buying calves to fatten and sell

Health and Disease 26 Animals Going Off Feedlot 26 Lameness 27 . Wagyu calves can be 40 times the price of US cattle. Sell them high." As you might expect, this is a great over-simplification, but you get the idea. However, you will have to absorb that market risk and be exposed for a longer period of time to do that. 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. 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. "Buy the cattle low. If you dont have a way to transport the cattle home, you will need to ask the farmer if he delivers and what his price is for that. Cattle that are thick, muscular and have records for immunizations also bring the best prices. And there are some hints in this definition that help define the practice of raising stockers," Detzel says. Before you buy, try to learn about what makes a good cow. Immunization is only one piece of the equation. Fatten them cheaply. He had all the slaughter cows palpated and bought any that were bred. Educate yourself before you take your money out of the bank and you wont get snookered as you add cattle to your homestead. First, check out the quality of your fields. In winter, its normal for the coat to be thicker and fuller, but the animal should not have bald spots. In terms of equipment, think about trailers, feeders, waterers, chutes . Add in your costs and you come up with the highest amount you can pay for calves. Additionally, please note that the price of the calf sold ($1.55/lb.) But dont expect him to advise you on building your herd. You want muscle mass marbled with fat for good cuts of meat. Good dairy cows are pricey; they are also fragile and it seems that weve had more than our fair share of bad luck with dairy cows. Their legs should be sturdy, well-balanced, and straight. But being too cheap can end up eating into profits over the long run. I also own a milk cow. Steers? Reading down and across the tables, producers will find a predicted break-even purchase price for stockers using our budget. In fact, most cows need to wait until they are at least two years old before they have their first calf. Thank you for pointing out that owning cattle can help you achieve your goal of living independently. Registered in England and Wales. One thing I want to mention is that raising cattle will probably not make you very much money. You can purchase different types of cattle such as dairy or beef. Create a vaccination schedule for your cattle and follow it. 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. Apart from that our costs are minimal. Jason Detzels Diamond Hills Farm in Hudson, New York, started as a cow/calf operation. If you have the grass, buying calves and grazing them on is the best way to fill the freezer with lots of lovely beef. Also, check your fencing. A simple equation for VOG is: (Sale Price - Purchase Price)/ (Sale Weight - Purchase Weight). Getting into stockers was a time-versus-return issue. Much of what you pay for a cow will be out of your control; the market is what it is. 1. Required fields are marked *. Its quite a gamble and you want your first experience with cows to be as easy as possible. Most homesteaders dont have money to waste on a poor decision, so take your time. After a typical birth the calf should breathe within 30 seconds of delivery, says Dr. Geof Smith, dairy technical services veterinarian for Zoetis. Forage Finishing. But managing pasture, animals, costs, and markets plays a key role in determining the level of profit producers can expect. If you plan to feed the cattle on your own ranch, Utah State University Extension recommends purchasing calves that weigh from 400 to 500 pounds and feeding them until they reach between 700 to . Jason Carter, Executive Secretary of the Virginia Cattlemen's . Probably less profit but also gets rid of the chance of a loss. Feedback, questions or accessibility issues: Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems Logo Image, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW Extension Publication A3718: Stocker enterprise budgets for grass-based systems, Outwintering dairy cattle: the fate of manure components (Research Brief #35), Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers (Research Brief #37), 2023 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Being out with the herd in the morning moving line or water is the best way to start my day.. You will have time to get used to caring for the cows before they need to be bred, something that will need to happen around the time they are fifteen months of age. There are four factors that need to be considered to obtain profit from feeding cull cows. If you tend to be impulsive, you may want to go by and look at cattle before you bring the livestock trailer along. Significantly higher rent will have a negative impact on profit potential, unless yields and stocking rates can be increased.. In the example above, a producer would need to add the 150 pounds per feeder steer for less than $126/head or $0.84/ pound to add profit to their operation. Some light calves will be put on a growing ration during winter . A producer who is buying Holstein stockers that will gain 2 pounds per day and sell for $0.65 per pound in fall can pay up to $1.09 per pound in spring and break even. The reason is that they produce quality beef, and a lot of people would rather raise their own beef than purchase it from the store. The key to profitability is good management and knowing what works best for your operation. Monitoring the animals rumen fill provides a visual assessment of their nutrition. This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. The worksheet starts with the value of the purchased calf and the projected value of the calf after 150 days on feed. Anticipating the market is hard with steers meant to be fed out or backgrounded, but