L Bar En Fuego having a scorching-hot impact on beef industry

By Lorenzo Lasater, President

Only a couple of times in a career is a breeder privileged to raise an influential bull like L Bar En Fuego. His impact has been dramatic and will be felt long after he is gone. My dad once told me it takes 1000 bulls to raise a truly game-changing herd bull. L Bar 5002 was the first, and he was in the first calf crop that I bred and raised after joining Isa Cattle Co. We have raised many good bulls since then, but these two are without a doubt the most impactful bulls I have raised.

By what metric do we measure the impact of a herdsire? Obviously, we start with progeny, which is his legacy. En Fuego has 196 progeny registered in BBU, but he has sired many more calves both internationally and commercially. Plus a great many more in the pipeline will be counted as his influence grows.

L Bar En Fuego is a real game-changer.

For me, an even more insightful measure is how well a bull’s sons perform in our annual bull sale. En Fuego has sired the high-selling bull in four sales since his sons first came online, along with many other valuable bulls. And I expect there will be many more. Raising the high-seller out of the 200 bulls we sell annually speaks to the confidence our customers place in his progeny.

Three of En Fuego’s sons have been collected within the Isa network: L Bar 4519, L Bar Habanero and San Pedro 7069. We only collect the superstars, so to have three sons reach this pinnacle is truly remarkable.

His daughters are fantastic as well—thick, feminine and highly productive. En Fuego sired one of our top donor cows, L Bar 3404. She is a three-quarter sibling to semen sire L Bar 4519. That kind of tightly knit productivity is exactly what makes line-breeding such a powerful tool.

Donor cow L Bar 3404

This spring I attended the Bar T Bar Gelbvieh bull sale in Arizona. They produce Balancer cattle (Gelbvieh hybrids), including what they call a Southern Balancer, made using Beefmaster genetics. Pictured is an L Bar En Fuego grandson along with the catalog listing. Beefmaster aficionados know you will gain efficiency, explosive growth and hardiness just by using a Beefmaster, without having to sacrifice the yield grade, health and longevity of English genetics.

This En Fuego grandson sold recently in the Bar T Bar Gelbvieh bull sale.

In Oklahoma, the Noble Research Institute is currently running an experiment on their commercial cows for their “Integrity Beef Alliance” program. They used two Beefmaster sires last year, including En Fuego, and they were so pleased with the results that they doubled the number of Beefmaster straws they put in this spring. Even the Beefmaster sceptics on staff couldn’t believe how good the calves were. You can see the quality in the photo—making those Angus cows look good!

L Bar En Fuego boasts tremendous EPDs, with eight of 12  in the top 20% of the breed and three in the top 1%, including the all-important marbling score. And you can take that number to the bank as literally hundreds of his progeny have been scanned with high marbling scores. If you are looking to improve carcass traits in your herd, En Fuego will definitely move the needle.

L Bar En Fuego is still in production at the age of nearly 12 on Gene Harmon’s Pine Tree Acres in Arkansas—a fitting way to round out a great career, though we will feel the ripples of his impact long after he is gone. A tip of the hat to this game-changing herdsire.

This En Fuego x Angus calf impressed scientists in an Integrity Beef Alliance study.

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