and mother at the California State Fair last month. The cow/calf pair won first place. Miniaturized versions of cattle are making inroads in the livestock industry as ranches in the state get smaller, requiring animals of less imposing size.
Sacramento Bee/Randall Benton
See additional images
Ranchettes have replaced working ranches in much of California, and now there are pint-sized cows to match.
In the past two years, Bev Boriolo, 72, and her husband, Don, have built a herd of 12 miniature Hereford cattle, all well under 4 feet tall.
The couple, who live on a grassy 30-acre parcel near Plymouth, are raising animals for a small but growing niche in the livestock business: little cattle for little ranches.
The smallest of the miniature breeds stand less than 3 feet tall, full grown. They're cute, they keep the weeds down, and, as Boriolo says, "they're as sweet as the dickens" -- something she attributes to their small stature.
"They think that since they're looking up at you, they have to do what you tell 'em," she said.
On a recent breezy evening, the herd, with furry red coats and placid white faces, gathered by the fence behind the Boriolos' pool. There was not a moo of complaint.
For now, the money in micro-beef is in breeding: raising adorable cattle and selling them -- for $3,500 and up -- not as meat, but as the parents of another herd-to-be.
As starter livestock on limited acreage, miniature cattle make a lot of sense, said Glenn Nader, a Sacramento Valley livestock adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
"We try to tell people to pick animals that fit their environment," he said.
Miniature breeds generally weigh one-third to half as much as full-size cattle -- which typically run 1,200 pounds and more than 4 1/2-feet for a full-grown cow and 2,000 pounds and close to 5 feet tall for a bull. A mini-rancher, therefore, can often get by without building heavy-duty fences and corrals.
"These are little closer to the size of sheep, where you can handle them without a lot of expensive equipment," Nader said.
In California, at least a half-dozen breeders are producing miniature Herefords, the most popular show breed. They're an annual curiosity at the State Fair. Bob Potter, the owner of this year's grand champion bull, said he regularly gets inquiries from people interested in starting a herd of their own.
"It's just gone off the hook," said Potter, a wiry 75-year-old with a waxed mustache. He and his wife, Peggy, have 32 animals on 10 acres in Winton, near Merced, and another 16 on rented land in Texas.
"The California market is so strong, I may go down to Texas and bring 'em all back," he said.
On some ranches, the little cows are put to work. In the Panoche Valley, southeast of Hollister, Tracie Cone and Anna Marie dos Remedios use their miniature Herefords to trim the grass in their organic vineyard.
Several of their 12 animals also spend time on the road each year, showing at fairs and competitions. Ribbons at major shows boost the animals' value as breeding stock. For Cone and dos Remedios, both vegetarians, that's important -- they don't intend to ever sell their animals to slaughter.
Miniature cattle have been bred in the United States for at least 60 years, but they remain scarce. Kenny Petersen, a major mini-Hereford breeder in Nebraska, put the national population of the breed as high as 3,000. Miniature Angus cattle are somewhat more numerous, he said. The size of the national commercial beef herd hovers around 100 million.
Miniature cattle are descended from ordinary full-size cattle. Over the years, breeders have paired small cows with small bulls to yield ever-smaller offspring.
Richard Gradwohl, a retired community college teacher who runs the International Miniature Cattle Breeders Society and Registry (minicattle.com) from his small farm near Seattle, has developed 18 unique crossbreeds, including one with markings that resemble a panda's, and has spread those genes around the globe.
"We've shipped animals, semen, embryos," he said. "We've tried to populate the world with miniature cattle."
Gradwohl has been breeding mini-cattle since 1965. His latest advance is a "micro-mini" bull that stands just 32 inches at the hip.
Gradwohl promotes mini-cattle as pets, but most breeders seem to see themselves as a specialty branch of the beef industry.
"I really don't like the pet market," said Ralph Moore, who has a few mini-Herefords on 8 steep acres in the foothills above Jackson. "People are interested in 'em only for a few months, and then they lose interest and don't take care of them."
Potter said his slaughter steers sell for better than $2 a pound, more than twice the price per pound of a typical feedlot steer. Buyers appreciate the tender meat, he said, as well as the moderate size of the choice cuts.
For Bev Boriolo, a retired nurse, it's clearly difficult to contemplate sending her animals to slaughter. She has developed an almost personal fondness for the unique qualities of each member of her herd -- the curly locks of one of the new calves, the calm courage of a cow that she recently helped through a difficult birth.
"You come to love the individual," she said.
Still, the financial logic of a cattle operation dictates that, at some point, some of the young males will become meat.
"There's one little guy out there -- he's definitely beef material," she said.
"I'm a vegetarian -- but he can't wait," she said, jabbing a somewhat playful thumb in her husband's direction.
"It kills me to think about it. But that's what they're for."