Rydero
Well-known member
I regret weaning as many as I did, they're eating too much.
Why wean calves?
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Silver
Well-known member
I'll just have to figure out how to live with the $1,411 per steer average that I received in October.
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Weaned price premium here is small to none in early fall but jumps up after late October. Have not weaned mine yet... Will start supplementing hay to pairs tomorrow - - so it is time.
Main issue with feeding late fall weaned calves here is COG is high, and VOG is low er after 550 lb.
So, you are really betting on a rising market after weaning unless you have extremely cheap feed. Only cheap feed here is beet byproducts, but due to drought driven demand it is being allocated.
Main issue with feeding late fall weaned calves here is COG is high, and VOG is low er after 550 lb.
So, you are really betting on a rising market after weaning unless you have extremely cheap feed. Only cheap feed here is beet byproducts, but due to drought driven demand it is being allocated.
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Mine were only half the size of yours and averaged $1337
Silver
Well-known member
Ya, it's the price I have to pay for being poorly connected. I will console myself with the adage that it's not what we make but what we keep that is important
That don't mean squat to any one here that can rub two brain cells together. For all we know you had $1600 /hd in them and are standing on the end of a bridge looking down right now.
If you want to brag go ahead and tell us how much per head you had in them so we can see your profit.
Silver
Well-known member
It ain't braggin' when it's a fact. My statement was in response to Littleton's question. You are more than welcome to start yet another thread on profit per head and see where that leads you.
Please feel free to hit the "ignore" button if my posts bother you so much. It would certainly not hurt my feelings.
Naw, just seems like a waste of space and rally cry for the mathematically challenged.
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
I need to look at market reports, but there was some bigger calves right off mamas bringing real close to that Thursday. 650-800 lbs! Off mamas!
Idk what kinds of mama raises a calf that big. Perhaps they were on mama for 11 months. Idk..
Here they are. 811lbs. They say yearlings. But I watched em sell. Right off mama he said. I couldn't believe it.
But I suppose there is always exceptions. That's just not normal!!
Silver
Well-known member
Those sound like some pretty soggy calves. Odds are good they were 240 days or better, but without asking the owner I guess we won't know. But one thing I would lay money on is that they had good pasture in front of them at all times.
CowboyRam
Well-known member
I heard last weeks market report out of LuJunta Colorado, the 6 weight weaned steer calves sold for $1.70 to $1.85.
We had a bit less than $750 in production costs, mainly because last winter was longer by 6 weeks than any other winter in recent memory. Those are dollars out of my pocket figures, not the ones the book keeper uses to keep us in poverty mode.
Silver
Well-known member
I expect a similar number for this outfit Gcreek, it was less than that here last year as well, but I haven't put the pencil to it for this year yet. It's not terribly tricky to figure out when there is zero outside income, so it's just a matter of deciding how a guy wants to allocate a few costs like new land purchases and such.
People, let's understand that 90% of producers have less than 100 cows. Therefore their calves will sell in tiny groups, at best. These light weight calves, 400-600 lbs., are being bought by order buyers to create truck load lots to backgrounders or grazers. They will be processed by the order buyer or the buyer, regardless of their pre-sale status, after they are grouped. Weaning and pre-conditioning rarely pays for those 90%of producers.
When I had those Chianina x Holstein cows, they weaned calves by Brangus bulls in the 700 -750 lb range, at 6 to nearly 7 mos old. And when I had those Brahma x Chianina cows, they weaned calves that some probably came close to 800, bred to polled Charolais bulls. The 2nd year I had those Chianina x Holsteins, I bred 4 to a Simmental bull. He was a real Simmental, like they all used to be, red and white like a Hereford. Those calves were probably 50-75 lbs heavier than the Brangus calves. If I were to fool with cow-calf again, I'd love to have some of both of these again. Especially those Br x Chi , bred to a Char. I swear, you could almost sit on the porch and watch those calves grow. Now, though, I'd probably use a black or BWF Simmental bull on the Chi x Holsteins.
I'm not very good at math so I need some help with this. Going by the sales sheet above break down how selling a 550# steer calf straight off the tit pays more than selling a 825# steer calf that has been weaned and fed. I know it won't change anyone's mind but it would help me understand this cow/calf deal better....maybe idk
There are a ton of factors that will influence whether it is a good idea or not. Price of feed, labor, weather, your market, cost of pasture, infrastructure, scale... are just a few. Every operation has to run their own numbers to know if it will generate a profit for them. Even then, not every one will agree the juice is worth the squeeze because every one will have a different number for "worth it".
I know it's cool to talk these gross numbers on the enet or down at the coffee shop but it doesn't cut the mustard if you ever have to be accountable to any one other than yourself.
I know it's cool to talk these gross numbers on the enet or down at the coffee shop but it doesn't cut the mustard if you ever have to be accountable to any one other than yourself.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
The 825# calf might not have been weaned and fed. Might be a real growthy calf, or left on the dam a lot longer than the 550# calf.
I sell 750# steers that were weaned at 7-8 months of age. Preconditioned on 5# WSC/hd/day for 30 days (so about $21 worth of corn/hd) and pasture. I get top dollar, but I sell direct to a feedlot - sight unseen. I have a small herd, so numbers are very small (after selling some bulls and some show steers).
I sell 750# steers that were weaned at 7-8 months of age. Preconditioned on 5# WSC/hd/day for 30 days (so about $21 worth of corn/hd) and pasture. I get top dollar, but I sell direct to a feedlot - sight unseen. I have a small herd, so numbers are very small (after selling some bulls and some show steers).
Silver
Well-known member
Be careful Jeanne, you are running the risk of being called a braggart!
