The Real Ideal

To many people the life of a farmer has been thought of as the simple life, carefree and without worries. I only have one thing to say to those people... I wish. The constant monitoring and management that goes into a cattle herd is anything but easy. It truly does take dedication and perseverance to successfully take care of a few cows, let alone a few hundred. Lucky for me then that I currently only have a very small amount to deal with. I own a total of 5 cows, 1 steer and 1/2 bull(shared between my sister and I) and at times I still struggle to find the time necessary to do everything needed to continue my herd.
 When I first started the herd I had an idea of owning just purebred shorthorns and showing them like crazy at every and any event possible. For a few years that's exactly what I did, buying a Shorthorn heifer and breeding the previously bought cow through a process known as artificial insemination (AI) and taking these animals to summer shows in 4-H. Since then the plan has changed slightly but the objective is still to win a few shows a year. This year I purchased something a little different both my steer and my heifer are Maine Anjou cross out of steer bulls. I did this for a couple of reasons, first it was because lately I've made little, actually no success in the show ring with my Shorthorns. This is mostly my fault as the breeding program has fallen behind schedule so when it comes time to show, my cows just aren't properly conditioned and therefore can't compete! Second before this spring I had no way of ensuring that the Shorthorns were actually bred to a Shorthorn bull.
 So earlier this fall I went out and bought a few Maines because they were born earlier in the year allowing me some time to feed them and let them fill out as well as not have to worry about trying to keep a purebred operation on the go. The fact that these two animals were closer to the ideal was a plus as well. Now you may be wondering what the ideal may be and to some degree it varies from person to person and definitely from heifer to steer. I personally am prone to an animal with more length, combined with depth and width and this will give you a decent steer or heifer. You also would like to have a strong topline that is parallel to the underline of the animal. In a heifer these things will often mean easier calving when it comes time and the genetics will be passed down. In a steer, basically the larger they are the more meat you will get from them later in life which is exactly what you want, more production. There are many other things to take into account when choosing an animal but these are some of the basics.