A Mini Highlander might be perfect for his farm, so Ill try to suggest it to him. Water, piping, and tank costs are included, as are the cost of a loading chute and gates for handling the cattle. Stocker or backgrounding operations purchase the weaned calf from the commercial cow-calf producers. Remember that you dont have to buy the very best cattle to have good animals on your farm. Consider the value of gain for your calves. "Buy the cattle low. The financial success of a stocker operation will depend on some factors which are largely outside of the producers control, like weather and price spread. Burt Rutherford. Dont get me wrong, it is quite an investment and it is a huge step for any homesteader. Keep a close eye on them for a week or two since they may be encountering viruses that theyve never dealt with before, and they may get sick. Just took a quick look at the auction reports. Priced to sell give me a. You could always hay your fields and sell your hay - I don't do this so have no idea if haying is profitable but it seems I am always buying a little hay each year and a lot of cattle men buy a LOT of hay each year. Immunization is only one piece of the equation. Conformation: Male animals should look masculine; females should look feminine. Disposition is especially important for dairy animals that you will be handling on a daily basis. Contact CIAS for more information about this research. Its often difficult to find calves that are healthy and strong, and a calf that struggles to stay healthy may never grow to its full potential. Breathing: Animals should breathe normally. My husband teases me about our eight-dollar-per-gallon milk. Everyone has grass in the spring. Buyers know what they want and will pay top dollar for it. Some coughing may be normal if the farmer is feeding powdery feed or dusty hay. The investment paid off. Even with 240 days on feed, calves will require a well-managed health and feed protocol to hit the spring . While it could be argued cattle are less work than sheep, they still require a great deal of effort. I might go buy a few next week. Crosses will be easier for you to learn on, for starters. If you get in a rush and dont think the process over, you may end up buying cattle that bring you more frustration than pleasure. I find this blog very compelling. Otherwise your just trading dollars. And there are some hints in this definition that help define the practice of raising stockers, Detzel says. Larger animals could be sold for more money on the market as they yield more meat. If the realized VOG is more than the COG, the seller will make a profit. Or heifers and breed them and sell as bred in the fall? If you have a bad feeling about something, let the opportunity go by. Probably less profit but also gets rid of the chance of a loss. Heifer calves were consistently discounted relative to steers, from $8.00/cwt. Like someone said before. In winter, its normal for the coat to be thicker and fuller, but the animal should not have bald spots. While everyone else was bidding on a slaughter cow, he was bidding on a bred cow. You dont want to risk that shes pregnant. Not Holsteins. Equipment costs include depreciation, fuel, and maintenance. This pdf from Mississippi State Universityexplains in detail what a good dairy cow should look like. Raising bottle babies can be a fun, rewarding experience. You buy the calves, buy the corn futures contract, sell your beef futures contract. Schuster worked with a UW-Madison team including Rick Klemme, CIAS director, Dan Schaefer and Mike Siemens of Animal Sciences, Dan Undersander of Agronomy, and stocker operator and veterinarian Larry Smith to develop a stocker budget. Bring a cattle-wise friend along to make sure that you get a good deal. March is a good time to find this type. Angus cattle are one of the most popular breeds of cattle in the US. The break-even selling price for beef stockers was $0.59 per pound, which is a $0.21 price spread. In winter, it's normal for the coat to be thicker and fuller, but the animal should not have bald spots. Monitoring the animals rumen fill provides a visual assessment of their nutrition. The spring seasonal rally is likely to extend well into April. To make the most profit, its necessary to buy inexpensive animals. Start your search early, and work with established buyers and producers. Beef Magazine is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC. Young cows can have trouble calving if theyre too young, and they need to expend most of their energy into growing their own bodies rather than supporting a pregnancy. There may be some grass under all those weeds, but the cow will have to work mighty hard to be fed. Outdoor Hub, LLC (d/b/a Carbon Media Group), 30800 Telegraph Rd, Suite 1921, Bingham Farms, MI 48025 USA. Thats because theyre eating better than they previously had. 14 head of Hereford bred and exposed cows and pairs. Last year 500lb feeders were $1.70-2.25 around here. Tonsor recommends www.beefbasis.com as a resource to help project the VOG. Jason Carter, Executive Secretary of the Virginia Cattlemen's . One thing I want to mention is that raising cattle will probably not make you very much money. You touched on many issues but I need information on finishing the cow prior to butchering. Figure out a cost per head per day. Paid a fortune to ship them to his place. Being out with the herd in the morning moving line or water is the