Limousin cattle are the focus of Pinegar Limousin. Make no mistake about that. But when it comes to improving the breed, Ty Heavin, ranch manager at Pinegar is quick to point out the advantages and benefits of the increasingly popular LimFlex. LimFlex can be a cross between anywhere from a 75 percent Limousin and a 25 percent Angus to 25 percent Limousin and 75 percent Angus.
Ty explained that, at Pinegar, they start with a registered Limousin and a registered Angus, and achieve their desired LimFlex cross, then work back towards that purebred Limousin. "You can add some things you might've needed in your breed that way. When you get back to your original product, for us, purebred Limousin, you've brought those traits (of the LimFlex) along. We're trying to get our Limousin product the best it can be."
Pinegar Limousin, owned by Ed Pinegar, has the goal of pleasing their customers and improving their own herd which, therein, is good for their customers. Ty said that it is for the customer that the development of the LimFlex bulls at their farm came to be. "We like to have a lot of different products to offer our customers," Ty said.
Since Ty came on with Pinegar Limousin, located in Springfield, Mo., 16 years ago, he said he's been focusing on improving their Limousin cattle in three specific ways: docility, milk production and birth weights. These three goals have been pursued while still allowing the breed to do what it does best, wean off a calf at as high of a weight as possible.
Upon using LimFlex at the farm, Ty said he noticed an increased scrotal size and increased milk production, as well as more capacity in the ribs, which increases the amount of capacity for feed and forage.
"Forage is what we have to feed," Ty said, of the importance of an animal's feed efficiency. “And your bull is 50 percent or more of your calf crop.”
A bull that produces calves that will grow and wean off heavy is ideal in today’s market. “There’s hardly a dime spread between the 500 weight calves and the 800 to 900 weight calves,” Ty said.
As a result, Ty explained, the Limousin breed’s heavy muscling is becoming more important as a marketing tool, as producers try to get the most out of their calves.
Pinegar is stringent with their record keeping so that all the data Ty provides to customers is backed up with hard numbers. All their registered cattle on the farm are scanned with an ultrasound to provide carcass information. Ultrasound information is calculated to determine rib eye area and intramuscular fat, both useful in providing the best end product.
The goal is to balance rib eye, or the muscling, and intramuscular fat, or the marbling. “We have been able to work on that with carcass data,” he added, “and these are the kinds of traits that buyers recognize and utilize.”
Ty’s wife, Susie added, that commercial producers can benefit from vaccinated, efficient, healthy calves that gain well in the feedlots and yards, even when they don’t retain ownership. “Buyers know how their cattle do, and they will come back to a producer whose animals did well in the feed yards,” Susie said.
“They know, the more meat they can put in the box, the better,” Ty added.
So how can a cattle producer best decide which bull they should get for their herd? Ty stressed that producers must evaluate what their herd needs are, and how they would like to see their future calf crops perform. As for the type of producer a LimFlex would best suit? Ty thought a commercial breeder who’s looking to keep calves and background them, who has a lot more grass than corn and who has a larger framed cow and wants to add more efficiency, would be a good candidate for LimFlex.
Ty said that he is noticing a decrease in regional herd numbers, but he hopes that the different purebred and crossbred options of higher gaining animals like his Limousin and LimFlex cattle will encourage some producers to get back into the business.
In the cattle business today, efficiency is the name of the game. Ty Heavin and Pinegar Limousin are busy applying these principles to their herd, and providing genetics that support these principles to their customers.