relatively easy with bred replacement heifers. Producers need to be aware of all their input costs and keep records, not only of their cost of gain, but also calculate the value of gain. My job has shifted and for the next few years I will not be available November through end of February to care for animals. For the first week or two, you may want to keep the cattle in a smaller pen. Most spring-born calves are weaned at 5 to 7 months and some go into a backgrounding program, depending on the end target. Be sure that you can provide plenty of water in the summer and winter. So if you are wanting to raise cattle for meat, then you should definitely look into this breed. Getting into stockers was a time-versus-return issue for me, Detzel says, and I didnt have to give up my cattle all together. They are excellent meat producers and can easily give you 50 percent of their weight in meat alone. Dont get me wrong, it is quite an investment and it is a huge step for any homesteader. Thank you it is very well done. Many feeders will background calves into a stocker program, Blasi says. Conformation: Male animals should look masculine; females should look feminine. for the three years. These differences are no doubt responsible for the better returns of corn over barley usually reported in feeding experiments. So I hoped to find someone who allready knows a bit more This is possible, but extremely unlikely for many, many years. First of all, determine what type of cattle you are looking for. If the realized VOG is more than the COG, the seller will make a profit. Both beef and dairy cows should have straight backs that are not swayed. My husband teases me about our eight-dollar-per-gallon milk. As they made arrangements to sell about 120 head of cattle in March 2020, they reached out to a friend who owns a feed lot that sells animals to a JBS plant in Utah. Knew guy, happened to be in the family, who was friends with the auction house. Angus cattle are one of the most popular breeds of cattle in the US. 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. We supply the birds, feed and technical advice, while the farmers care for the chickens by providing the farm, housing and labor. Chances are they can help you generate a few different names to source from. However, when buying from total strangers, use caution. Also, if the cows have large, round stickers on their bodies or sticky areas of adhesive on their coats, you may want to pass. Our Angus heifers start having reliable heats when they are around 9 or 10 months old. There was a lot to it, but the raw basic lesson was to check the beef futures contract prices. Slaughter animals around here were $1.35-$1.65 if you finish them yourself you can do ok. The 100 acres used in the operation has an exterior fence with six interior paddocks. A formula is a slippery thing in the cattle business, but there are plenty of factors that go into one. For updated research on stocker enterprise budgets, see UW Extension Publication A3718: Stocker enterprise budgets for grass-based systems. If you can't figure in a profit, see if you can take care of someone else's cattle. However, that doesnt necessarily mean its the most advantageous to buy the cheapest animals. Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesnt care about your plans. If you have a farming neighbor, talk to him and ask him to show you his best cows. I find this blog very compelling. The enterprise budgets require several assumptions. When the cow receives enough to eat, its flat and fleshy, rather than concaved in towards their hip. Due to the increase in absorption and digestion, your calves should gain more efficiently and convert and grow more quickly. Ask if the heifer has been around a bull. For cattle, you need sunny fields with grasses and legumes. Farmers who wish to wish to evaluate a stocker enterprises profitability need to know how much they can pay for calves in the spring and still make a profit in the fall. These animals are used for research studies on production-related topics. "The ACDP and the training sessions it provided helped me develop a feeding program to properly fatten cattle and maximize the profit margin of my business, and it worked!" he exclaimed. Sale of domestic calves for fattening. Or see if someone else could take care of your cattle perhaps? Additionally, its very easy for a respiratory illness to become pneumonia in young cattle especially. Water, piping, and tank costs are included, as are the cost of a loading chute and gates for handling the cattle. Aug 15, 2009. However, be sure to budget for at least two cows if you dont have any other livestock. Farmers must maintain a high weight-gain rate for the animals, and meet strict quality targets. He had 60 acres of lush pasture. Steers should have both testicles removed. We take two percent shrink off the top because of undigested feed in the digestive tract, Blasi says. In this example, beef stockers are purchased for $0.80 per pound and sold for $0.68 per pound, a price spread of $0.12. This pdf from the Alabama Extension service, This pdf from Mississippi State University. Cattle dont like change, so if you can buy the same brand of feed from the original owner, that will help them adjust to the change. Beef cows are generally more flighty than dairy animals, but they shouldnt bolt if you or the farmer walks quietly among them. Everything is cheaper by a good bit this year. If you call someone, be respectful of their time. Like someone said before. After this, the calves are fattened as feeder cattle at special fattening farms until they have reached the slaughter weight of between 1050 and 1200 pounds. The spring seasonal rally is likely to extend well into April. Things like fencing, pasture renovation, and water need to be fully considered before you ever put the first cow on the property. The adult