Why Gelbvieh?

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It has been more than 25 years since Kittle Farms brought one of the first Gelbvieh bulls to the Sand Mountain area of Alabama. Fortunately, through the years, locals have shifted their question from “What is a Gelbvieh?” to “Why use Gelbvieh?” to “When will you have some of those Gelbvieh cattle for sale?”
 
The Gelbvieh breed was not introduced to the United States until 1971. Gelbvieh cattle originated in Germany as a rare dual-purpose breed for both milking and beef production. While the breed was once known as the “German Yellow,” Gelbvieh cattle today are predominantly Red or Black (due to cross-breeding with Angus cattle). Currently, there are over 45,000 active, registered Gelbvieh cows in the United States.
 
Over the last ten (10) years, we have converted our entire operation at Kittle Farms to registered Gelbvieh and Gelbvieh-influenced hybrid commercial cattle. Simply put, with more than 40 years of experience in the cattle business, we have not found another breed that does a better job of delivering on the total package we strive for in Calving Ease (low birth weights), Temperament (quiet and docile), and Performance (excellent weaning and yearling weights).
 
Recent studies within the cattle industry have supported what our operation has experienced first-hand with the Gelbvieh breed. Data produced over a two-year study through Colorado State University’s Maxwell Ranch SmartCross research showed that Gelbvieh-sired cattle achieved both higher weaning weights and significantly more dollars in both a low and high choice/select spread market over their Angus counterparts. Likewise, tracing back to the Gelbvieh breed’s dual-purpose roots for milking and beef production, the Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska found that Gelbvieh females add more pounds of maternal milk to their calves than Simmental, Red Angus, Charolais, Limousin, Angus, or Hereford females. Gelbvieh cattle have achieved those performance numbers while maintaining their status as a preferred breed for calving ease, with Gelbvieh birth weights being the lowest among the four (4) major Continental breeds.
 
We have modeled our operation on what works for both the commercial cattle farmer and the registered producer. Easy-calving, docile cattle that bend the scales at weaning time equals more profit to your bottom line. With that in mind, to accurately measure performance and production, we weigh all calves on our farm within 12 hours of birth and again at weaning. Our 2015 calves came in at 74 pounds on average and weaned out at 675 pounds.
 
Performance numbers like those achieved on our farm and on the farms of our customers has done more than anything else to advance the Gelbvieh breed in our area. We are thankful for the trust our customers have placed in Kittle Farms and look forward to building upon those relationships and making new ones in the coming years.
 

2015 Calf Performance Averages