best way to start my day.. Cows generally start coming into heat, or ovulating, when they are around a year old, but it can begin sooner. If shes between 7-12 months old, you want that answer to be no. If we spend our time judging each other we give up the time to love each other. Dont fool yourself into thinking that cattle, beef or dairy, will pay their own way or make you money for a few years. A simple equation for VOG is: (Sale Price - Purchase Price)/ (Sale Weight - Purchase Weight). In the example above, a producer would need to add the 150poundsper feeder steer for less than $126/head or $0.84/poundto add profit to their operation. A field full of pigweed, broom sedge, blackberry briars, and thistle will starve a cow. Think about the land, feed, equipment, facilities, labor, etc. This is just what it sounds like: You own a cow herd, then sell the calves that are produced. The livestock can be self-produced or bought in. Most likely, there is some sort of problem with the cow and they need to get rid of her at bargain-basement prices. We don't own or operate any feedlots, so we buy cattle from nearly 4,000 independent feeders and ranchers. for the three years. What seems like a lot of grass may not feed as many cattle as you expect, especially during the dry season. I enjoy milking and handling my cow every day. Implement an immunization schedule for respiratory and clostridial diseases. On 80 acres in western Nebraska, a group of cattle ranchers and feedlot owners this spring plans to break ground on a $325 million processing plant they say will boost competitionand livestock pricesin one of the country's top beef-producing regions. They calculated the point where returns equal costs (break-even points) by varying daily rate of gain and price spread. Blasi says that cutting bulls or those that have not been castrated at birth is also a riskier investment. However, you do want one that is healthy. Learn how your comment data is processed. However, the milk-cow project has been much more of a money hole than the beef-cow project. In fact, most cows need to wait until they are at least two years old before they have their first calf. This past year saw the beef cattle industry begin to bounce back from the COVID pandemic and the subsequent implications on supply and demand. Nose: Likewise, avoid animals that have copious mucus coming from their noses. Registered in England and Wales. New stocker operators tend to overestimate the amount of forage they have when they realize that they will not have to graze their [cattle] late into the season because they will likely be sold in the early fall.. Its quite a gamble and you want your first experience with cows to be as easy as possible. These cows don't produce any milk, you just feed them to gain weight and then sell them. However, you will have to absorb that market risk and be exposed for a longer period of time to do that. To calculate the value of gain, the total dollar value per head in the beginning is subtracted from the total dollar value per head at the end. They supply our beef plants in the Midwest, South and Pacific Northwest. Youve invested time and resources into breeding the cows, raising the calves and getting them weaned. For cow-calf producers who spring calve, now seems like a logical time to market weaned calves. A simple equation for VOG is: (Sale Price Purchase Price)/(Sale Weight Purchase Weight). The absolute worst place to buy cattle is at a livestock auction. Ok I have another question. 2. If a producer has done his or her homework, has studied the future market and calculated their breakeven, retained ownership of calves through the feed yard might be a viable choice. operations buy calves and enhance their weight, age, maturity, and in many cases, quality [Peel, p. 1]. Most spring-born calves are weaned at 5 to 7 months and some go into a backgrounding program, depending on the end target. On good grazing, you could run lean cattle on four- to six-month cycles. Detzel leverages his relationship with the producer he buys his calves from. Feeding Monensin To Developing Heifers: Is It Worth It? Buying better quality stock also means being prepared to reject a delivery of cattle or walking away at an auction. There are four factors that need to be considered to obtain profit from feeding cull cows. Dairy cows will be much slimmer than beef animals, but they shouldnt look like walking skeletons. This is possible, but extremely unlikely for many, many years. So I hoped to find someone who allready knows a bit more But Arnold, 67, said . She should be interested in what is going on around her, but she shouldnt be so nervous that shes dancing, sprinting away from you, or charging you. Rumen papillae are developed with grain feeding and are needed to increase the ADG. You will need to regularly monitor their feed and water supplies and their general wellbeing. Many sale barns offer special value-added calf sales, and a variety of value-added programs are available. Regardless of when you sell your calves, this vitamin and mineral supplement has all the fortification your animals will need combined with Amaferm, a precision prebiotic designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying nutrient supply for maximum performance. Retained ownership is an alternative that allows the producer to continue owning the cattle through the feed yard, while a feeder finishes the cattle and then sells