For
over ten years, the late Ed Mears worked to produce top quality Red
Brangus by combining highly selected Nelore bulls with his
outstanding Leachman- and McFee-bred Red Angus females. In
addition, he used the genetics of the outstanding half-blood bull,
Copper Nine, and his son, El Cid. Mr. Mears hard work resulted in
cattle that were catching the eye of breeders from around the
world.
Eds
longtime friend, Marcos Machado Borges Jr, purchased a group of
highly selected Red Brangus females from the Mears herd to start
the MBJ Ranch Red Brangus. In a recent statement, Mr. Borges said,
I respected Ed greatly and I hope to develop the type of cattle he
would be proud of. We selected our core herd based on the
performance of the females, using calving interval and average
weaning weights as our first selection criteria. The Nelore and the
Red Angus used in this program are proven in carcass production.
By selecting according to reproductive efficiency and performance,
we started our program with problem-free females. From this solid
base, we will tweak the performance curves without sacrificing
balance.
Marcos Machado Borges Junior, an economist and animal scientist,
descendent of the Machado Borges and Lamartine Mendes families,
both of whom have been pillars of the Zebu breeds in Brazil for
many decades, carries on with determination the trailblazing spirit
of the pioneers that first imported the Zebu to Brazilian soil. A
resident of the United States for the past 10 years, Marcos has
taken on the responsibility of disseminating the Nelore breed and
its composites throughout various other countries in the Americas
such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela and
Colombia. He has given talks and participates in conferences
whenever the subject is the Brazilian Zebu. But his work is not
limited to the American continent, he has also traveled to such
countries as Thailand and Australia, among others.
Marcos never forgets his heritage and constantly spreads the word
about Uberaba, Minas Gerais, - the Center of Brazilian Zebu - its
history and the difficulties overcome by and the dedication of
those who imported the first Zebus to Brazil. He participates in
livestock shows and in innovative scientific research that
highlights the advantages of the Nelore breed with respect to its
reproductive efficiency and its carcass quality. The pioneering
spirit of his ancestors is also with him in his travels,
particularly in some of the more hazardous situations he has faced
on occasion in countries were conflicts and guerrillas are a fact
of life. Proof that Marcos work is fundamental in opening new
markets is the fact that he is the first Brazilian to open a cattle
ranch in Mexico, a market that had previously been considered
difficult because of competition. Together with another well-known
cattleman, Rubens de Carvalho, they were the first Brazilians to
participate in U.S. livestock shows and to introduce the Nelore to
Texas A&M University, whose herd, today, is one of the most
respected Nelore herds in the U.S.
The company that Marcos represents is called OB Ranch Texas
Connection; a company started by Uberaba visionaries Ovidio and
Paulo Brito. During its 15 years in the U.S. market, it has
demonstrated the potential of the Nelore breed, and has demystified
the erroneous idea that beef from Zebu breeds is not comparable to
those of European breeds. His research, in cooperation with Texas
Connection and Texas A&M University, has proved that the carcass
quality of some Nelore lineages is actually superior to the meat of
the average Angus animal, considered to be the best beef in the
United States.
Nowadays, the raising of Nelore cattle is definitely on the upswing
in the country, denoting the importance of this Brazilians
determination who carries his genetic heritage of courage and
ability to show the world the truth of Brazil through its Zebu
cattle.
Marcos has been a director of the
International Red Brangus Breeders Association since 1997. In 2004,
he took over as President of the IRRBA.
On
May 10th, 2003, the Brazilian Association of Zebu
Breeders (ABCZ) awarded Marcos Machado Borges Jr., its
International Merit Award, during Expozebu, the worlds largest
Zebu Livestock Show.
