Commercial perspective on Gelbvieh
By Sarah Van Schothorst, BSc
Dave and Kim Gavelin from Deep Sands Livestock, Meyronne SK have been running Gelbvieh bulls since 1997.
They ran a purebred herd of Gelbvieh as well but stopped registering cattle about 10 years ago. Currenlty they are running a Gelbvieh x Red Angus cow herd raising their own replacements. They have purchased some commercial Gelbvieh heifers from Thackeray Land and Cattle over the years. Throughout the years they have required cattle that are docile, having had young kids years ago and now being older themselves. They use Red Angus bulls on specific Gelbvieh cows to produce replacement females and Charolais bulls on the remainder of the Gelbvieh cows for a terminal cross. They appreciate the smaller more moderate framed cow so that they can optimize the bang for their buck. Dave said we appreciate the fertility of the Gelbvieh cross cows, they turn out the bulls on the first of June for 45 days. Dave said “We have to have cow power to produce steers that will wean off at 650lbs in October.” Hybrid vigour is a known money maker and the Gelbvieh breed is versatile when crossed with other breeds of cattle, British or Continental. Dave told me about one of his kid’s old 4-H cows, 14X, “She has a 600lb steer at her side this fall and she looks like a million bucks!”
“Profit, attitude and longevity are why we have chosen ... Gelbvieh in our operation. We are in this business to make money and for us the Gelbvieh gave us the bang for our buck!”
Celine Hicks runs a commercial cattle operation with her husband and two young boys near Parkbeg SK. They run 100 head of Red Angus cows, with some Simmental influence in some of the females. They start calving around March 20 and they calve 90% of their herd in 6 weeks with an average birth weight of 85lbs. They used to run a straightbred Angus operation but were looking to add some hybrid vigour as weaning weights started to decline and the outcome of the breeding was becoming a bit too maternal. Currently they breed all of their breeding stock cows to Gelbvieh bulls and their heifers back to Red Angus bulls. Celine said “We appreciate the calving ease that we still have with the Gelbvieh bulls we have purchased from Twin View Livestock and throughout drought conditions we have weaned off an average of 650lb steers, which is a 100lb increase from when we were breeding Angus.” They also like the disposition of the Gelbvieh cross and enjoy having the ability to take their kids out into the pens or the field without having any issues. Having bulls and replacement heifers that are easy to handle makes things run a lot smoother. Celine has kept steers to butcher for themselves and she said “The calves muscle up nicely and finish quickly with great carcass characterisitics.”
Alberta
Dave and Lisa Trachuk are now joined by their boys Blayne and Nathan running 150 head of tan cows out of Myrnam, AB. The Trachuks have been using Gelbvieh bulls, some purchased from HMR Gelbvieh, for years. Over the years, their herd has increased it’s Gelbvieh influence through replacement heifers. Dave said “One of the benefits of the Gelbvieh breed is the replacement heifers make very good mothers with good milk production.” They start calving the last week of March and sell their calves the last week of November off of the cow. Creep feed is available to the calves, he explained “The calves learn the feeders, and they use them.”
Their weaning weights have been increaseing to 700lbs + on the steers over the last few years. Dave also said they like the easy calving Gelbvieh bulls for their heifers, maybe having to assist 5-10% per year.
“There is the three of us out there and our Gelbvieh cross cattle are docile. We have no trouble with our Gelbvieh replacement heifers or bulls, they are easy to handle and nobody is flighty. They work for us.”
Kris Millar along with her mom, Cathy Millar-Sande, and husband Jeff Bingeman run Rolling Ridge Ranch, comprised of approximately 170 cows near Ponoka, AB. They used to breed mostly Charolais but were looking for something to bring in the red/tan color but clean up poor udder structure and add docility to the herd. Kris and her mom started running the cow calf operation after her father passed away when she was 11 years old. The Charolais had too much attitude and they were looking for some more docility so that calving and handling the cattle was safer. Kris said “The Gelbviehs are sweet mommas that allow us to be out working with them and they are very maternal and take care of their babies.”
They also appreciated the muscling that Gelbvieh has. It has paired well with the frame of the Charolais cattle. The calving ease and the calf vigour of the Gelbvieh calves has been great, they love that the calves get up and get going with gumption at birth. They start calving the first of March with birth weights between 80 to 90 pounds and wean at the beginning to middle of October, with an average weaning weight of at least 650lbs to 700lbs.