Cattle

To produce our fantastic grass-finished beef at Altai Meadows we raise a breed of cattle called South Poll.  This breed comes from the great folks at Bent Tree Farms in Fort Payne, Alabama who years ago set out to build a better grass-based beef composite well suited for the heat and humidity in their part of the country.

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. The foundation for their new South Poll breed was built on the very best purebred cattle from each of four individual breeds.

Bent Tree Farms started with a Hereford/Red Angus base, but since only a small percentage of the overall population in Hereford and Angus are slick haired they looked for two other breeds that would compliment the maternal abilities of the Hereford and Angus.

Barzona became the third breed added to the composite. Barzona is a composite as well that was developed by the Bard family in Arizona, bred to excel in the tough and mountainous high desert country of American Southwest.

The fourth breed of the composite is the Senepol, a heat tolerant breed developed on St. Croix, Virgin Islands during the1940′s and 50′s by breeding the native N’dama cattle to Red Poll bulls. The Senepol are very slick haired and according to University of Florida research are the most heat tolerant breed they’ve tested.

The resulting South Poll cows are gentle, slick haired, produce an outstanding piece of meat on grass and do well with our hot and humid Missouri summers. They are smaller than commercial breeds at around 1,000 to 1,050 pounds per cow but are highly efficient grazers with a short and wide body type to maximize forage utilization.

The South Poll breed is a gentle breed with cows possessing a strong maternal instinct. Calves have moderate birth weights with adequate growth and dependable carcass consistency.  South Poll cattle are a top choice to fulfill the role for the natural production of quality grass-finished beef.

If you are interested in purchasing South Poll or South Poll cross cattle for your operation feel free to give us a call to see what’s available.