them to a packer. However, I love raising cattle and we dont do it for the money. For many homesteaders, the animals are the most exciting part, but dont put the cart before the horse, or in this case the cow before the pasture. The net dollar value per head is then divided by the pounds of gain per head to determine the value of gain per pound. Buying vaccinated cattle decreases the chances for common diseases such as pink eye and bovine respiratory disease, which is similar to pneumonia in humans. Number 8860726. If you can find a weaned heifer or two and a steer from a healthy, reputable herd, that is a great place to start your own herd of cattle. But being too cheap can end up eating into profits over the long run. Even if they were vaccinated in the past, it wont hurt them to do it again, and that way that you make sure that they are protected. Its a net margin that drives the profit. Aug 15, 2009. Many homesteaders dream of owning a dairy cow that can provide them with milk and a yearly steer for the freezer, but save that dream for the future when youve learned a little more about cows and taking care of them. That would be his other option ..buy a couple of old cows with calves at foot. Commercial feedlots are the major finishers of beef. © 1995 - 2023 Farm Journal, Inc. All RightsReserved. Stocker operations basically allow the calves to "grow up" after weaning so that they are better suited to go into a feedlot to be finished. We do enjoy improving our herd, and they do a valuable service in keeping our fields free of brush and trees. Overall, the herd averaged a higher daily weight gain than the previous year. Slaughter animals around here were $1.35-$1.65 if you finish them yourself you can do ok. When you get home, youll probably want to go ahead and vaccinate the cattle for the diseases that are common in your area. You can resell in the fall but again that's what everyone dose. Youll shoot for a daily gain between 1 12 to 3 pounds a day, Blasi says. The facility can accommodate more than 400 head of 500-pound calves at any one time. The corn, feeder cattle inverse relationship is critical to the cattle industry, Tonsor reminds. Cow-calf operations are the backbone of the beef industry and are made up mostly of smaller operations that own anywhere from 10 to 100 cows. We try to keep about 20 on hand. If you are from out of the area, you may be able to buy a good cow who is a little underfed for less than you might expect to pay in normal times. This is a lot of meat and will fill up a small chest freezer with top grade steak . document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()). Even though the average herd size in the United States is less than 100 head of 500-pound cattle, buyers want to know a grower has enough cattle to make a sizable load. A formula is a slippery thing in the cattle business, but there are plenty of factors that go into one. One goal of the homesteading lifestyle is to live as independently as possible, providing for oneself and ones family. Good businessmen buy these, feed them well, to fatten, then sell them off. Livestock auctions generally fall into two categories: regular weekly sales and special sales: Regular sales are held each week at a specific date and time. After this, the calves are fattened as feeder cattle at special fattening farms until they have reached the slaughter weight of between 1050 and 1200 pounds. The breakeven calculation is based on feeding the steer for 150 days at an average rate of gain of 2.0 lbs. The use of conventional, unsexed semen will result in approximately 50% of the calves being heifers, some of which can be raised for replacements in the milking herd, and approximately 50% of the calves will be bulls. Young cows should look young. LivestockMarket.com is the go-to online platform for private treaty sales of livestock, horses, and hay. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Avoid buying a cow with a mucus discharge around the eyes. Simply stated, cost of gain (COG) is the marginal cost of putting weight on your cattle. The market views this as a detriment because the castration process is much more difficult on the calf than if it was done at a younger age. First, check out the quality of your fields. Being out with the herd in the morning moving line or water is the best way to, Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit. All your prices are locked in. Getting into stockers was a time-versus-return issue. A forum community dedicated to living sustainably and self sufficiently. This will help you round them up when you need them because they will begin to associate you with snacks. Profits depend on the difference between the cost of buying calves and the return from selling prime cattle, less production costs. Beef cows are generally more flighty than dairy animals, but they shouldnt bolt if you or the farmer walks quietly among them. Depending on their weaning weight, calves could require up to 240 days to transition from weaning to finish. Come join the discussion about livestock, farming, gardening, DIY projects, hobbies, recipes, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! The problem, though, with many auctions is that you cant tell from looking at the cow whether she is sound, healthy, and strong. . This information would be most helpful. Even if they seem nice, they may not be completely honest. A price slide of $15 per cwt, would mean that for each 100 lb increase in the bull's weight, his price decreases by $15 per cwt. When the social-worker-turned-farmer accepted a full-time position with the Ulster County Cooperative Extension office, he didnt have the time for harvesting crops and maintaining equipment. Larger negative margins give less value for a pound of gain. Since a cows pregnancy lasts for 9 months, this means that they shouldnt be bred until 15 months of age. One way to help make sure your calves grow efficiently, while staying healthy is to provide them with the VitaFerm Gain Smart mineral, designed for weaned calves through yearlings. