I was just wondering, why dont more people deal with feeder calves.I have a few here on our farm, they cost me very little to feed throughout the winter and seem to turn over good profit, Im considering getting about 30 more. When the buying is good I can turn over some good profit, considering land is availible and feed lost me little. I just cant figure out why there arent more people into feeders, around here seems like you can make way more money than cow/calf type operation
- Thread starter brandonh
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Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
What do you feed them, corn is worth quite a bit right now. We are getting back into the Cow calf operation here soon.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Well just wait a few years and find out.
Nebraska Cowman
Well-known Member
Well, SOMEBODY is feeding them. But most people don't want to be tied down by "chores"
I kept all my heifer calves this year. I will run them with the bull next summer and sell them as bred replacements. I figure I can gain more than my cost that way. Yeah, if you have low cost feed and the inclination to monkey with them they will net you a return.
I kept all my heifer calves this year. I will run them with the bull next summer and sell them as bred replacements. I figure I can gain more than my cost that way. Yeah, if you have low cost feed and the inclination to monkey with them they will net you a return.
pasture and good grass hay. they get very litle grain. So far been lucky with having plenty of pasture. I like to feed little grain as possible, but I do buy corn from a neighbor for 2 bushel and he promised it to us the same for next year. We do our own hay with paid for equipment. So right now calves is were its at for me.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
you aren't going to get cattle finished in the northern states without corn, feeders are high and so is corn making margins tight and risk high, in the 80's my neighbor lost $30,000 one year feeding cattle, hoping to make it back the next year and lost that much again, his farm sale came shortly after. I live by the adage "if it was easy everyone would do it" I usually sell my calves at 6 to 700 and let someone else finish them. If you are making it money stay with works.
When you bring in that 30 head and 15 of them come down with Shipping Fever and you put $500.00 worth of medicine in them and bury 10 of those 15 you will know the answer.I know a guy that buys 500 + a year and back in the fall bought 3o head and buried 22 of them.And yes they were seen to and doctored daily.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Baxter Black had a column about this one once, lets see if I can paraphrase it. A farmer, depressed over high feed costs, low feeder prices, and auction commissions, gets the bright idea to take a trailer load of a dozen feeder calves to his local market, only he puts a sign on the trailer that says, "free calves". He goes in to have lunch, and when he comes back out, there are 3 dozen calves in his trailer!
Pair-a-dice farm
Well-known Member
Well you [i:f93862073f]can[/i:f93862073f] make a little money but it isn't a given. This year I kept all of my calves back and bought an additional 80 heifer calves. This summer turned off extremely dry and fall pasture hs been poor so feed costs have been higher. I sold 15 of the heifers and cleared about $75 a head, while that is a little profit it's nothing to get excited about. I've got a neighbor that makes a pretty good living growing out calves but he runs 1000-1500 and works harder than anybody I know.
no joke. $2 a bushel. its good corn, he even helps unload into the corn crib. He's a little new to the whole growning corn thing, he raises seveal goats as a hobby and raises corn for them, its pretty much a hobby for him, and said he just want to make enough off the extra corn to pay for next years seed. So it works out great so far. I dont see how he can sell it for $2 a bushel but he does and I didnt argue
The crib, so it is ear corn? Not the same as a bushel of shell corn. Plus, if you are buying from some one who is not selling at market price that is not realistic, not everyone has access to that price and since almost 60% of costs is feed price that would be why most people don't make much feeding calves. Your neighbor might not be so generous once he figures out how much money he is loosing, if you want to keep buying from him you should sweeten the deal a little to keep a good source.
After reading all the (so far) posts, i.e. 2 dollar corn, 'free' hay, etc.........reminds me of a fellow I knew in the '90s; he was in one of the 'profession's' for a living; had inherited about 15 acres which he planted in soybeans each year; he was "clearing" about $50.00 per acre. I was working about 1,000 acres of row crop and for a year or two, was barely breaking even. My cattle were keeping me afloat. He couldn't understand why I wasn't "clearing" at least $50,000 per year. I asked how much he was charging to management (nothing); labor (nothing) taxes (nothing), equipment (nothing, he'd inherited an old tractor and grain drill and I kept his old pull-type spray rig in working order, etc. A neighbor was harvesting his beans at less than the going rate; I occasionally sold him chemicals and seed.....at less than he could buy them....because I was buying in bulk.
He thought it was so easy..........
He thought it was so easy..........
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Id like to see you double down and make some real money cause Im in the cowcalf end of it and sure could use higher prices.
