I was talking to one of my pasture leasers last week and he told me he had to replace one of his large Charolais Bulls recently. Seems he had some of his cows coming up open so he took the bull in to be tested and he had a low sperm count. The vet claimed they had seen a number of large bulls coming in with freeze damage to the lower part of their testicles because they could not draw them up far enough for the prolonged low temperatures last winter. My guy had noticed a darker color on the lower scrotum but didn't think it was an issue.

Anybody else ever heard of this? Does this sound legit?

Yup. My SIL and daughter in Baylor County lost two high dollar Brahman bulls that they use to breed for F1 cattle. Both suffered scrotal damage and penile damage. They both became really high dollar hamburger.

Seen it up north but never in TX

Dang... can you imagine walking outside and seeing your neighbor slipping a tube sock on his bull's balls lol

Id never heard of this before and while I'm sure it is serious for the critters and ranchers affected we got a good chuckle out of it.

Seen it in the Panhandle but never around here in N Central Texas before now

jiminy. it's always something.

Think my huevos froze off last winter during that cold snap. My Wife's Pet Longhorn Steer never had um to freeze.

The ranch i work for just bought a new Beef Master bull and had him tested just for that reason.

I have a very large scrotum and my testicles are the size of chicken eggs, I survived just fine

This makes me wonder about wildlife too….whitetail and more so for some of the exotic animals roaming around…..

They should have kept moovin to keep warm.

So how in the hell is this not a huge problem up north where they sometimes have below freezing weather for weeks on end....hell, sometimes days in a row when it is sub zero weather.

Damn, that’s a real case of blue balls

I wonder that too.

Maybe their muscles are more conditioned and they can draw them up farther?

Wind breaks, Shelters, barns etc. Also how much ear do you think you see up north. Not much Brahma influence up north. Climatized/conditioned animals and breeds make a big difference.

We ship year round, north not so much. No different then trying to import flat land cattle to 8k ft

Herd projections for 2022 say down 3%.
That translates into higher cattle prices and higher beef prices.
That will be good for growers.

Way too much info.

Tell that to the sale barns

It's an auction. When cattle are short, Packers will pay more, always have.

Do they fudge the numbers?

always have.
Does big oil?
Automakers?
AT&T?
Sara Lee?
the US Government?

Packers set the price. They also opened the border doors to imported beef. You ever seen a feeder go unsold? I havent and we owned a feedlot.

That burger you buying at the store that’s USDA stamped, is it US beef or South American?

A cattle guy was talking about this just the other day. He had a few bulls come up dry after the deep freeze.

Only one that sees any major price increase is going to be those buying or selling replacement heifers/cows

Does the governor have a solution to this issue?