South Poll Cattle
South poll Cattle Breed
Around 1990, the idea for a breed to suit our changing climate was in the works. Teddy Gentry, of Fort Payne, AL was driven to create the idea breed to suit the future. The South Poll, a maternal composite combining four maternal breeds: Angus, Hereford, Senepol, and Barzona, is a moderate framed, slick haired cow designed for hot, humid environments. Gentry crossed a Barzona with a Hereford and then a Senepol with a Red Angus, and then these two offspring were bred resulting in what we know today as the South Poll breed. The idea for the South Poll's origin was based on a desire to combine four maternal Bos Taurus breeds together to form a more heat tolerant animal that had a gentle disposition and tender carcass qualities.
South Polls are red or red and white in color and cows usually weigh around 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. These cows are very maternal and usually have great udders with a high-milking ability. They are also easy fleshing due to their smaller frame and design. This breed has excellent carcass traits and have very lean and tender meat. ~
Our herd
We decided to purchase the South Poll cattle breed for our herd. We didn’t want any animal to intentionally hurt us, so these cows were the perfect choice. And besides, these cows are so beautiful. We began with two unregistered heifers (but great generational genetics) at the South Poll Field Day from Green Pastures Farm and one purebred heifer from Wilbers Farms. We then added more heifers from other South Poll breeders. We do have one cow that was bred on our farm that is half red Wagyu. She’s beautiful, very calm and we’re able to scratch all over her!
So now, we run a small herd of cows with calves and one bull, so we know all of our cows’ and calves’ personalities. The herd sees us and interacts with us daily. We know which ones we can feed by hand, which we can scratch and rub on, and which ones would rather us keep our hands to ourselves. Our cows and bulls have gentle dispositions. If their temperament is not acceptable, we would cull them. We have not had any cow or bull that hasn’t met our high standard on disposition. We did buy a few heifers that we call “terrorists”, but after getting used to us and our low stress handling methods, they’ve become really calm cows. They’ll come up to us in the pasture to see if we have something good to eat and will eat out of our hand. A few cows will come out of the herd when their names are called. Yes, we name our cows. When we have visitors, our cows don’t head for the hills and tails up like flags, but instead stay around to see what all the fuss is about. They respond to a call of “Come on girls!” Whoever said cows are stupid doesn’t know cows.
Our cows are fertile. If they won’t breed, we take them out of our and any other rancher’s breeding program and take them to the sale barn. We hate to do this, but we don’t want to pass along poor genetics to anyone. So far, we’ve had to do this with two heifers that we bought from one breeder. We use artificial insemination (AI) and also own a full blood, registered South Poll bull. We register our heifers and some of our bull calves, depending on their South Poll percentage basis. Semen straws purchased from one of the SPGCA’s foundation bulls, MT 1934 416, has resulted in uniform looking solid red calves, while a Bonafide grandson has produced some beautiful red calves marked with white.
Our cows don’t look like most other cows found in Oklahoma and Texas. They are varying shades of red or red and white (not black), do not have long legs, but look quite large lying down, and have tremendous stomach capacity (widest through the midrib or “barrel” of her body). We focus on the genetic merit along with phenotype of our herd.
They are electric fence trained, have been fed in bunk troughs in winter, have experience with livestock trailer loading and hauling, being placed in a livestock chute for Cydectin pour-on dewormer and scale weighing, being sprayed with fly spray in the field, and can be “pushed” when needed or comes when called. They are accustomed to horses. ~
