Anyone have these or have any experience with them? A butcher I work with was interested in them. Supposed to be a cross between irish Fresian bulls and an old line of Angus.

My old pasture renter was taken by Piedmontese. My new pasture renter was also involved in Piedmontese and still has a few purebreds. He has been crossing them with Murray Greys, a breed developed from Angus in Australia. To anyone interested in starting a new herd, I would suggest going with the Angus because the Angus Association has done an incredibly good job of advancing awareness and retail sales of their meat. Any other breed has a very long haul to gain the same standing in the marketplace.

I haven't heard of that cross. Could he be referring to Irish Dexters or Kerry cattle? They are both ancient celtic breeds and both black, though red and dun occur in Dexters.

Dexters are fantastic meat and very thrifty.

It looks basically like an angus to me. Comes in red and black. The breed association claims they've been around since the '70's. I think my butcher friend was hoping that he could sort of sell customers on it being a "heritage breed" because it isn't an Angus. Conversely, the bulk of them seem to be in commercial herds in Montana and Colorado.

A couple things have me wary. The breed association changed it's name, for one thing. And the marketing on these ranches' websites sounds, well...... They make it sound like this bull will breed 100% of my cows, then come mow my lawn, wash the windows and cultivate the garden when he's finished with that. Lol.

It's been frustrating trying to get decent cattle because of the crazy market. If i try hard, I can get feeder steer I'm ok with. But trying to start a herd with an eye on making sure our finished product is consistently high quality.... Ugh. Every cow or heifer I've come across is just someone trying to unload junk.

I have Lowline Angus, had a guy drive 6hrs each way to pick up a yearling Bull, could sell the herd at decent price pretty easily, holding into them and building the herd, have 8 now and a real nice bull.

Conventional cattlemen don't seem to like them, but the market seems to be there, haven't gotten a steak out of the herd as they have been selling live or heifers kept to build herd.

Your Irish Blacks seem similar.
Steve

Definitely not Dexter! Friend is Irish. Apparently, the Irish do not generally hold Dexter in the same regard as Americans. (I cleaned up the language he used ;) I myself like Dexter, and they would generally fit the market niche I produce for. but I'd prefer to stick with cattle I could unload at the sale if I absolutely had to.

I'm tentatively planning to buy some heifers at the Whitestone angus sale in the fall. I can see them in person, they score each animal, and they have a good reputation. I was curious if anyone had run across these American Celtic because i thought they had some good selling points if it's true. But I won't buy sight unseen.

They're pretty much a small framed angus in my book.
A novelty.

Steve - I know someone who has a herd of the low-lines. They strike me as looking kind of like one of those cars with the custom low-rider suspension! I have had his beef. But I can't pass judgement because he raises them very unconventially. All grass fed on not the greatest grass, with no alternative protein sources. They appear to be growing in popularity with the more conventional herdsmen around here, too. So hang on to them!

Thanks Catherine,
My location is very well suited to customer direct marketing so and hog sales are doing very well, so I figure in a couple more years I should be able to add beef to the menu. Already have people asking for it, takes way longer and more expensive than hogs to get started, although feeding them is much less expensive.

Steve

I don't quite understand all of these responses. I DO know that Dexters and Kerries are very old breeds. Dexters are now beginning to be polled (a huge mistake in my opinion) though some folks are determined to preserve old traditional bloodlines. They are black, red, or dun. They make excellent beef on grass though the carcass yield--thus cuts--are smaller than standard commercial beef breeds'. Low-line cattle in contrast are not old breeds
but rather recent innovations.
You can check out dexters and Kerries on the web and facebook pages.

Sorry, guess I sidetracked the thread with my thoughts of how the Irish Black Cattle seemed similar to the cattle I am raising and my experience with them.

As far a Lowlines not being an old breed, as I understand they are pure Black Angus that had been selected for smaller frames, low birthweight and efficient feed conversion. My vet was very interested in them when he was here a few weeks back,"said that's what all angus looked like when he got started."

Sorry for sidetracking the thread.
Steve

I'm sorry if I was confusing, Vicki. I have ADD, and often forget that people don't live in my brain when I write :). When I stated that my Irish butcher friend was looking to sell it as a "heritage breed", I didn't mean to imply that I thought that it was a heritage breed. Sounds like it is similar to the low-line Angus - designed to be more easily raised on pasture than the modern-day beef breeds, but still retaining certain trait that have made those modern breeds popular. I guess maybe a "hybrid"'breed? The person I know who has the largest herd of low-line is far removed from commercial production. Yet, I have seen a fair number go through the sale, and they don't appear to get dinged for being low-line.