EDMONTON – When Vern Pancoast of Redcliff, Alta., bought two Gelbvieh bulls at Farmfair for $8,000 and $4,700, he was looking for all the regular traits of good muscle, good body type and structure.
The bulls had something else Pancoast wanted – the right colour. They were a dark cherry red, not the more typical gold of Gelbvieh cattle.
“They had a deep red colour and lots of hair,” he said.
“For myself, I’m looking for a solid dark red in my herd,” said Pancoast, who is following the trend to a uniform dark red or black animal that feedlots want.
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“The feedlot buyers are starting to demand more uniformity, not only in frame, but colour,” he said.
The traditional gold coloured Gelbvieh cattle are still popular in central Saskatchewan east to Ontario and Quebec.
In Alberta and western Saskatchewan, buyers are looking for dark red or black cattle, he said.
Maureen Mappin-Smith of Bye-moor, Alta., is producing the kind of Simmental cattle the industry wants.
“All of my customers want solid coloured animals,” said Mappin-Smith, who had a string of dark red and black Simmental cattle at the show.
Few of the traditional red and white Simmentals were present.
“This is what we have to do to have customers. The other Simmentals are really hard to move,” she said, referring to the traditionally coloured animals.
When Simmentals moved to darker colours, they also shrank in size, which increased their popularity, she said.
“The big, gangly ones are hard to move. You get a dime off in the auction market for those,” she said.
Laurie Ference of Consort, Alta., said she was one of the first breeders to bring the dark-coloured Simmentals into Canada 15 years ago from the United States.
None of their bull buyers will take a chance buying a traditionally coloured Simmental for fear of being discounted at the auction market.
“If those polka-dotted ones come through, they pick them apart,” she said.
The row of Limousin animals belonging to Debbie Payne of Lloydminster is also dark red and black.
“We’ve expanded our market to have something that will suit every cow herd,” said Payne, who added her bull buyers are only looking for red or black animals.
That trend to making every breed indistinguishable from each other creates problems for export marketers, said Bob Prestage of Canada Livestock Services in Camrose, Alta.
When overseas buyers order cattle they want animals that look like the original breed, which has become increasingly difficult.
“It’s like finding a virgin on 97 Street,” said Prestage referring to Edmonton’s red light district.
Robert Lundago of Olds, Alta., who won the supreme champion female at Farmfair with a black Simmental, said the breeds have to keep up with the changing times.
“We live in an Angus world,” said Lundago. “They want black bulls.”
Black is the new reality, said Bryan Latimer of Remitall Cattle Co. of Olds. He co-owns the supreme champion male at Farmfair with Justamere Farms of Lloydminster, Alta.
“The feedlots want black cattle and the marbling the Angus cattle have,” he said.
With the increased demand for marbled meat, Angus cattle have an edge.
Bill Jameson of JGL Livestock, a cattle order buyer from Moose Jaw, Sask., said when feedlots give him their order, they don’t necessarily request a colour of animal. A yellow Charolais and black cattle sell about the same in the ring, he said.
“There’s a perceived notion that black cattle are going to bring a premium fat, however that doesn’t always occur,” said Jameson. “The perception out there is they do grade better.”
He said the traditional tall European types sell for less and have for years, but it’s not because of colour, but because they get too big before they’re fattened in the feedlots.
“It’s more to do with heavy carcasses than grading,” he said.
“If you get a carcass over 950 pounds, you get absolutely killed when you’re selling them. When you’re selling them you take a $30 deduct.”
