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Basic Black Angus Cattle at Ohlde Cattle CompanyThe Basic Blacks program began with a commitment to producing low birth, strong maternal, cost efficient performance cattle that are easy fleshing and require minimum maintenance while working in a forage based environment. Our appreciation for this type of cattle evolved over time and the years of working with large numbers of cattle of several breeds gave us the practical insight into the type of cattle needed to meet our goals. At Ohlde Cattle Co., balanced multiple trait selection has always been the cornerstone of our breeding philosophy. Most cattlemen today would admit that single trait selection has caused more problems than it's solved. One need only look at the recent past to see how an overemphasis on frame and growth resulted in excessively large framed, high maintenance cattle that were not practical or profitable. Despite this awareness, true multiple trait selection is often done in name only--witness the number of people who use only milk EPDs when talking about maternal traits or marbling EPDs when discussing carcass sires. We believe that cattle breeding is an art. There remain essential cow herd traits not addressed directly by performance testing and EPDs that Basic Blacks cattle must have. These traits include fleshing ability on forage, capacity, excellent udder quality, a gentle disposition and structural correctness. Mere buzz words you say? Traits that are hard to define and quantify can still be real. When differences exist between cattle, no matter how subtle, selection pressure can be applied to those differences. Maybe that's where the "art" of cattle breeding comes into play. Making progress through multiple trait selection can be a slow process but our long term devotion to that process has resulted in cattle that we believe are unique. At Ohlde Cattle Co., maternal is more than just milk, carcass means more than marbling and performance is more than just pounds. Many cattlemen, commercial and seedstock producer alike, are finding themselves at a crossroads with their cow herds. Years of breeding for increased production or using too many highly promoted, unproven bulls has resulted in cattle that are--and let's be frank here--big, bad and ugly. Basic Blacks is one of the few programs truly equipped to address this problem. While remaining solidly performance based, our unique herd bull battery is also designed to moderate size, add muscle, improve structural soundness and fleshing ability and improve udder quality while maintaining profitable production levels. Put simply, the Basic Blacks program is going beyond performance.  Angus II cow sired by DHD Traveler 6807.  Angus II cow sired by PBC 707 1M F0203. |
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