Sometimes people will buy cattle at auction and try to resale them at a profit. Ask farming friends or the local agricultural extension agent for recommendations. Most often, these cattle are grazed, meaning its imperative to provide enough good quality forage to sustain the herd. JNix/Shutterstock. Due to the increase in absorption and digestion, your calves should gain more efficiently and convert and grow more quickly. After weaning from its mother, a stocker is put on grass or some other type of forage to promote growth and weight gain. Starting small doesnt mean that you should buy a few bottle calves right off the bat. First of all, determine what type of cattle you are looking for. 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.". Schuster says, This cost is almost 10 percent below the 1992 state average, but most likely poorer quality land would be used for grazing. Avg. If you dont measure it, you cant manage it, Tonsor said. A poddy calf is cheaper, but you will pay most of the extra in milk powder, unless you have a source of . Just weaned calves about 6mo old will cost the most, but gain good on grass. Profits depend on the difference between the cost of buying calves and the return from selling prime cattle, less production costs. 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. They are excellent meat producers and can easily give you 50 percent of their weight in meat alone. Read about the different methods of castrating calves. Monitoring the animals rumen fill provides a visual assessment of their nutrition. My husband teases me about our eight-dollar-per-gallon milk. Heifer calves were consistently discounted relative to steers, from $8.00/cwt. Cow-Calf Operation. Larger animals can be sold for more money on the market as they yield more meat. His contract with the seller included treatment of any sick after they arrived on his property. There was a lot to it, but the raw basic lesson was to check the beef futures contract prices. For cow-calf producers who spring calve, now seems like a logical time to market weaned calves. That is why the prices change so much. The land rent is assumed to be $60 per acre. Body: Beef animals, both cows and steers, should be beefy. With preparation and knowledge about what to look for in bargain cattle, getting into the stocker business can be lucrative. Angus. On this website you will find categories for all types of equine and livestock, including cattle, goats, sheep, and swine. Types of Livestock Auctions. For your first calving season, you probably only want to have to deal with a few cows, and you wont want to have to handle a bull until youve got significant experience with cows. If the realized VOG is more than the COG, the seller will make a profit. With a high quality cattle from the beggining we achieve more easily desired rates in growth and fattening. Even with 240 days on feed, calves will require a well-managed health and feed protocol to hit the spring . Last spring, he spent an hour each morning moving water, pasture line and minerals to give each pasture resting time for regrowth. You are buying someone elses headache and will probably end up paying the difference in price at the veterinarian as you try to resolve the issues with the cow. Avoid buying cows that look manly. They may be less fertile or even infertile. Published as Research Brief #36 On good grazing, you could run lean cattle on four- to six-month cycles. Jun 23, 2009. "The prioritization of resource concerns must be left to the local level where producers decide how they can best address their unique and varied landscapes and needs," said Sen. John Boozman. Before buying cattle decide what breed, age, size, class and type of cattle you are actually looking for. They fell as low as $109 per hundredweight at the end of January. While everyone else was bidding on a slaughter cow, he was bidding on a bred cow. They are also smaller than a full-grown cow and quite a bit less intimidating. Start your search early, and work with established buyers and producers. And there are some hints in this definition that help define the practice of raising stockers," Detzel says. I have read that steers are high in spring and low in fall, which could limit profit. These folks can help you set up your grazing, water and marketing plans. 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. They may offer this service to clientele they know specialize in stockers, and it can make a good partnership.. The net dollar value per head is then divided by the pounds of gain per head to determine the value of gain per pound. Then you can go out have a look and have your pick.. The stocker cattle industry is built on the premise that farmers buy small cattle with the intention of achieving maximum weight gain in about 90 days. Conformation: Male animals should look masculine; females should look feminine. Chances are they can help you generate a few different names to source from. Try to be concise and not bombard him with texts and emails. 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. Some producers use hedging instruments in the form of forward, futures, or options contracts to protect their prices. Those stickers are the tip-off that the cattle came from the auction. Angus cattle are one of the most popular breeds of cattle in the US. 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. Here are a few characteristics of a healthy animal: The best way to determine what makes a good cow is to look at lots of them. The average value of a 550 lb bull calf from 2010 to 2017 in Kentucky auction markets was $853 (550 lb @ $155 per cwt). The more you know, the more likely you are to succeed. Registered in England and Wales. You dont know these people. Calves with a weight under the standar for their age can indicate some kind of . Sincerely 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. This pdf from Mississippi State Universityexplains in detail what a good dairy cow should look like. That is why the prices change so much. There, theyll bring a higher price than New York auctions. It can be difficult to source the cattle you want, but that doesnt mean that you are locked into one choice, he says. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. © 1995 - 2023 Farm Journal, Inc. All RightsReserved. Im just explaining the realities of cattle farming. Their legs should be sturdy, well-balanced, and straight. Getting into stockers was a time-versus-return issue for me, Detzel says, and I didnt have to give up my cattle all together. Also, if the cows have large, round stickers on their bodies or sticky areas of adhesive on their coats, you may want to pass. All rights reserved. for Holstein feeders 300-600# .65-.85 so cheap compared to last year. Coat: The coat of a healthy animal should be smooth. They should have well-developed muscles in the shoulders and legs. By mid-summer, he was moving pastures every few days. 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. 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. Thank you for pointing out that owning cattle can help you achieve your goal of living independently. Good businessmen buy these, feed them well, to fatten, then sell them off. 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. Klemme warns, If any of the costs turn out to be higher than in this scenario, rate of gain lower, or the sell-purchase price spread more than expected, these profits can rapidly disappear. For example, a 10 percent decrease in the rate of daily gain from the budget example reduces profit by $29.85 per beef stocker and $27.14 per Holstein stocker. Your email address will not be published. Being incalf might be a bonus.! But, is this really the best time to sell? Look at Craigslist and the prices at the sale barns to get an idea of what is a fair price for a weaned cow, a yearling, a fully-grown cow, and a bred cow. Last year 500lb feeders were $1.70-2.25 around here. You may need to build a shed or shelter for cattle if you live in a place like this. 