cows can sell for as much as . Stressed cattle drop weight quickly under stress. Take your time and enjoy the process. Once a producer has calculated their value of gain, they must evaluate whether or not they can increase their returns by adding additional weight to their feeder calves. Feed, conditions (should they be pinned) duration of time to finish. But Detzel never allowed access on any one lot for more than four days. Commercial feedlots are the major finishers of beef. Fixing a problem with a few dozen can be much more difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. That means having money in place to buy at least one cow. If you dont measure it, you cant manage it, Tonsor said. Angus are fairly hardy for cattle, and can be left alone for some time. Larger negative margins give less value for a pound of gain. Those stickers are the tip-off that the cattle came from the auction. The numbers ($) will be based on gain. Equipment costs include depreciation, fuel, and maintenance. Eyes: The eyes should be bright and clear. Bring a cattle-wise friend along to make sure that you get a good deal. For many parts of the United States, though, a good windbreak will be sufficient in the winter. Larger animals could be sold for more money on the market as they yield more meat. 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.. Wait and save your money until you can afford what you really want. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. All you need is your pasture and enough luck they don't die. Answer (1 of 2): What kind of cattle? Different class include cows, heifer, bulls and steer. 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. That would be his other option ..buy a couple of old cows with calves at foot. It's considered a more conservative type of cattle operation, but there are still a lot . Young cows should look young. A Mini Highlander might be perfect for his farm, so Ill try to suggest it to him. The short answer is when prices are low you buy, and when prices are high you sell. This past year saw the beef cattle industry begin to bounce back from the COVID pandemic and the subsequent implications on supply and demand. Generally, once a producer does the calculations, selling the calves post-weaning doesnt look as bad as it once did. 1,484. Your email address will not be published. Selecting your replacement heifers to meet long-term herd goals, Veterinarian perspectives from the birthing barn: Part 2. The feedlot owner, often a speculator, buys animals specifically for . They fell as low as $109 per hundredweight at the end of January. Friends and viewers anyone looking to buy 30 good Cows and Calves to fatten and or checkout lot 721 on Auctionsplus tomorrow. The facility can accommodate more than 400 head of 500-pound calves at any one time. © 1995 - 2023 Farm Journal, Inc. All RightsReserved. The results give New York farmers an idea for the ways people are getting paid at auction. While in the South, the price advantage of selling in the first quarter of the year ranges from $0.05 to $0.11 higher. The breakeven calculation is based on feeding the steer for 150 days at an average rate of gain of 2.0 lbs. He only treated two cattle in 2019. Think about the land, feed, equipment, facilities, labor, etc. That is why the prices change so much. They modeled financial returns to farmers using beef stockers (those from beef cattle breeds) and Holstein stockers over a six-month grazing season, and used the model to calculate costs and returns on a per head and per acre basis for the stocker and pasture enterprises. And there are some hints in this definition that help define the practice of raising stockers, Detzel says. The enterprise budget takes into consideration costs of labor, pasture, minerals, implants, marketing, veterinary, pumping water, interest, and miscellaneous needs. Regular sales attract all types of animals, but you'll routinely see dairy bull calves, dairy cull cows and finished . It seems my uncle wants to buy cattle for his small farm, however, he couldnt seem to pick what type to get. Daily rate of gain has an important impact on the profitability of the operation. Ok I have another question. There are 8 confirmed bred cows, and 4 open/exposed cows that have been running with the Brahman bull pictured. 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. is more than the value of gain per pound ($0.84/lb.) Some coughing may be normal if the farmer is feeding powdery feed or dusty hay. You touched on many issues but I need information on finishing the cow prior to butchering. Dont get in a hurry as you search for cattle. Avoid buying a cow with a mucus discharge around the eyes. for Holstein feeders 300-600# .65-.85 so cheap compared to last year. Knowledge and skills. As in most homesteading projects, you should plan to start small. First, the cows have to be thin but healthy. Producers must analyze their individual situation to determine if the value of the additional pounds will be greater than the cost of gain. However, as a general rule, with cattle, as with everything else in the world, you get what you pay for. READ Make more money with your livestock. 2. If it isn't, you need to intervene. Cow-Calf Operation. 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. However, it ultimately helps producers determine the optimal weight to market their feeder calves. JNix/Shutterstock. I have read that steers are high in spring and low in fall, which could limit profit. Land availability and feed resources are often limiting factors. Also, remember that cattle eat a tremendous amount of forage. Look at your barns and outbuildings, particularly if you live in an area that sees subzero temperatures and copious precipitation in the winter. The land rent is assumed to be $60 per acre. But when the producer pays $1.39 per pound in the spring (a price spread of $0.69), the cattle need to gain 2.4 pounds per head per day for the operation to reach the break-even point. Youve invested time and resources into breeding the cows, raising the calves and getting them weaned. This pdf from the Alabama Extension servicegoes into great detail about what makes a good beef animal. Knowing the seller seems to improve a buyers chances for acquiring healthier cattle. Image At the Alderson family . document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()). 