7L at Windy Hills - History
Nestled in the lush pasture of Poplarville, Mississippi, an elite herd of Beefmaster cattle has made quite a name for itself since the early 1980s under the attentive management of owner Dr. Gerald Berenson, a world renowned cardiac researcher from Tulane University. In addition to his teaching career at Tulane, Dr. Berenson is in charge of one of the most prestigious population cardiology studies in the US known as the Bogalusa Heart Study in Bogalusa, Louisiana, also Dr. Berenson’s home town. Dr. Berenson’s passion for educating youth about heart health is matched only by his vigorous enthusiasm for the Beefmaster breed of cattle. And thanks to that enthusiasm, his operation, Windy Hills, has produced high valued Beefmaster cattle that are known for quality, consistency and performance.
Known for the Magnolia Belle line of females, Berenson says his philosophy is to raise cattle that produce for performance as well as looks, noting that he wants them to be competitive with other breeds, if not surpass them.
Dr. Berenson has built a career achieving progress and advancement in every aspect of his professional life and it comes as no surprise that Windy Hills teamed up with 7L Farms and Land Co., LLC to further advance the Beefmaster breed to better fit the current beef industry’s needs. While Berenson continues to maintain ownership of the Windy Hills land and cattle, 7L now manages the cattle in partnership and leases the land.
With this partnership, 7L aims to maintain an elite core of Beefmasters at Windy Hills applying the same principles of selection and cattle management that they use with their Angus program to further improve the Windy Hills Beefmaster breeding program.
Beefmaster heritage
Through a systematic crossing of Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle, the Beefmaster breed was developed by Tom Lasater in the early 1930s. He aimed to create a breed well suited for the hot, dry environment of southern Texas that would continue to be economically productive even in hard times.
Recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a pure breed in 1954, the cattle were developed on what has become known as the “Six Essentials” — weight, conformation, milking ability, fertility, hardiness and disposition. Beginning in the early 1970s, Beefmasters rapidly expanded from their southern Texas birthplace. Today, they’re produced across the Western, Central and Southern United States, and the Beefmaster Breeders United (BBU) ranks as the fifth largest beef breed registry in the country in membership and sixth in registrations.
Advancing the breed
The heritage of the Beefmaster breed and Windy Hills is strong, but success in the future may require taking a new path. In this effort, 7L is lending its management expertise to Wind Hills so that together they can make the cattle better suited to the current beef cattle demands in the commercial market place and in the Southeast’s hot and humid environmental conditions. They will concentrate their selection pressure on cattle that meet the economic needs of cattlemen for feed efficiency, heat tolerance and production performance, while improving the breed’s carcass merit to align them with the expectations of the current consumer trends.
“We really appreciate the maternal side of the Beefmaster breed. They’re good mothers. But we recognize an opportunity to improve their carcass characteristics while taking advantage of their efficient use of forages and feed to produce pounds of highly marketable beef,” says 7L managing partner Dr. Michael Bishop. “We want to add more selection pressure on carcass merit traits including more rib eye and marbling, while reducing their mid-line wastiness.”
Berenson and Bishop say they’re taking this action because they believe it’s what the industry, feeders in particular, is now asking for – less waste, more muscle and higher carcass quality. And with some adjustments to Windy Hills’ Beefmaster genetics, they’re sure they can meet those needs.
In this effort, the recently built 7L Cattle Development Facility, equipped with an on-farm DNA laboratory capable of handling DNA sampling, embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization, will come in handy. With access to such state-of-the-art facilities, the talented team members of 7L and Windy Hills will work together to more rapidly advance the Beefmaster breed.
Though genetic progress is the goal, Bishop says 7L will always keep one thing top-of-mind: “We aim to build on the fantastic reputation that Dr. Berenson has earned for himself in the Beefmaster industry and ultimately create a cattle legacy that he and his family will be proud of for years to come.”