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. The moral of the story is, get a drug addiction. Assuming prices and costs described in the budget scenario, the break-even rate of gain for beef and Holstein stockers was just under 1.5 pounds per day. Producers who have a solid understanding of their costs and rates of gain can use a simple management tool to determine what spring calf prices will make money for them in the fall, says Don Schuster, economist with the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS). If you call someone, be respectful of their time. In terms of equipment, think about trailers, feeders, waterers, chutes . 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. Do you want beef or milk? This may indicate pinkeye. Most importantly that is just a sales price; that doesnt tell you what is most profitable for your operation. Immunization is only one piece of the equation. Geography plays a significant role in prices. He now runs between 50 and 75 black Angus on his 130 acres. Risk is often viewed only in a negative way, but when it comes to pricing cattle, good things can develop, and bad things can develop. in 2002 to $9.19/cwt. Contact CIAS for more information about this research. Detzel has a few white cows in his herd and one with horns, which he knows are really going to get discounted. 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 . The difference between the price paid for the calves in spring and received for them in fall, called the price spread, is also a key variable. So be proactive with your cattles health. That means having money in place to buy at least one cow. Feed, conditions (should they be pinned) duration of time to finish. Slaughter animals around here were $1.35-$1.65 if you finish them yourself you can do ok. Castrating at an older age is also physically harder for the animal to recover. Phone: (254) 283-7992. In fact, you will be lucky if just you break even, most years. 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. Maybe youll even have a chance for a private treaty.. My job has shifted and for the next few years I will not be available November through end of February to care for animals. You just cant know and its a gamble of hundreds of dollars. Approximately 10 to 20 percent of the returns to a cow-calf operation are from selling cull cows in the fall. If corn drops, feeder cattle get more valuable, Tonsor said. 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. If you have the grass, buying calves and grazing them on is the best way to fill the freezer with lots of lovely beef. 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. Load size also contributes to the price buyers are willing to pay. First, the cows have to be thin but healthy. Stocker or backgrounding operations purchase the weaned calf from the commercial cow-calf producers. Beef Magazine is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC. Create a vaccination schedule for your cattle and follow it. Feeding Monensin To Developing Heifers: Is It Worth It? 14 head of Hereford bred and exposed cows and pairs. In winter, its normal for the coat to be thicker and fuller, but the animal should not have bald spots. Stocker operations look for bargain cattle, put weight on them and then sell them to a feedlot for finishing, according to Dale Blasi, a professor/extension specialist at the Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit. 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. While selling through an auction at weaning is still a popular way to market calves, there are other options to consider. If you have a bad feeling about something, let the opportunity go by. You and everyone else. Generally, once a producer does the calculations, selling the calves post-weaning doesnt look as bad as it once did. 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. Being out with the herd in the morning moving line or water is the best way to, Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit. 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. At What Weight should I sell my Feeder Calves, Cash Cattle: Active Friday Trading at Higher Prices, Cattle from Across the Country Set to Return to Aggieville. Producers must analyze their individual situation to determine if the value of the additional pounds will be . For example, value of gain can vary greatly from weight class to weight class making it very important to calculate the value of gain of all weight classes, before adding additional weight to your feeder calves. The budget assumed a $0.22 price spread for the Holstein stockers. The prices used for this analysis were for 425-poundand 575-poundFeeder Steer Calves (Medium and Large Frame, #1 Muscle Score) from the USDA Florida Cattle Auctions Weekly Summary for the week ending April 13th, 2018. Cows drink an astonishing amount of water, even when its cold. Thank you it is very well done. It is full of information that is spot on. If you purchase spring cattle that are already fat and not conditioned from the winter and spring weather you run the risk of having your animals lose weight for the first month that you graze them. As an Amazon Associate, Homestead.org earns from qualifying purchases. For the first week or two, you may want to keep the cattle in a smaller pen. This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. we love animals and have so many already. The 2023 bull market entered March with modest gains for fed cattle and some impressive gains for feeder cattle and calves. 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. If it isn't, you need to intervene. Theres no reason for an animal to suffer and many medicines can make the animal more comfortable until the virus runs its course. 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.. The venture, Sustainable Beef LLC, comes as ranchers say they have struggled against . "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. Knowing what auctions pay more for or take discounts can help producers maximize their product. One nice thing about this format is that you can frequently text or email the question that you have for the farmer, and he can respond when its convenient for him. Others follow market reports closely or rely on many years of marketing knowledge to decide how and when to sell their cattle to receive the best prices. Youve invested time and resources into breeding the cows, raising the calves and getting them weaned. You can resell in the fall but again that's what everyone dose. for me, Detzel says, and I didnt have to give up my cattle all together. However, they are quicker to take discounts for things they see as detriments. Figure out a good cattle call and call them to the trough when you feed them. The 100 acres used in the operation has an exterior fence with six interior paddocks. Be sure that you can provide plenty of water in the summer and winter. One goal of the homesteading lifestyle is to live as independently as possible, providing for oneself and ones family. Before you buy, try to learn about what makes a good cow. Dont plan on buying a whole herd of cattle. Im going to look for a good business in my area that can sell me some cattle. We have been able to raise our own beef.