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. The cattle will tell you if theyre not getting enough to eat, he says. For example, a producer who is buying beef stockers with expectations of selling them in the fall for $0.65 per pound with a daily rate of gain of 2.2 pounds per day can pay up to $0.93 per pound for calves and break even. Increasing the number of earlier calving cows will increase the average weaning weight in the fall. But if you're like most people, you may need to take out a loan to get your business started. Last year 500lb feeders were $1.70-2.25 around here. Any time Ive rushed into a cow-buying decision, ignoring the voice that said,Maybe this isnt a good idea Ive regretted it. It assumes that the producer already has basic equipment for fence construction and maintenance and cutting and raking hay. Producers must analyze their individual situation to determine if the value of the additional pounds will be . Buying better quality stock also means being prepared to reject a delivery of cattle or walking away at an auction. Sometimes people will buy cattle at auction and try to resale them at a profit. June 14, 2022 long lake, florence county, wi long lake, florence county, wi His contract with the seller included treatment of any sick after they arrived on his property. Coat: The coat of a healthy animal should be smooth. 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. What breeds are common in your area? Thanks for that. That is roughly . They too should have straight, strong legs and move smoothly as they walk. The major feed components especially alfalfa-grass hay should be Feed grains . Ask the questions that you have and listen carefully to the answers. Old Man Winter isnt always kind to cattle producers, and therefore, it is more costly to raise a calf through the winter, when you are devoting additional resources to both the mother cow and her offspring. to sell is a weaned calf weighing around 350 to 550 pounds. 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. Take a few weeks to check out the prices for cows in your area. Steve Arnold, a rancher in Pozo, California, said 12 of the last 15 years have brought less than half of normal rainfall to his area about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles. But, is this really the best time to sell? Tonsor reminds producers that if they do choose to keep their spring-born calves until they are yearlings and sell them in the spring, that is when calculating VOG is imperative. You dont know these people. He paid more for preconditioned cattle who were vaccinated. Things can fall apart quickly for these calves., help you set up your grazing, water and marketing, Buyers know what they want and will pay top dollar for. Ask about the age of the cow. All rights reserved. The break-even selling price for Holstein stockers is just under $0.58 per pound, which is a $0.32 price spread. The team found that each additional 0.1 pound of gain per day for both beef and Holstein stockers is worth about $13 (net) per head when they are sold, using the numbers in this example, and keeping in mind that prices per pound may decrease as weights increase. You can also subscribe without commenting. Producers should consider taking the time to calculate their expected value of gain to help decide the optimal weight to sell their feeder calves. Maybe youll even have a chance for a private treaty.. 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. But if shes trying to destroy the fencing or hurt herself in an effort to flee your presence, you probably want to pass on her. But there is no further information online to which point it's profitable to feed them. The net dollar value per head is then divided by the pounds of gain per head to determine the value of gain per pound. How to market cattle to maximize value. The best place to buy cattle is from a reputable farmer in your area. Also, if youre buying from a farm, take a gander at the farm atmosphere in general. The rumen fill is a triangle shaped area on the left hip of the cow. 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. IF the entire corn industry was slow to get its crop in, and less overall corn is harvested, that elevates corn prices, and depresses feeder calf prices. Both stocker types graze 200 days on a total of 100 acres. 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. When the cattle start out thin and ragged, theyll gain at a quicker rate on spring forage. JavaScript is disabled. Being incalf might be a bonus.! Not only is the investment smaller, but many beginners errors can be easily rectified in a handful of animals. If you're trying to buy farm property at the same time, you . The sector is emerging for employment and income generation for urban and pre-urban . And if you have to buy winter hay, it will take longer still. You want them on the skinny side. 151. Avg. Dont plan on buying a whole herd of cattle. Thats because theyre eating better than they previously had. They drop every couple hundred lbs the gain. You may need to build a shed or shelter for cattle if you live in a place like this. Avoid buying cows that look manly. They may be less fertile or even infertile. But, its not significantly cheaper than grocery store beef, although the quality is much better.

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