Saturday, September 30, 2006

Cattle breeders take the prize at State Fair

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

Two area Texas longhorn cattle breeders rounded up a pile of ribbons during the breed's shows last week at New Mexico Expo.

Rebecca and Fritz Moeller, who have bred longhorns for 18 years, took home 18 ribbons, including Grand Champion and Champion wins.

They also earned a belt buckle, a lamp and premium money.

The fair had two shows on separate days with different judges.

A 15-month-old heifer, or young female that hasn't had a calf, beat about 50 competitors to win Grand Champion Non-haltered Female. She won the title both days.

A 4-year-old steer, Mac, earned the Junior Champion Steer title in both shows, while a 6-month-old heifer came away with junior champion and reserve champion titles.

Moeller's animals placed in several lower spots as well.

"We normally show cattle every year," Fritz Moeller said.

However, they didn't participate the previous few years because many people at the show bought cattle from the Moellers and they didn't want to compete against their customers.

Moeller said showing is "a pain."

"You have to go show once in a while to make sure your program is OK and you're raising the right kind of animal," he said.

The Moellers show different animals, leaving those animals with a win at home.

They take the cattle directly out of the pasture rather than feeding grain or penning them to prepare.

The Moellers have about 60 cattle on their San Acacia property and around 60 in a 50-50-partnership herd in Anthony, N.M. Most of their calves are already sold, and the buyers will pick them up after weaning.

The longhorn business has several different markets.

The Moellers primarily sell "seed stock," meaning people buy female calves for breeding. Moeller thinks his animals have excellent pedigrees.

He also sells bulls for breeding young female cattle that haven't had a calf. Longhorn bulls typically produce offspring with small birth weights, meaning less trouble for the mothers both during birth and in raising the calves.

Some of his cattle go for showing, such as youth projects.

Moeller said a demand exists for hides, skulls and horns.

"So a dead longhorn's worth more than a live Angus," he said.

He salvages skulls when his animals die.

He has standing orders for them because of the horns.

Longhorn producers may offer cattle for roping or bucking in rodeos or for meat. Some of them sell in the trophy market, in which people buy cattle for looks rather than use.

The Moellers don't typically participate in these markets. The Moellers said they slaughter one animal a year for their own use and sell animals for meat or bucking stock if they have a bad disposition.

"It's rare to find one like that," he said.

As a breed, longhorns are gentle.

In 18 years, he's sold three bucking bulls to Mexico. The Moellers halter-break their cattle, so they know which ones are mean.

Even though they don't raise cattle for meat, the Moellers pay attention to the confirmation and amount of bone and muscle of the stock because they're still beef animals.

"We think our herds are improved because we've added muscle and size to them," Moeller said.

He began raising longhorns because he liked to use the calves to train cutting horses. He intended to lease calves to other people in the sport.

However, people bought them "right and left," so he bred more. He no longer trains cutting horses.

To produce quality longhorns, Moeller pays attention to their genetics and ancestry. He crosses certain kinds of pedigrees with other types, and uses good breeding stock.

aduncan@dchieftain.com

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