Advancing with Beefmaster Advancers

Somewhere in Texas between San Antonio and Laredo, there is an impressive cattle operation. Just off southbound interstate 35 outside of Moore, Texas, Rancho Dos Vidas sits surrounded by mesquite trees and cactus. The picture perfect image of a South Texas ranch, bustling with wildlife. Most of the ranch visitors are seeking the exciting dove and deer hunts, however on my visit I was seeking the beautiful cattle.

Rancho Dos Vidas and its ranch manager, Lane Roberson, are focused on producing profitable and high quality cattle. When Roberson isn’t guiding hunts, he is working cattle. The cattle found on this 4,000 acre ranch are primarily Beefmaster and Red Angus cross. Roberson and ranch owner, Don Mullins, began their crossbred program back in 2008. The two of them, along with the help of Jim Banner of Southern Livestock Standard, were seeking a cross that would be hardy enough for the South Texas ranch, while also being moderate in size and encompassing good milk production. Banner suggested crossing Beefmaster with Red Angus and that is when the successful cattle program began. The ranch had their first Beefmaster X Red Angus calf crop in the fall of 2009 and they knew as soon as the calves hit the ground that this cross was something great.

When their first calf crop were just mere newborns, the crossbred program offered by Beefmaster Breeders United (BBU) was brand new and not yet on the ranch’s radar. However, as more successful Beefmaster crossbred calves hit the ground Roberson saw an advantage in registering the cattle in BBU’s crossbred program, Beefmaster Advancer. From the beginning of their crossbreeding program, Rancho Dos Vidas had used purebred, registered Red Angus bulls and purebred, registered Beefmaster females; so it only made since to add more value to the cattle and register them as Beefmaster Advancers.

The BBU Board of Directors approved the registration of Beefmaster Advancer cattle on March 28, 2009 in Columbus, Texas. Beefmaster Advancer cattle, by definition, are animals of fifty percent (50%) or more registered Beefmaster breeding and fifty percent (50%) or less of other registered and DNA genotyped non-Beefmaster beef cattle breeding. These animals may be certified in BBU provided they are produced from breeding of one of the following:

1. Known registered Beefmaster sire mated to a DNA genotyped, registered dam from another breed association.
2. Known registered Beefmaster dam mated to a DNA genotyped, registered sire from another breed association.
3. A known progeny of a 50% – 74% Beefmaster Advancer and a known registered Beefmaster sire or dam.
4. Known progeny from animals recorded in the Beefmaster Advancer Program meeting all Association requirements for registration that are 50-87% Beefmaster breeding.

Rancho Dos Vidas has been on the forefront of the Beefmaster Advancer program and, with no pun intended, are advancing their cattle breeding program through utilizing Beefmaster Advancers. Advancing with Beefmaster Advancers!

“Plain and simple fact, anytime you can crossbreed you are ahead with heterosis,” said Roberson. “It’s the increased hybrid vigor and increased gains that are hard to beat with straight bred cattle.”

According to Roberson, the Beefmaster and Red Angus cross has produced him stronger offspring and the female offspring hit puberty earlier. He says they typically can start breeding these crossbred females at 11-13 months, have a calf on the ground by 24 months and are ready to breed back at 24 months. This cross of Beefmaster and Red Angus provides Roberson with the ideal mother cow that has superior milk production, clean underlines and is range hardy.

“With these Beefmaster Advancers their fertility is higher and they get rebred quicker. The Beefmaster cow and these Beefmaster crossbred cattle bring a lot to the table for today’s market,” said Roberson.

Not only does the ranch see an increase in maternal attributes, these crossbred calves weigh on average 80 lbs., more per head than the straight bred cattle raised in the past by Rancho Dos Vidas. The combination of solid maternal performance and weight gain performance has been the perfect cattle cross for Rancho Dos Vidas in the pasture and also in the sale ring.

Rancho Dos Vidas has been named Grand Champion Female two years in a row with their Beefmaster Advancer cow/calf pairs at one of most prestigious sales in the South. Each year the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo hosts the All Breeds Bull and Heifer Sale that features purebred bulls and commercial heifers consigned by premier Texas ranches. In 2013 and 2014, Rancho Dos Vidas won the top honor at the All Breeds Sale and are vying for another top award in 2016. The ranch also won Reserve Champion Females at the 2015 National E6 Commercial Replacement Female Sale in Columbus, Texas. Success in the pasture is what really matters to Rancho Dos Vidas, but taking home these honors just verifies that this crossbreeding program is one of the best.

Before the awards, Roberson always knew that as a whole the Beefmaster and Red Angus cross produced a very solid set of cattle. These red hided cattle are even solid in a cattle industry dominated by the black hide. It is predicted that red hided cattle will grow in popularity over the coming years because the cattle market is flooded with black hided cattle. The cattle industry currently lacks the needed heterosis in order to produce heavier weights and high quality replacement females. However, a program like Beefmaster Advancer is introducing this needed heterosis by producing crossbred cattle that outperform and outweigh other cattle.

“I love this cross and there is nothing I would change, it produces a very high quality female. Such a high quality female that our ranch cannot keep up with the demand for our crossbred females,” said Roberson.

When asked what final thoughts he had, Roberson simply said it is the combination of heterosis, fertility, udder quality and moderate frame size that makes the cow/calf producer more money. The crossbreeding at Rancho Dos Vidas is profitable and “crossing with Beefmaster takes it to that next level.”