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. If you bought your property already fenced, dont assume that the fencing is intact. It is research-proven to promote calf health and vigor, stimulate digestion and increase nutrient absorption for optimum gain. Fall 2021 Cattle Market Situation and Outlook. Early herd rebuilding could happen through the bred cow market, 2023 meat production expected to decline 1%, Protect your grazing cattle all summer with extended-release deworming, Cattle industry honors environmental stewards, Cattle on feed and beef cold storage stocks, Allowed HTML tags:

. Like any good business manager, producers need to use the resources available to them with some practical record-keeping information to determine the best time of year for them to market their feeder calves. Wild cattle are a pain in the neck to handle, and while you may be hopeful that you can calm her, you dont want this to be your first experience with cattle. Cows will find the one hole in your fence, and it usually happens when youre all dressed up and headed to a wedding or a funeral. After youve gotten the hang of caring for them, you may want to add one or two bred cows. Forage finishing capitalizes on the beef animal's ability to convert forage into muscle protein through the aid of microbial breakdown of forage celluloses in the rumen. If you dont measure it, you cant manage it, Tonsor said. Jason Detzels Diamond Hills Farm in Hudson, New York, started as a cow/calf operation. Any sound will do, ringing a bell, honking your car horn, or even playing an instrument. First, the cows have to be thin but healthy. The moral of the story is, get a drug addiction. Eyes: The eyes should be bright and clear. 1. Even just 3 or 4 months of growth in a heifer can mean the difference between an easy calving and a healthy, strong, good-sized calf and a difficult calving and small calf. 2), Recipe: Easy Homemade Peppercorn Ranch Dressing, Make A Meadow Anywhere With Tiny + Wild, Favorite Jung & Johnnys Seeds For Your 2023 Garden, finishing, according to Dale Blasi, a professor/exten, They should be properly weaned, Blasi says. My biggest piece of advice is to sit down with an extension professional, an NRCS grazing consultant or any of the other fine experts that inhabit our national agricultural agencies, Detzel says. Given the big price difference between thin and fat cattle, you could make good . Knowledge and skills. Just weaned calves about 6mo old will cost the most, but gain good on grass. These animals likely look a little rough and need TLC. Avg. Feed, conditions (should they be pinned) duration of time to finish. If one is present, you can have a vet remove it, but keep that in mind as you bargain for price. Look at lots of pictures of cows, both show cows and non-show cows, and start to determine what commonalities the best cows have. He paid more for preconditioned cattle who were vaccinated. The stocker cattle market is an opportunistic one. This is a great definition. Phone: (254) 283-7992. It all goes back to supply and demand. If calves are bawling or commingled from numerous sources together, it means they were just separated from their mother and thrust into a challenging environment. For many parts of the United States, though, a good windbreak will be sufficient in the winter. If you have a farming neighbor, talk to him and ask him to show you his best cows. If the realized VOG is more than the COG, the seller will make a profit. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. This may indicate pinkeye. Choice beef cutout was at $272 per hundredweight on April 9, up $20 . The value of gain (VOG) takes that a step further to determine if the cost of adding weight before selling your calves will help you turn an increased profit. Therefore, for calves to be ready for market on May 1, they need to be weaned in early September at the appropriate age and weight. January, 1999, Our WorkFarming SystemsFood SystemsBeginning Farmer Resources DonateAbout CIAS, All eventsThe Great Lakes Great Apple CrunchThe Wisconsin Chili LunchNative Nations Workshop, UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems1535 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706 608-262-5200Map. This budget shows profits ranging from $80 to $100 per head with a management charge of $18 per acre included. Success with stocker cattle is akin to walking a fine line. However, it ultimately helps producers determine the optimal weight to market their feeder calves. In this example, beef stockers are purchased for $0.80 per pound and sold for $0.68 per pound, a price spread of $0.12. Body: Beef animals, both cows and steers, should be beefy. 