CALGARY – Investing in miniature cattle is a departure for Charolais breeder Henry Begrand who is used to looking under a big cow’s belly instead of over its shoulder.
But it’s a view the Saskatchewan cattle producer and his partners are willing to take in with a recent shipment of seven Lowline females from Australia.
Begrand is part of a prairie consortium of seven cattle producers who imported the miniature animals from Australia, where their history goes back only 25 years. The cows stand 39 inches at the shoulder and weigh about 850 pounds. They were recently released from quarantine at Alta Genetics west of Calgary.
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Begrand calls them “boutique cattle” that are perfect for acreage owners who want cows but don’t have the land base or equipment for the full-sized versions.
A visit to Australia to see the mini-Angus for himself left him so impressed by their structural correctness, gentle temperament and overall eye appeal that he immediately recognized a North American market.
“Everyone said ‘Begrand, you’ve lost your marbles.’ Everyone who has seen them has been impressed,” said Begrand.
The Australian cattle are genetically selected Angus which trace their pedigrees to Canadian imports from the 1920s.
Twenty-five years ago, the Trangie Research Centre took 300 Angus cattle and set out to prove, through strict breeding and selection, that size could be altered dramatically.
The results were the miniature cattle they named Lowlines, medium-sized animals known as Midline and large animals called Highline. Highlines are equal in size to Canadian Angus.
The Lowline is not a dwarf. Carrying the characteristic Angus head, all body parts are in proportion and structurally correct. They are pure black, polled and maintain Angus beef quality with marbling and low back fat.
A mature bull stands 42 inches at the shoulder and females are a maximum of 39 inches. Calves weigh about 40 pounds at birth.
At the end of the experiment several years ago, the researchers decided to slaughter the 250 miniatures but an Australian talk show host got wind of the story and featured the mini-cows on his program. Public support to keep the herd was so strong the breed now has its own purebred registry in Australia.
A North American association was established July 7.
Alta Genetics will handle the embryo transfer program to speed the breeding program. The embryos will be transplanted in small cows like Jerseys.
Once the Canadians have built up their herd the next step will be meat production. There’s not a lot of performance data but researchers know these cattle finish well on grass and only need about 30 days on a grain ration before slaughter, said Begrand.
Because of their size, steaks from such small animals may be just what many restaurants and homemakers are looking for. A common complaint about today’s cattle is their size. T-bone steaks have become so large they spill off the plate.
A Lowline T-bone is no bigger than a man’s palm, said Neil Effertz of Bismarck, N.D., who has gained the rights to market the cattle in the United States.
“I haven’t been this excited about anything since exotic cattle were imported,” said Effertz.
Effertz said the cattle industry is like the auto industry of the 1950s where every car basically looked the same. Today, cars come in all sizes and shapes and he believes the beef industry should go the same way where there’s something to appeal to every consumer.
