Agricultural News
Lex Bush of Bush and Sons Land & Cattle is Paving the Way to Prime with His Target Set on Angus
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 11:39:21 CDT
When Lex Bush, of Bush and Sons Land & Cattle, near Dighton, Kansas, took over the family cowherd in more than two decades ago, it didn't include any Angus influence.
"Originally, we had a lot of crossbreds. We had crossed Salers on Limousin, Simbrah on that-," Bush reflected, "and I think we were getting good heterosis, but the cattle were a little wild, if you know what I mean."
To watch a video clip featuring Lex Bush, of Bush and Sons Land & Cattle, near Dighton, Kansas, explain why his target is set on raising Certified Angus Beef Prime cattle, click or tap the PLAYBOX in the window below.
In 1998, he made the switch to Angus and never looked back.
"Darn Angus are just so nice to be around," he said. "Easy to handle and I'm not getting any younger, so tagging calves, I don't have any trouble with them. Excellent mamas, good keepers and we are retaining ownership and getting good results from them."
Carcass data showed the first steers finished in 2007 were pretty good, not great, but those first premiums convinced Bush to keep investing in Angus genetics with above-average marbling to target the Certified Angus Beef ® brand.
"They were- I'm gonna say 80-85% Choice in that range, the rest were Select, maybe 1 or 2 primes, maybe 10-20% CAB out of the first few we went through-and it's gradually gone up since then," Bush recounted. "Every year we gain a little better, I think we were in the 60% CAB range last year, 22% Prime and 99% Choice. Good premiums on the other end."
Today Bush has his sights set on producing more Certified Angus Beef Prime.
"I was always worried and asked the question several times of guys that would know, 'How much Prime can you really get rid of?' 'Bring it on, we'll show you!' That's what is happening. We're going to send them more," he said. "But they have the market for it."
Some ask what's the trade-off in performance when selecting for top carcass quality-
"On marbling selection," Bush explained, "you would think we are after marbling, that is what is going to make you prime, it has to be in the genetics and you would think you would give up something on the other end, but we haven't been seeing another cattle that is performing the same, they are gaining good and yet our percent CAB and prime are just going up. So, if you are giving anything up, I don't know what it is."
Bush takes pride in producing beef that consumers enjoy.
"Some of the top-notch restaurants in the world, I'm feeding those people with Certified Angus Beef," concluded Bush. "And that's a good feeling. This isn't just about pounds, it's about quality pounds and we're producing some really good meat."
Source - Certified Angus Beef
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