| Historic Texas breed prized for ease in calving, healthful lean meat |
| The Texas Longhorn, America's oldest breed of cattle, has bounced back from near-extinction and is now trying to horn in on the Idaho beef industry. Giving the breed a hand are Dusty and Melissa Weitz, who are promoting the Idaho Texas Longhorn Producers Association, organized in January as an affiliate of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America. |
| Dusty is a dentist in Moscow, Idaho. He and Melissa are a couple of 4-H kids who grew up enjoying the rural life and decided a few years ago to get into cattle. |
| They bought their first Texas Longhorns in June 2004, after a Texas friend invited them to an auction. |
| The Weitzes came home with three bred cows and a calf. Twenty breeding cows and three bulls - all but one registered Texas Longhorns - now grace their 140-acre operation, the Flying DW Ranch, on Fourmile Creek, tucked up against the western side of the Palouse Range of the Clearwater Mountains. |
| Idaho Texas Longhorns will be exhibited at the Riggins Rodeo on May 5-6. The Weitzes said the ITLPA will sponsor a calf scramble and a raffle for longhorn beef. |
| Why Texas Longhorns, besides their image as the living symbol of the Old West? Melissa was quick to answer. "They're not very high-maintenance," an important consideration for part-time ranchers with jobs in town. Dusty said Longhorn producers don't spend a lot of time pulling calves. |
| Easy calving and strong mothering traits are part of the Texas Longhorn's market value. |
| "Some Hereford and Angus producers breed heifers to Longhorn bulls for their first calves," Melissa said. That's because the Longhorn's smaller calf size results in easier births. |
| With about 100 head, Dean Goodner of Kuna is Idaho's largest registered Texas Longhorn breeder. He said two elements come into play in the Longhorns' easy breeding characteristics. |
| Cows in most beef breeds produce large calves weighing up to 100 pounds at birth, and their calves tend to be squarish, which can result in calving difficulties. Longhorn cows have wide birth canals and their calves are small, about 50 pounds, and are elliptically shaped, which makes for easier births. |
| Goodner said he sold 20 Longhorn bulls to Simplot to help clean up breeding of 2,500 yearling heifers after artificial insemination. |
| Even good AI conception rates leave about 30 percent of cows not pregnant. Cleanup bulls are brought in to impregnate cows that don't conceive via AI. |
| According to some writers, perhaps a bit too enamored with machismo, Texas Longhorns are nasty, mean and dangerous animals. |
| But Melissa said, "They're just like any other animal. Spend time with them and they become friendly." |
| Melissa has halter-broken some, and they will eat out of her hand. Dusty said they are still expanding their herd, but they sell a few head. Last year they sold four and expect to sell five or six this year. |
| Goodner, who has owned Texas Longhorns for 11 years, said, "Thirty or 40 years ago, there were a lot of tough Longhorn range animals," but today's Longhorns are naturally quiet and easy to handle. Even the bulls. |
| "Longhorns have horns!" Goodner said. "Longhorn owners want and need to be able to handle their own cattle. Breeders cannot risk owning an animal that will attack while in the field or be aggressive while being handled in close confinement. |
| "The majority of Longhorn owners want to enjoy their cattle much like others enjoy their horses and dogs. Owners need to be able to walk among their animals to show their animals in their natural environment to their family and friends." |
| Goodner said he breeds for docility, and he gets it. While recovering from rotator cuff surgery and using only one arm, Goodner has broken two dozen yearlings to halter. |
| Longhorn bull rides also are popular with children at county fairs. Goodner said he has given as many as 200 rides at some fairs. |
| Producers also see a potentially important market niche for Texas Longhorn meat. A Texas AandM University study, "Nutrient Density of Beef From Texas Longhorn Cattle," published in 1987, lists Longhorn beef as lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than white chicken. |
| Goodner, a former president of the Northwest Longhorn Association, said one of the goals in establishing the Idaho organization is to promote Longhorn meat as a heart-healthy red meat. This not only would help create a market for Longhorn beef, but would provide cardiac patients with a red meat they can enjoy without harming their health. |
| Dusty Weitz said the origin of the Texas Longhorn is unknown, but the cattle were brought to the United States by Spaniards. In the Southwest, Longhorns escaped and became wild. |
| That fact that Longhorns bred for hundreds of years without man's intervention adds to their value, said Stewart H. Fowler, a Milton, Fla., beef cattle consultant. Fowler has written that the Texas Longhorn is "an almost forgotten reservoir of unique genetic material ... literally an old source of new genes! In fact, the Texas Longhorn may prove to be a real 'genetic gold mine' in the future of our beef industry." |
