Cherokee Hills - Carcass Information

The price differential between Choice and Number One grade feeder cattle and Number One and a Half and Two grade feeders is from $8 to $15 per hundred on the same weight cattle and it continues to widen.

That’s because packers, retailers and, most important of all, consumers are getting more and more particular in their demands for lean, tender beef, with less fat around the outside. Choice and Number One feeders are the kind that grow into finished cattle that will satisfy their demands.

To produce Choice and Number One feeders out of most native cow herds requires the service of a bigger, longer, leaner, more muscular bull, a bull that can add dramatically to weaning size and weight, a bull that can smooth out the humps and crest, a bull that can add that visible muscling order buyers are looking for while maintaining low birth weights. For this reason, modern, progressive producers of feeder calves are moving, more and more, to Terminal Sire breeding programs in which all production goes to the feeder market and replacement females are purchased from producers in the business of supplying them.

Of the more than 130 breeds of American beef cattle, only a very few have remained sire breeds. Only a very few have escaped the tendency of American breeders and producers to select hard for the maternal traits in an effort to produce smooth, mellow, females. In most breeds selection for these traits have succeeded dramatically, so that even many of the once big, muscular Continental breeds now fall into the category of maternal breeds. As such, they no longer have the size, scale and muscularity necessary to produce consistently heavy, long, muscular, smooth feeder cattle out of most native cow herds. (More Below)

Of the few sire breeds that remain for use in the industry, Romagnola offer, more than all the rest, the qualities needed in an ideal terminal sire.

They are big but not gigantic. Most of them have a mature weight in the 2,000 to 2,500 pound range to give you calves that will wean in the 600 to 700-pound area.
They are muscular cattle without any double-muscling, bred for draft in the early days in Italy. They have muscling on top, along the loin where the choice cuts come from.
They tend to throw calves with low birth weights. Most naturally produced fullblood Romagnola and Romagnola crosses calve in the 65 to 85-pound range, and crossbred calves come at similar weights.
They are intelligent and basically gentle with calm dispositions.
They are athletic, aggressive breeders that get out on the country in any climate and breed cows.
Ultrasound and slaughter data indicates that Romagnola produce very little in the way of outside and seam fat; in most cases less than 0.2 inches. Commercial packing house data indicates that crossbred offspring carry this same trait.
There is an underlying strain of Bos Indicus in the ancient Romagnola proven by blood typing that allows them to function well under extreme climatic conditions. They handle heat and humidity, as well as extreme cold very well and demonstrate a marked resistance to external parasites.
The muscle fiber in Romagnola is extremely fine-grained and more genetically tender than the muscle of conventional breeds of cattle. This accounts for the demand for Romagnola and Romagnola cross cattle on the part of many branded beef programs in the country.
Underlying the silver hair on the Romagnola is a black hide and the gene for color is recessive. They have black pigment around eyes that virtually eliminates pinkeye and on the bottom of the testicles which prevents snow and sunburn. Their hooves are black and hard, allowing them to travel easily over any kind of terrain. When crossed with black cattle, most offspring are black.

Considering the fact that the average terminal sire program produces more than twice the production income than one that grows its own replacement females, more commercial operations are moving in this direction every day. It just makes sense that as Romagnola become better known, these exceptionally profitable sires will enjoy tremendous demand on the part of producers seeking increased profits from their operations.


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		Romagnola -- The Definitive Terminal Sire The price differential between Choice and Number One grade feeder cattle and Number One and a Half and Two grade feeders is from $8 to $15 per hundred on the same weight cattle and it continues to widen. That’s because packers, retailers and, most important of all, consumers are getting more and more particular in their demands for lean, tender beef, with less fat around the outside. Choice and Number One feeders are the kind that grow into finished cattle that will satisfy their demands. To produce Choice and Number One feeders out of most native cow herds requires the service of a bigger, longer, leaner, more muscular bull, a bull that can add dramatically to weaning size and weight, a bull that can smooth out the humps and crest, a bull that can add that visible muscling order buyers are looking for while maintaining low birth weights. For this reason, modern, progressive producers of feeder calves are moving, more and more, to Terminal Sire breeding programs in which all production goes to the feeder market and replacement females are purchased from producers in the business of supplying them. Of the more than 130 breeds of American beef cattle, only a very few have remained sire breeds. Only a very few have escaped the tendency of American breeders and producers to select hard for the maternal traits in an effort to produce smooth, mellow, females. In most breeds selection for these traits have succeeded dramatically, so that even many of the once big, muscular Continental breeds now fall into the category of maternal breeds. As such, they no longer have the size, scale and muscularity necessary to produce consistently heavy, long, muscular, smooth feeder cattle out of most native cow herds. (More Below) Of the few sire breeds that remain for use in the industry, Romagnola offer, more than all the rest, the qualities needed in an ideal terminal sire. They are big but not gigantic. Most of them have a mature weight in the 2,000 to 2,500 pound range to give you calves that will wean in the 600 to 700-pound area. They are muscular cattle without any double-muscling, bred for draft in the early days in Italy. They have muscling on top, along the loin where the choice cuts come from. They tend to throw calves with low birth weights. Most naturally produced fullblood Romagnola and Romagnola crosses calve in the 65 to 85-pound range, and crossbred calves come at similar weights. They are intelligent and basically gentle with calm dispositions. They are athletic, aggressive breeders that get out on the country in any climate and breed cows. Ultrasound and slaughter data indicates that Romagnola produce very little in the way of outside and seam fat; in most cases less than 0.2 inches. Commercial packing house data indicates that crossbred offspring carry this same trait. There is an underlying strain of Bos Indicus in the ancient Romagnola proven by blood typing that allows them to function well under extreme climatic conditions. They handle heat and humidity, as well as extreme cold very well and demonstrate a marked resistance to external parasites. The muscle fiber in Romagnola is extremely fine-grained and more genetically tender than the muscle of conventional breeds of cattle. This accounts for the demand for Romagnola and Romagnola cross cattle on the part of many branded beef programs in the country. Underlying the silver hair on the Romagnola is a black hide and the gene for color is recessive. They have black pigment around eyes that virtually eliminates pinkeye and on the bottom of the testicles which prevents snow and sunburn. Their hooves are black and hard, allowing them to travel easily over any kind of terrain. When crossed with black cattle, most offspring are black. Considering the fact that the average terminal sire program produces more than twice the production income than one that grows its own replacement females, more commercial operations are moving in this direction every day. It just makes sense that as Romagnola become better known, these exceptionally profitable sires will enjoy tremendous demand on the part of producers seeking increased profits from their operations.