9. Those stickers are the tip-off that the cattle came from the auction. (Privacy Policy) *. Our Angus heifers start having reliable heats when they are around 9 or 10 months old. The feedlot segment takes these calves and finishes While in the South, the price advantage of selling in the first quarter of the year ranges from $0.05 to $0.11 higher. Cattle that are thick, muscular and have records for immunizations also bring the best prices. Types of Livestock Auctions. So, if a bull weighed 600 lbs, rather than 550, his price . The teams assumptions resulted in a per head net return (profit) of $85.17 for the beef stockers and $71.08 for the Holstein stockers. Cattle are herd creatures and your cow will become lonely and probably quite annoying if she doesnt have company in the field. Add in your costs and you come up with the highest amount you can pay for calves. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. A big-framed calf like a Charolais might go into a feedlot sooner, whereas a smaller frame-size calf might be backgrounded longer or might go to grass.". That is roughly . The enterprise budgets require several assumptions. Take your time and enjoy the process. Typically, stocker buyers buy em ugly and sell em pretty by finding cattle that are have recently been weaned or are coming out of their first winter. When its time to ship the cattle, how they are handled can significantly impact their weight and ultimately the price they bring. This is the best way to get to know what the going rate for cattle is. Sell them high." As you might expect, this is a great over-simplification, but you get the idea. It can be difficult to source the cattle you want, but that doesnt mean that you are locked into one choice, he says. We have been able to raise our own beef. "These cattle, both steers and heifers, are grazing to grow. On average, the discount was $8.60/cwt. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC. Friends and viewers anyone looking to buy 30 good Cows and Calves to fatten and or checkout lot 721 on Auctionsplus tomorrow. It doesn't matter whether they are steers or heifers. Both beef and dairy cows should have straight backs that are not swayed. Visit with potential buyers and make them aware of what you have available, Blasi says. The University of Kentucky describes a stocker calf as a steer or heifer that is 6 to 9 months of age and weighs 400 to 700 pounds. She also provides copywriting services for small businesses. Additionally, its very easy for a respiratory illness to become pneumonia in young cattle especially. Profit is zero at the break-even price, so farmers need to calculate and add a targeted profit, Schuster says. The key to profitability is good management and knowing what works best for your operation. it gives you a lot to think about. The budget assumed a $0.22 price spread for the Holstein stockers. corn has three pounds more of digestible fat than barley and barley has 1.5 pounds more of digestible protein than corn. How to market cattle to maximize value. They are able to eat grass and hay and live away from their mamas. You can also subscribe without commenting. These folks can help you set up your grazing, water and marketing plans. Sometimes people will buy cattle at auction and try to resale them at a profit. Preparing Bull Calves for a Feedlot 18 Veterinarian Check 18 Feed Ration 21 Key Ingredients 21 Fiber 22. Together, they go in on trucking and ship their cattle out of state to auction in Missouri. Since cattle are naturally grazing animals, some consumers seek out beef from cattle reared in their "natural environment". Bought 50 calves at $1.00 a pound in the spring. Its nice that you talked about how you should try to learn about what makes a good cow before you buy. If you're lucky, you have the cash available to do this. Steers? The cost of wintering an animal is more than any other season, Tonsor said. Email Seller Video Chat. Those cows should be bred back, and the cycle continues. At any rate, by the time you pay for the bottle calf, milk replacer, calf starter, and high-quality hay, you probably would have been better off to just buy a weaned calf, which is what I recommend for beginners. The key is providing enough space in the pasture for the cattle to lounge and ruminate, and carry low stress. Then you can go out have a look and have your pick.. You want muscle mass marbled with fat for good cuts of meat. Wait and save your money until you can afford what you really want. Im just explaining the realities of cattle farming. The rumen fill is a triangle shaped area on the left hip of the cow. We take two percent shrink off the top because of undigested feed in the digestive tract, Blasi says. 1. Detzel has a few white cows in his herd and one with horns, which he knows are really going to get discounted. Broadly speaking, there are three different types of cattle operations. Castrating at an older age is also physically harder for the animal to recover. You can purchase different types of cattle such as dairy or beef. If youve never owned cattle before, Id recommend planning on buying a commercial-beef-cross weaned heifer or a steer to begin with. Detzel has found that establishing a relationship with a cow/calf operation has increased his chances for success. Wagyu calves can be 40 times the price of US cattle. Words: Sheryn Dean Raising a couple of beefies is a relatively easy way to keep your grass under control and provide the family with meat. Some farmers price their cattle higher and expect you to dicker with them.