Bulls/pedigree or purebred?

[Rhodie]

Do you insist on using pedigree bulls for your commercial herd,or do you feel you get sufficient quality from purebred, unregistered bulls for commercial or crossbreeding use at a lower price?

[Rhodie]

When I was producing seedstock in the USA, I made bulls available to commercial producers, usually for crossbreeding, yet some still insisted on buying "papered" bulls despite the extra costs involved in registration!
In my present position, we are breeding heritage Hereford and Aberdeen Angus, all eligible bulls are registered, as there is a shortage of these lines, all other bulls are steered.

[Rhodie]

Part of my policy was to make my bulls affordable to commercial breeders, to pay an extra $200. for exactly the same bull just for papers when the buyer is not breeding pedigrees himself, just made no sense.
The origonal Aberdeen Angus have been bred pure with no upgrading option since the foundation of the breed. The American Angus has some influence from other breeds, making them a larger framed breed, and less standard in their phenotype.
Selection of the heritage bulls is the responsibility of the breed society, ensuring no lowering of the selection standards, especially when the demand is high and there is a temptation to pass slightly lower quality bulls to help meet the demand.