Maggie's Farm

Anymore, running a mixed herd is the safest route to go...if you are running your cattle through the sale barns. The buyers (commercial buyers) are always docking you over one issue or another. If you run Brahman one week through the sale, they'll hit you on ears, dewlap, hump. If you run a few Simmental the next week, they'll dock you on hips and shoulders. If run a couple of Keyes through, they'll dock you on long legs. If you run through a few Beefmaster they'll dock you on short legs, etc. You have the idea, the buyer's will hit you on anything they can get away with to save a few dead presidents.
In the '90s, when "certified" Angus became the flavour of the decade, I thought about going registered Angus. However, one day I sat at a table with three USDA grade inspectors who graded beef at IBP in Amarillo, Texas only to learn that the USDA certified anything that was eighty-percent black in colour as being "Angus". It didn't matter what breed or mix. Needless to say, I wasn't going to waste my money to build a registered Angus herd upon that premise.
Over the past few decades, my family has raised registered and mixed cattle. I've run registered Charolais, Simmental, Whiteface, Santa Gertrudis, Watusi, Beefmaster, and now I'm looking at Droughtmaster cattle. Regardless, I have learned that dollar for dollar, I make as much on a mixed herd as I do with a registered breed. I have a cow/calf operation so I'm not really interested selling semen or show cattle. So it works differently depending on what fits your need.
Anyway, like you, I'm partial to mixed herds over registered, they're simply easier to deal with.