by Darol Dickinson

The frequent question--how much more horn do we want? Where is the Texas Longhorn breed going?

In the late seventies a prominent producer's goal was to have a whole herd of cows--all with over 40" horn tip to tip. Some, including me, thought that was a difficult goal. It might even keep his herd very small. Yet, it was achievable and the breed kept getting wider.

The widest spread of record in the Texas Longhorn breed is Bucklehead with 145" T2T. He is 11 years old and may quite well reach 165" or more during his life. Many of the most valued specimen steers today are going over 100" in their forth year. "Watch Me", on Arrowhead, owned by Diamond B Ranch is 127" at age 5--where is that going?

On Arrowheadcattlecompany.com site, of the steers over 100", many are growing lower scooped shape spreads due to the heavy weight load of huge horns. The weight is pulling the horns down. Some are going down symmetrically and some are not. Check it out.

In every developing breed unique-extremes are a value-driver. Values sprout-out of every subcomponent that the masses will pay a premium for. Whoever produces those special characteristics first and best can be very profitable. Then, next, the most traits all connected into one package multiplies the audience for value increases. That is how it works.

Of the unique-extremes wide spreads have dominated values in recent years. The old families of cattle with under 40" spreads are mostly considered for rodeo or just scales value. In the auctions cattle with under 40" horns may even sell below scales value. No one wants to go back there when the genetics of many over 100" sires are easily available.

Texas longhorns are a visual breed. People may see one a quarter mile away and immediately start to salivate. The wild and beautiful colors of this breed are exceptional above every other breed, except perhaps a peafowl. With as many unique-extremes as possible--different virtues, that assures a wide range of people will be interested buyers for many different reasons.

There are a lot of genetic sources for the largest horn spreads. The question is valid to consider what is the next virtue that can help the breed continue to market upward and onward. Actually if anyone wants to have the widest spreads it is easy, and getting easier. There are a lot of choices when going that direction.

Of over 90 steers measuring more than 100", less than a dozen have really great colorful faces. Perhaps great face color is a value-direction to go. When there is horn to the kazoo, add color. Here are some value-color faces. With every new value, is a financial reward of some degree. Some families are easy to splash up the faces and some are only walking the cat backwards.