Matt, can you give me a short bio, plus some background on 5barx.com?

"I come from a cow family that has made a living from cows for more than 50 years and has been doing AI for almost as long. For the last 14 years our operation was mostly registered Angus using the "best" genetics bull studs had to offer. In May 2008 the registered herds were dispersed and the business continues today as a commercial operation in Mount Gilead, NC. In 2006, I decided to start a separate herd of my own and this became Vanguard Livestock.
"5BarX.com was started in December of 2005 in response to a need for open discussion about cattle breeding for a small group of breeders that don't fit into the mainstream crowd. I was not deserving to be in their group, but I was the guy that could figure out how to get a modern message board running. My main objectives were to have a place where discussion could develop freely and provide an archive for many topics discussed by some of the country's best breeders for others to read at any time in the future. We currently have about 500 computers accessing our website daily and discussion that is about as lively and informative as cattle talk gets."

You've been a long-time observer of the cattle business. One of the things that's interested me about you was your "journey of discovery" that eventually brought you to Aubracs. Can you tell me about that and why you decided Aubracs were the cattle for you?

"Moving around the country in the military gave me an opportunity to see many things I had never heard of and to question everything at least once. When I decided to put together my own herd, I knew it would have to do something different to thrive; this something was to make the best commercial females I could for the replacement market in my area.
"As best I could tell, I needed moderate framed, maternal cattle of two breeds that would complement each other well. Being from an Angus family, I chose to use an Angus-Continental cross and figured it would be easy to find the right continental breed.
"After visiting a few herds, I realized there was something that gave me reservations on about every herd I saw. Then it seemed obvious to broaden my search to every breed I could find to visit. If my memory is correct I investigated about 10 breeds (from Limousin to Senepol to Sussex!) to work well with my Angus and about a year later I decided there was no complementary breed that I would be happy with and I would just have to compromise and deal with the problems.
"A couple of months later, Eric Grant sent me a few emails about coming to a sale in Nebraska (8 hours from home) and it seemed like just another small breed wanting to do the same things everybody else was. I couldn't imagine what I would get out of it, but after talking to him on the phone I realized I had somehow agreed to go to his sale and it happened to be 2 days before a Braunvieh sale in the same part of Nebraska. There was a blizzard the day before the sale and the 8 hour drive turned into a 15 hour snow ride with peril at every mile marker. I arrived at the sale barn 15 minutes before the sale and hurried in through the snow to show them I came like I said I would and suffer through the sale. About the time I got in the door, I realized I had just walked by some fine looking animals and went back out to look again. About halfway through the sale, I realized that I had found the breed I was looking for: moderate framed continental, heavy muscle, masculinity in bulls and femininity in heifers, not one bad udder in the sale and the best feet and legs on any group of animals I had ever seen.
"To this day my Aubracs are exactly what I want and are good enough that all of my registered Angus cows are bred to Aubrac bulls. The only thing I don't like about them is that I only get one calf per cow per year!"

As a person who's heavily involved in moderating online discussion about the cattle business, what are some of the key trends that you see -- what are people talking about -- what are the challenges we face and what are our opportunities?

"Some of the trends of the last year have been a more mainstream movement to moderate cow type, more creative grazing systems, the impact of high corn prices, and direct marketing of natural and grass-fed beef. With a tight financial market, buyers are afraid to spend money and sellers are lowering their price because they need cash flow. This leaves the average producer getting slapped from both sides and will make it hard for many operations to remain (or become) profitable.
"Many cattlemen will have to pay more attention to every aspect of their operation. The vast majority of farmers and ranchers I meet don't scrutinize what they do every day; they just keep doing it until all of the money runs out. The only way to keep a business in business is to turn every action into a business decision and think through every penny spent, every tractor cranked and every feed bucket fed. Cattlemen who can keep it together in the next 5 years or so should be in a great position to really make money on the upswing."


When you look at the industry today -- how it's structured, the people who are involved, etc. -- what kind of opportunities exist for small breeds like Aubracs to carve out a niche in both the production and consumer marketplaces?

"My decision to breed Aubracs was a direct response to hard-keeping mainstream Angus genetics that have no muscle other than ribeye, terrible structure and no consideration of longevity. Producers that have been using only "progressive" Angus genetics for many years are going to realize that they are ending up with cows that are too big, that wont ever see their tenth birthday and cant survive on grass, water and minerals. This is where the Aubrac breed is ready to step in and help those producers bring a balance back to their herd in one generation.
"Combining favorable carcass results with the Aubrac's easy fleshing ability, I am optimistic that they will be good in a grass-fed environment. It takes a certain type of animal to finish on grass and I think the Aubrac might be it."

What lessons can Aubrac breeders learn from the mistakes and successes of other breeds?

"One issue I am concerned about is breed character. My Angus are black and my Aubracs are brown! Why would I want to make my Aubracs more like Angus? I can't tell you why Aubracs are better than Angus if they are the same. There is a reason we have breeds that are different and unique - they do certain things well that other breeds don't. If we make them the same, we might as well all have the same mediocre cattle.
"If we are all heading different directions, we will end up like every other breed association with lots of variation in type and function between breeders of the same breed. The only thing that makes a breed is the breeders in it. If a breeder applies selection pressure toward an ideal Wagyu, down the road the breeder will end up with pretty much a Wagyu even if they started with Charolais. It's all about what we decide is ideal. The selection pressure of breeders in a certain group is what determines the type of cattle in that group; it has less to do with what you start with and more to do with where you are headed. As Shane Castle writes: ?If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there!'"

In what ways do you expect Internet communications, promotions and advertising to impact the way cattle producers do business? What role will it play in your own operations?

"The time to receive feedback from any event is vastly reduced from 10 years ago. Within an hour of a bull sale being over, thousands of people can know exactly what each lot brought, you can check on your kids at daycare in real time through web cams, and buyers can buy cattle in their pajamas at home. Response to customer issues will be expected in hours, not days or weeks. Visiting every customer regularly is the only way to stay in touch with their needs and maintain "market share". If a breeder only sees you when you come to his sale, you dont have as much loyalty to him as the other breeder that comes by to see how the weaned calves are doing.
"Internet communications make advertising like a pro cheap and easy. Where else can you get a 24-hour/day advertisement for $5/month? Being good at marketing will continue to challenge our creativity and constitution.
"To separate myself from the rest, I plan to have all business records online for all to see in detail. If I can show other producers exactly how I am making a profit, I think they will want to try the same recipe and hopefully that recipe includes my cows and bulls."