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Developing Generations By Julie Turner-Crawford
Charles Hufft sees value in the maternal traits of Gelbvieh
Submitted Photo
Black and red Gelbvieh make up the Hufft When he started running out of pasherd, but Bill and Charles are leaning more tureland, Charles Hufft decided it was toward focusing on red genetics. time to move his commercial cattle “I just like red and the dark red ones,” Charles operation to a registered herd, focussaid. “We are still 90 percent black, but the bulls ing on high-quality females. we have been running have been red and black. The Hufft herd consists of 90 mostly regisOut of the heifers, if we have an equal quality tered Gelbvieh and Balancer females. red heifer and black heifer and can only keep “We went to the registered side because we one, we’re going to keep the red one.” want to make more per animal,” Charles said, Bulls produced by the Hufft herd are sold to adding that most of the commercial herd is a buyer at weaning. being phased out. “We went with Gelbvieh “I don’t want to market bulls,” Charles said. because of their docility. We have three young “For us, we want to breed for that maternal feboys, and it’s nice to have a cow that will let male, that long-term cow that will stay on our you tag her calf, weigh it, then give it back to farm for 12, 14 years, or go to another farm for her. We have one rule, and I don’t care what 12, 14 years. We want to breed that female that the EPDs are or what she looks like on paper; will produce year after year with the correct if a cow throws her head up, she goes to town. genotype and phenotype. I’m a huge believer in docile cows raise better “Everyone wants that AI-sired bull; they calves.” want the big-money bull. We just bought two Charles and his family, including wife Anna powerful bulls, good-looking animals, but I’m and sons Case (9), Gage (5) and Tripp (4), not a fan of fat cattle. I’m a fan of cattle that live near Willard, Mo., and run cattle on work. I want those mommas that can flesh up about 370 owned and leased acres, with aneasily on grass and retain their body condiother 200 acres for hay production. Charles tion even if they are nursing a 600-pound calf. partners with his father-in-law Bill Buckler Charles Hufft, pictured with his sons, Case, Gage and Tripp, is a regWe’re getting there, but it takes time. Somein the farming operation. istered Gelbvieh breeder. Because he has three young sons, Charles times it takes culling that cow that might not “Bill is a blessing,” Charles said, adding that said the docile nature of the breed is a trait he admires. get culled on another farm, but on mine, she he did not grow up on a farm, but he loved needs to go. We want to sell top-quality reworking with cattle at his grandparents’ farm. placement heifers, and if they don’t meet the “He grew up on a farm, showed cattle, raised Shorthorns, and as he got closer to retiring from his job, we decided to push the cattle a cut, they are shipped to the yard as feeder heifers. There’s nothing wrong with those little more and acquire a little more land. Bill does about 95 percent of the work. I think heifers, but if you’re trying to better a breed and increase profitability, you want to raise those cows that will breed back like clockwork and raise a calf.” he’s busier now than he was before he retired.” Cattle receive mineral supplements, and some grain is offered if the grass is short. The calm disposition of the Gelbvieh breed is not the only trait Charles and Bill have “In the cold months and when they are nursing heavy, they get about 2 pounds a day,” Charles come to appreciate. “They are fabulous milkers and have a ton of maternal instincts,” Charles said. “We said. “We try to keep quality hay in front of them, and our farms are all pretty heavy in clover. have guys who will buy heifers and breed them to a SimAngus, Charolais or go back to We fertilize pastures and hayfields each year to get them that quality forage.” Cereal grains, typically cereal rye, are drilled each fall, and Charles said they have good luck black, and they produce good calves. A lot of guys are starting to see when you have a Gelbvieh momma, you have something that will milk and milk hard. They also have with turnips and rape. “In some of those fields get grazed down a little too much, we will mix in some orhigh carcass traits. We have brought in an Angus bull to get those Balancer calves to up chardgrass or an endophyte-free fescue,” he added. “We have good luck with crabthat carcass value. Feedlot guys love calves with a little Gelbvieh because grass. It’s kind of the poor man’s warm-season grass, but the cows love it. These farms they know they are ready to grow. The commercial guy is still in the busiare all still a work in progress. We still have about 40-plus acres that we are going ness of selling pounds. When people come to buy a heifer, they are looking to turn into pasture.” at her now and her future production. At the end of that cow’s life, she has Calves are allowed into a creep pen leading up to weaning, which is at about more than paid for herself.” 205 days. Generations of females raised on the same farm, Charles said, give prospective “They only get 2, 2 1/2 pounds a day,” Charles explained. “We still hand feed buyers an idea of what they are investing in. “We can show them the whole Willard, Mo. them every day in the creep pen, and we can make the pen bigger and have package,” Charles said. “If someone is buying a heifer off of a 5-, 6-year-old cow, three of four troughs, so even the smallest calf can get in there. We don’t get they can see how that heifer will perform in the future.”
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Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
APRIL 19, 2021
