Tuli cattle capturing wide interest

By JULIET BRISKIN | Central Texas Edition

Dr. Bill Holloway from the A&M Uvalde Experiment Station talks about the Tuli breed at the Briggs Ranch -Staff photo by Briskin

May 30, 2002 -- With only about 500 registered head of Tuli cows registered in the United States the North American Tuli Association is trying to spread the word about this African breed. On May 22, the Association sponsored a Tuli field day at the Briggs Ranch in Rice.

Ken Dixon of Rockwall is the president of the North American Tuli Association and feels strongly about the positive benefits this breed can bring to any beef cattle operation. "The breed is originally from Zimbabwe and has been in this country really big time for only about the past ten years," he explained. "We brought them in about 20 years ago for research purposes."

The Tuli is a Bos Taurus breed and it grades like an Angus according to Dixon. "These cows are real hustlers," he stated. "They can make it on their own and cross well with any European type breed. I have a pasture partner that raises Brahman crosses and he constantly accuses me of switching the commission tickets because my Tuli crosses continually bring about $1.17 and he averages about $.78!"

Dixon explained that the Tuli does very well in both hot dry weather and cold weather. "The bulls mature early in fertility, but in size rather late compared to other breeds," he stated. "The calves hit the ground very small, but mature quickly."

The biggest benefit the Tuli provides Texas cattle operations is it is well adapted to the harsh, dry climate that dominates so much of the state, stated Dixon. "It will survive on scrub and can tolerate the heat very well," he said. "They are just so adaptable and have a great disposition."

Dr. Bill Holloway from the Texas A&M Experiment Station in Uvalde has worked extensively with the Tuli breed. "The Tuli breed has performed well in our studies," he explained. "The breed bridges the gap between adaptability and quality at the plate. Our experience with the Tuli is that they don't have calving difficulties, they are easy to keep, don't have high maintenance or feed requirements and they rebreed when conditions are relatively harsh."

Holloway explained that the Tuli are able to handle forages that are typically highly toxic to other breeds. They are medium in size and rarely experience problems with their udders. "The animals give just enough milk so that it is not a drain on them, but enough for the calf," he said. "Their udders are something we are very excited about. We have had a lot of trouble with the F1 Brahman crosses with large teats and udders that break down. The Tuli's don't have any problems with their udders."

Another huge benefit of the Tuli, according to Holloway, is the breed's ability to stave off disease. "They don't have eye problems, they don't have disease problems," he said. "We have not looked at their tick resistance as a science, but there is evidence they are fairly resistant to ticks."

Holloway and his colleagues in Uvalde have slaughtered a number of the Tuli crosses and have found that the carcasses are uniformly tender. "We don't find that they marble too much, which when you talk to the consumer they will tell you they want tender beef without the fat," he explained. "Knowing the genetic capability of an animal is very important and we find that the Tuli has the genetics to produce a tender product."

Holloway explained that tenderness is the highest inheritable trait. "You can't acquire tenderness if the genes aren't there; you must start with them," he said.

Holloway went on to explain that there are a lot of breeds out there that may beat out the Tuli in average-daily-gain in the feed yard and produce more beef, but "we believe that the industry needs to move back towards a more moderately sized animal. This in turn will help raise the quality level of the beef that is going to the plate."

Dr. Ron Randel of the Texas A&M Experiment Station in Overton has also been very involved in research on the Tuli breed. "I became interested in the Tuli breed even before the semen was available here or in Australia," he stated. "I took a trip to Zimbabwe in 1985 and I saw the cow working under really hard conditions. I got to look at data from one Zimbabwe's large research institutes and what it showed was that the Tuli is one breed that has high fertility under range conditions."

Randel stated that what he found in Zimbabwe was a highly adaptable animal to varied environments. "For the cattle we have looked at what we have found uniformly are good carcass traits," he explained. "Tenderness is there no matter what you breed the Tuli to. Almost without fail, any time the steers have been fed they won't win the gain test; but if you look at the cost-to-gain or feed-to-gain the Tuli will make you more money than an animal that wins the gain test."

Currently there is not much information on the pure bred Tuli because the herds just are not out there to study. "What we do know are the half-blood Tuli cattle," said Randel. "We know that the half-blood Tuli, whether in the humid south or up in Canada, does not have calving difficulties."

Randel explained that in a reproductive test conducted in Uvalde by Holloway between a Brahman-Angus, a Senepol-Angus and a Tuli-Angus the clear winner on every reproductive trait was the Tuli-Angus. "Longevity tests on the half-blood Tuli show that over the lifetime of the cow the half-Tuli cow stayed in the herd. That puts money in your pocket because you aren't forced to purchase and develop replacement heifers," he stated.

According to Randel the Tuli bulls reach puberty early. "This means that you can put a two-year old Tuli bull on as many cows as you want," he said. "A yearling Tuli bull, as long as he has developed well, can also be put on the cows." For more information on the Tuli breed visit www.tuliassociation.com.