For some farms, the wisdom of the previous generation keeps a good thing going. This is the case for Locust Lane Limousins in Perry, NY.
Drew Wisely had an early start with purebred cattle, and thanks to his grandfather Mike Kelly, Wisely developed an innate sense of selecting sires that began when he was young.
Kelly started raising Limousin cattle in the late 1980s, when the breed was relatively new in the U.S. To grow and improve his herd, Kelly purchased Limousin cattle from Canada, adding females and bulls and also using his own home-raised bulls.
When he was about 5, Wisely started showing Limousin cattle in open shows, and continued showing when he reached 4-H age.
“In 2013, when I was about 14 years old, my grandpa started letting me make breeding, culling and replacement decisions,” said Wisely. “In 2013, I went to the National Western Stock Show in Denver to look at bulls. I picked one out, we bought him, and from that point forward, my grandpa let me handle everything.”
Kelly, who is still involved in the business, was an experienced cattleman who knew how to select good cattle, but not quite as passionate about genetics as his grandson.
Wisely said his experience as a 4-H exhibitor allowed him to learn the fine points of cattle selection. “It also helped me because my grandpa let me make breeding decisions,” he said. “Then I had the opportunity to show the calves and have the judges critique my animals.”
He added that he learned more from that experience than if he had purchased show heifers from other breeders.
Those who raise beef cattle select breeds they prefer for desirable traits. “The Limousin breed is known for muscling,” said Wisely. “They’re very efficient animals that put on lean muscle. The breed has done a good job over the years improving docility, calving ease and other important traits.”
He added that the breed has been consistent in developing what makes them valuable – lean muscle and carcass yield.
“People who breed cattle with a focus on selling bulls, especially the more commercial herds with British-influenced cowherds, the F-1 crosses with Limousin are exceptional,” said Wisely. “People are buying Limousin bulls to run with Angus or commercial cows.”
Because black-hided cattle are highly desirable, cattlemen can use Limousin bulls on Angus females and get a reliable crop of black calves. Wisely said quite a few Limousin herds are exclusively black and produce black-hided offspring. Although he has some black Limousin, most of the cattle in the Locust Lane herd are red.
Wisely breeds many of his red cows to red bulls for a predictable color result. The only time there’s guessing about color outcome is when one of the parents is a heterozygous black that carries the red gene.
“I breed the black cows to red or black bulls,” he said, “and most of the time they produce either color.”
Some cattlemen aim for black cattle because that’s their market. But Wisely has interest in both colors because many of the bull buyers he sells to prefer one or the other. His primary sales are breeding stock, mostly bulls.
The current Locust Lane herd includes 20 cows that are bred in early July for mid-April calves. For the past five years, Wisely has bred about half the herd via AI and the rest via ET. A clean-up bull is added to the cowherd after both.
“One of the most recent cows we’ve flushed for ET is one I bought in Canada about three years ago,” said Wisely. “She’s been a really good donor cow.” Recip cows are selected from the bottom half of the herd.
With a strong breeding program, Locust Lane Limousin cattle are great representatives for the beef industry. Photo courtesy of Locust Lane Limousin
Cows are maintained in rotational grazing throughout the grazing season. They’re pulled from pasture in late October/early November and fed home-grown hay through winter. Although the pasture has been largely unchanged over the years, Wisely said it’s holding up well and continues to provide for the cows.
When it’s time to select herd replacements, he prefers heifer calves born in the beginning of the breeding season. “That sets them up for success for the rest of their lives,” he said. “They aren’t behind. After that, it’s a combination of their dam and sire.” The bottom line for him is phenotype – what they look like.
“I think you have to look at them on the hoof first, then look at the other aspects,” said Wisely. “If it’s the other way around, you’ll end up going backwards. With a smaller herd, I like to have animals that look pretty.”
His cousin has a cattle feeding operation, and any bulls Wisely has that aren’t suitable for breeding stock go there as steers.
In November, Wisely travels to Toronto for the Royal Winter Fair, which is the only show he attends. “It’s a big purebred show,” he said. “There are usually about 80 to 90 purebred Limousin there so it’s worth going to show. There are no other shows that large.”
While there are large shows in the States that offer classes for Lim-Flex® cattle, which are hybrid Limousin x Angus or Red Angus crosses, those shows are farther away.
In discussing how the next generation can become involved in raising beef cattle, Wisely believes the show industry can benefit younger people. However, he has seen winning animals that might not be the most productive.
It’s no secret there’s a disconnect between those who are raising purebred beef cattle exclusively for the show ring and those who are raising them in a commercial setting. “I think they should be aligned,” said Wisely. “The female that wins should ultimately be the best producer over her lifetime.”
In the future, Wisely plans to maintain the same herd size, perhaps grow a little, but will always continue to focus on high-quality maternal genetics that produce desirable Limousin bulls.
by Sally Colby
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