Feature
Diamond C Ranch Limousin - More Alike Than
Different
By Bruce Derksen
With 2018 being a year of the International
Limousin Congress, breeders throughout the
world tend to look outside their usual circle of
influences and catch a glimpse of the bigger
picture. When we think of ranching in other
countries and different parts of the world,
the first thoughts that come to mind might
be about the differences between them, and
while they likely exist to a degree, there may
be more similarities than we first think.
Neil and Sherry Christiansen along with their son
Braeden 18, and daughter Annie 17, own and
operate Diamond C Ranch Limousin in central
Alberta, Canada running between 130 and 150 red
and black purebred Limousin and Lim-Flex cows,
plus a few full-bloods on their picturesque ranch.
Their grain and hay lands are used to support their
cattle herd in feed, silage and haylage rations.
Both Neil and Sherry grew up on mixed Charolais
and Simmental crossed commercial cattle farms
but decided to focus strictly on the Limousin
breed for Diamond C Ranch. When asked why
they had picked Limousin, Neil answered, without
hesitation, that it was because of how easy
calving they were. Their parents had begun using
Limousin bulls with their commercial herds and
couldn’t believe how their calving issues had
disappeared. Neil continued to explain that these
first crossbred calves had been tracked through
the feedlots delivering exceptional feed conversion
efficiency. When these calves hit the packing
house, their carcass yield, along with grade and
leanness, were also at the top end in comparison
to other groups of cattle. All these factors made
it easy to choose Limousin when the time came.
Neil explained that Limousin qualities can
deliver an immediate upgrade when crossed
with commercial cows of other breeds, instantly
adding easier calving, feed conversion efficiency,
leanness and upgraded carcass yields. He points
to an 85% mark in repeat customers when it
comes to commercial and purebred breeder
purchases from his ranch sales. While he admits
that years ago Limousin cattle had some
temperament issues, he credits all breeders for
recognizing this and working hard to correct it.
The Christiansen family runs a yearly purebred
bull sale at the ranch featuring a pre-sale Open
House day where potential buyers can mingle and
look over the sale offerings with the Christiansen
family. 45-60 yearling and 2-year-old red and black
bulls are sold at these ranch sales with some years
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