THE VERSATILE WONDER: THE GELBVIEH-INFLUENCED COW

I will admit that I am biased—I love the Gelbvieh-influenced cow. She is versatile and fits a wide variety of environments. Whether it is the desert Southwest, the high mountain regions, the grassy fields of the High Plains, or the fescue pastures in the east, the Gelbvieh female does her job of raising a calf that tips the scales at weaning and breeds back in a timely manner for her next calf.

I didn’t grow up in the Gelbvieh breed. We were in a traditional Hereford/Angus rotation for as long as I remembered. We liked that black baldy cow. My first introduction to Gelbvieh was when I took a job with the American Gelbvieh Association in 1997.

As I traveled to cattle operations throughout the country writing articles for the magazine, I was impressed with the Gelbvieh-cross cattle. They had that little extra pop of muscle and the cows held their body condition in some pretty sparse conditions. We bought our first

Gelbvieh bulls in 1999 and we haven’t looked back since then.

The Gelbvieh female of today isn’t the same cow from even 10 years ago. As a breed, we have the smallest mature cow size in the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (US MARC) studies, while also maintaining more pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed. With the continued pressure of rising input costs and tighter bottom lines, we have to evaluate every decision and challenge the status quo. I’m not saying change just to change, but I am saying look at your operation with a critical eye.

If you have a straight bred Englishbreed cowherd, are you really getting the most you can from continuing to use the same breed of bulls? Or could you benefit from the weaning weight boost you could get from incorporating Gelbvieh into a crossbreeding program?

That first year we used Gelbvieh bulls on the black baldy cows we saw a 50-pound increase in weaning weight and it was a dry year in western South Dakota.

And the real treasure we discovered was when we calved our first Gelbviehinfluenced heifers two years later. The calves from those Gelbvieh-influenced heifers weighed similar to the calves from the mature cows.

Now is the time to take a look at those average weights from last year’s calves. Input costs aren’t going to go down, so figure out how you will get more pounds to sell without adding more cows. The fastest way to add pounds to your next calf crop—buy Gelbvieh or Balancer® bulls this spring. Ask the questions and visit with your local breeders. Don’t know who that is? Call the American Gelbvieh Association office. They can help you locate local resources and answer your questions about the breed.

WE