When Boyd Endsley’s great-grandfather Robert first laid his eyes on white cattle at the 1953 Western Stock Show, the hook was set.
“He fell in love with the program and just loved the way that bull looked,” Boyd explained. “In 1954 he went to Texas and bought a truckload of cows, and in 1955 he had the first Charolais calf born in Michigan. We’ve had Charolais ever since.”
Four generations later it’s still the first thing you notice driving onto the family’s unassuming operation in northern Barry County: Hundreds of pure white Charolais cows and bulls and calves in every stage of maturity.
In a region dominated by black Angus and red Herefords, one naturally wonders: Why Charolais?
“Stubbornness,” Endsley chuckled. “Somebody’s gotta do it.
“There’s no two ways around it: It would be easier to sell black cattle here in Michigan, so half of our bulls go down to Texas.”
Michigan exporting bulls to beefy Texas sounds like a flex.
“You go where there’s a market. We’ve been taking them down there for 35 years to sell, and we did that because we had more cattle than we could sell in Michigan.
“Texas likes the lighter-colored cattle because they take the sun and the heat better. Black cattle will stand out there under the heat all day and wilt, while the white cattle can take it.
“Most of the cattle in Texas are a half or a quarter Brahma, too — because the Brahma cattle take the heat. Then they cross them with something with better meat traits.”
What’s the catch?
Endsley admits the Charolais temperament can get a little salty, and individuals with especially foul demeanors get fast-tracked to Burger Town.
