cattle prices sell or not

farmerwithmutt · Apr 13, 2014

Small hobby i have black calves and do strip grazing .now the question is do i keep the calves or do i bale and sell the hay ? Its usually keep the calves because the cost of grazing plus recovery time on plants is better but with currant beef prices its tempting to take the cash and run.

Determined · Apr 13, 2014

Pencil it out.
Everybodys costs, time, equipment, resources etc vary.
Run the numbers then decide what works best for you.
You have cattle so you already are a gambler.
How lucky do you feel?

1948jr · Apr 13, 2014

at current prices 450 lb. steers at 1000.00 my only regret is that i dont have 100 to sell

rrlund · Apr 13, 2014

A bird in the hand? What if the hay gets rained on and ruined?

Mike (WA) · Apr 13, 2014

You can't really pencil it out, because nobody knows what cattle prices will be in the fall. About the best you can do is prognosticate what the price will be, and what your haying expenses will be. I think generally if price stays the same, you'd be better off to graze the cattle and sell in the fall- lots less work, and virtually no variable costs.

Bought some hay from a guy one time, and he mentioned that this was his first year making hay, he had previously bought feeder cattle in the spring, grazed them, and sold in the fall. But last year, he only made 10 bucks. I asked, "Ten bucks a head?" "No, ten bucks. Period." I always try to see the bright side of situations, so I said, "Well, at least you had the use of the cattle." He didn't seem amused.

redforlife · Apr 13, 2014

Sold heifer calves one day last week. They sold in three different lots of weight cotagory. Averaged 1.82 per pound. Cattle are hot right now. Its your choice, but in my opinion I would roll them before they are over 700 lbs. Not sure what yours weigh now. Feedlots feed out massive numbers and can do it way cheaper than you when they get over 700 lbs. They don't seem to be penciling in much profit for themselves right now either on lighter calves. They don't bid up as good on those heavier calves either. They don't feed em for as long, so therefore there is not much money in it for them. IMO they bid up better on lighter becuase they can put more poundage on them.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 13, 2014

Hence the old saying. Your money is made when you buy, not when you sell. I have found this to be very true.

60 acre hillside · Apr 13, 2014

Sell bulls / steers and heifers that are not good enough for replacements. I dislike selling hay. I would like to buy 450 - 500 pound heifers to keep for breeding.

JD Seller · Apr 13, 2014

I would suggest checking what the local hay market is. There is a lot of average grass hay around here this spring. I am surprised by that with the hard winter we have had. I guess everyone thought that hay would be short and held on to it last fall/winter. Good alfalfa hay is still bring good money but grass hay is down 30-40% from the fall highs.

Grazing the calves is not as weather dependent. Also not as much labor in grazing either.

I know that calves are hot items right now but they will still be a good price come fall too. There just are not enough head out there compared to current demand.

The economy could tank and fat cattle prices drop but I would rather gamble on that as the hay market.

Hay buyers are a pain to deal with. If you have a local hay auction then that might work OK.

rrlund · Apr 13, 2014

Reminds me of a friend of my dad telling one time that he had a barn full of cattle all winter and all he got out of them was a barn full of manure.

Traditional Farmer · Apr 13, 2014

I've been in the cattle business all my life as my grandfather gave each of us grandkids a cow on the day we were born.Two things have always been constant when prices are down most of the 'experts' can give you 20 reasons why prices won't go up for at least 5 years and when prices are high the 'experts' can give you 20 reasons whey prices won't go down for the next 5 years.They have been wrong about both almost all the time and prices tend to turnaround quickly lots of times.
I'm about ready to sell all my cattle let the pastures grow this Summer maybe bush hog them real high mid Summer and then buy cattle back this Fall as most Winters I can graze cattle all Winter except when its covered in snow.

Dean Olson · Apr 13, 2014

Your never wrong taking a profit. I set profit margins and when I reach them I take the cash and never look back. Because I'm a hobby farmer/rancher I won't buy again till prices make sense.

There's a lot to to be said for just letting your pastures set idle or under utilized till market prices make sense to buy back. This is when I take time to fertilize, spray for weeds, let grass go to seed, really get it back in prime shape. I'm trying to convert years of poorly maintained hay/weed ground into good grazing land. They get better looking and more productive every year. I even ran goats for a while getting the weeds under control.

You and I are in agreement on the fact that the "cost of grazing plus recovery time on plants is better" than making hay. Harvesting hay from a grazing pasture is counterproductive.

Just my opinion mind you.

cattle prices sell or not

farmerwithmutt

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Determined

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1948jr

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rrlund

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Mike (WA)

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redforlife

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Anonymous-0

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60 acre hillside

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JD Seller

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rrlund

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Traditional Farmer

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Dean Olson

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