The loss of calves through difficult calving is a large economic loss to our cattle industry each year. Calving problems are further complicated by the shortage and cost of qualified  farm and ranch labor. Ranchers can no longer afford the luxury of

are beginning to take advantage of the ease of calving offered by the use of  Texas Longhorn bulls. In so doing, they have discovered the many hidden dividends of the Longhorn, such as a gene complex that will "pair off" well in crossbreeding to give a large measure of hybrid vigor.
Once a vigorous live calf is safely on the ground, it must be safely reared to marketable age. Good mothering instinct is a decided asset, and this is another long suit of the Longhorn cow. Ocassionally, in some areas, predators cause losses during calving time, but can you imagine a coyote taking a calf from a Longhorn mama? It is also a real treat when you first see a Longhorn cow babysitting several calves while the other mothers are grazing or going for water.

Texas Longhorns are noted for their longer life span. Many cows live and produce regularily past twenty years of age, with an occasional cow producing past the age of thirty. This long-lived production means that the rancher can save fewer replacement heifers and still maintain his herd size. This translates to the rancher having more marketable calves each year.

The ability to adapt to the wide array of North American environmental conditions comes naturally to the Texas Longhorn.  The breed thrives under the hot Texas Sun

and in the frigid Canadian winters without the aid of shelter, and with only minimum care.
Cattle Production has undergone radical changes in North America in recent times, and more drastic changes probably remain ahead. Some cattlemen feel that it might be neccessary to call on "that Longhorn critter" again to cope with the changes.

The Texas Longhorn's genetic goldmine evolved through natural selection where nature did all the culling and allowed only the hardiest cattle to survive and reproduce. For example, all cows that could not give birth to their calves died, and only the easy calvers survived to reproduce more of their own kind. As a result, the Texas Longhorn became relatively pure in many of its gene pairs related to survival, reproduction, and production under harsh environmental conditions.

What is so unique about the Texas Longhorn? What makes it different from the multitude of other breeds now available in North America? Simply this: The Texas Longhorn was fashioned entirely by nature right here in North America. Stemming from  ancestors  that were the first cattle to set foot on North  American soil  almost

situation well: "Had they been registered and regulated, restrained and provided for by man, they would not have been what they were."

Hardy, agressive, and adaptable, the Texas Longhorns were well suited to the rigors of life on the ranges of the southwestern United States. They survived as a primitive animal on the most primitive of ranges, and became the foundation stock of that region's great cattle industry.

"The 3R's that have been most important in my life are Riding, Roping, and Ranching. It was the roping that introduced me to the Longhorn cattle. I used to rodeo, and George Pana invited me to stop at his ranch at Wood Mountain, Sk, to rope some "colored" calves he had brought up from the States. Now these were roping calves. They ran hard again and again and again! My precious little herd of milk cow ropin' calves didn't seem nearly as valuable when I got home. As soon as I could, I went back to George's and bought 10 heifers and a bull calf. That year, 1973, I used them to practice calf roping; the next year my kids and I team roped them as yearlings; the next year all ten heifers had babies, so we were in the Longhorn business and have been ever since. We now run about 200 Longhorn cows, as well as a British bred herd sown here in this short grass country.

At first I raised Longhorns mainly for their value to us as roping cattle (...And we sure liked to eat the lean Longhorn beef!) However, the longer I had the cattle, the more their versatility impressed me. I really liked the Longhorns because they are "survivors." The natural wild animal survival instincts have not been bred out of them. They know how to look out for themselves and can readily adapt to adverse conditions such as drought. If necessary, they can travel quite a distance for water without it becoming a hardship for them. They are hardy animals.

I like our style of Longhorn cows. They are not registered but they are purebred. They are good-sized, framey cows with good feet, udders, and horn-base. They are extremely fertile and longlived! I remember one year, due to some bull injury problems, we only had one 2 year old bull to run with 54 Longhorn cows in a 15 section field. I never did see that bull breed a cow, but the next spring there were 54 lively Longhorn babies!

The cattle that I bought from Pana have been easy to monitor because of their distinctive brand. The last two cows were shipped the fall they were 22 years old. They had raised a calf every year! Now, that's productivity! Over the years, I have had very few dry Longhorn cows to ship.

Calving Longhorns is a pretty easy job. The calves are small and active - they hit the ground scrambling to get up and suck! If it is cold and the calf is a little slow to get moving, the Longhorn cow will prod it until it does get moving. She is a wise and protective mother. When riding the calving field on a cold, blustery day, you'll see that Longhorn cows will have their calves tucked down behind a sage-brush, rock, or just a big clump of grass. The big crossbred Charolais will have hers up on the side of the hill checking the direction of the wind. Since shelter is minimal in the country, the Longhorn's common sense is a very valuable asset.

I like to use Longhorn bulls on all the British bred heifers too. This virtually eliminated all the problems associated with calving heifers. There is a good demand from other ranchers for our Longhorn bulls. Many of them have tried other types of "heifer bulls" but returned to the proven Longhorn solution!

In recent years, the Longhorn crossbred calves are being acknowledged as being desirable feeder calves. It's about time this fact was recognized! For many years our crossbred calves off the British heifers were severely penalized when they were sold at an auction market. Somebody made a lot of money on these calves, and it wasn't the rancher who raised them!! To contradict this, many ranchers began buying feed and finishing the calves themselves. Other ranchers followed the performance of their calves once they were sold to a feed lot. Gradually, the word began to spread that Longhorn crossbred calves grade equal with the purebred British and exotic breeds. Now the producer is being more justly paid for his product.

The Longhorn cattle will continue to be an important part of our ranching operation. We will breed 1/3 purebred Longhorns to supply our need for roping cattle. The other 2/3 will be bred to Black Angus bulls to raise top quality crossbred feeder cattle. We have found the Longhorn to be a very economical cow to maintain in the habitually dry ranching country."