4010 puller
Well-known Member
probably because theres no money in it, unless your a rich businessman looking for a tax deduction. How did guys this year buy feeder cattle from farmers/stock yards at $1.10-1.25/pound, diesel at $2.50/gallon, corn at $5/bushel and beans at $10 and crop prices climbing. It's a losing proposition. I've got 10 beef cows really for a hobby, I havent made any money yet. Make money one year, spend it on something else the next. I dont even think these small farms pay for themselves, you have to supplement them by another job. Big money like anything else. People selling freezer beefs for cash are making good money but thats a spotty business as well.
Hay, 115 a ton in rounds, 200 a ton in squares; corn 5 bucks a bushel. If I could buy it for 2, I think I'd rather sell it for 5 and not worry about feeding in this weather. To answer your question though, most of us that dont do it have at one point. It doesnt take very many to die to eat up all the profit. Last summer was the best sale I ever had. Sold 8 weight steers off the cow at 10 months old for 1.01 a pound.
For me, I evaluate on profit per acre, profit per dollar invested, and profit per hour of labor invested. It doesnt matter if I sell corn, hay, or pounds of beed.
For me, I evaluate on profit per acre, profit per dollar invested, and profit per hour of labor invested. It doesnt matter if I sell corn, hay, or pounds of beed.
This will sound counter intuitive, but people are mistaken in believing that you make money putting weight on cattle. The truth of the matter is, you make money knowing when to sell and when to buy.
For example, if 4's are selling for significantly more than 8's, why on earth would you spend on diminishing returns? Because that's the way grandpa did it? Because the neighbor does? There's a sound business plan. Recognizing what is over valued and what is undervalued is the key to taking profit. Sell what you have that is over valued and buy the under valued. Certainly easier said than done, but given experience it works. Of course you must constantly watch prices and be very aware of what is happening and what operating costs are. For example, a friend of mine bought fleshy or fat 680 pound steers cheap. No one at the yard wanted them. He took them home, essentially did not feed them, brought them back two months later and made $100 a head. He knew when to buy and when to sell.
Folks will tell you that is a lot of work. Sure it is, but what isn't. If you are expecting to turn a profit through no effort, you are kidding yourself. Also, not being aware of local prices and expecting to be profitable is like buying a stock or a position and never checking on it or monitoring it. Futures, corn prices, cattle of feed, alleged consumer demand, are meaningless when you sell locally or at the local barn. All that matters is today's price and what you have to sell and what you can replace it with.
As for the guy calving in the snow, why would you do that? You can alter your herd to calve whenever you want. Why not calve when the weather is good and the survival rate better? Also, he will now be trying to breed back at the most difficult time of the year. Your breed back rate is better and quicker when the days are longest. Why wouldn't you take adavantage of that? I guess if someone had a contract paying a premium for all that hard work, maybe, but why not be smart?
If what you are doing works for you, do it. Don't be put off by nay sayers. There are people who consistantly make money in cattle.
All the best,
Jim
For example, if 4's are selling for significantly more than 8's, why on earth would you spend on diminishing returns? Because that's the way grandpa did it? Because the neighbor does? There's a sound business plan. Recognizing what is over valued and what is undervalued is the key to taking profit. Sell what you have that is over valued and buy the under valued. Certainly easier said than done, but given experience it works. Of course you must constantly watch prices and be very aware of what is happening and what operating costs are. For example, a friend of mine bought fleshy or fat 680 pound steers cheap. No one at the yard wanted them. He took them home, essentially did not feed them, brought them back two months later and made $100 a head. He knew when to buy and when to sell.
Folks will tell you that is a lot of work. Sure it is, but what isn't. If you are expecting to turn a profit through no effort, you are kidding yourself. Also, not being aware of local prices and expecting to be profitable is like buying a stock or a position and never checking on it or monitoring it. Futures, corn prices, cattle of feed, alleged consumer demand, are meaningless when you sell locally or at the local barn. All that matters is today's price and what you have to sell and what you can replace it with.
As for the guy calving in the snow, why would you do that? You can alter your herd to calve whenever you want. Why not calve when the weather is good and the survival rate better? Also, he will now be trying to breed back at the most difficult time of the year. Your breed back rate is better and quicker when the days are longest. Why wouldn't you take adavantage of that? I guess if someone had a contract paying a premium for all that hard work, maybe, but why not be smart?
If what you are doing works for you, do it. Don't be put off by nay sayers. There are people who consistantly make money in cattle.
All the best,
Jim
There is also no way to loose money in just buy'n calves and move'n them around the nation, Eastern Livestock did it for years,,,,,,, well nevermind.
Now I have to ask, are you talk'n about feeder calves or stocker calves? I can see get'n through the winter cheap with stockers (unless you live in parts of the nation that had a 100 year drought this summer and no grass go'n in to winter). But "feeder" calves for most folks means grain and I have to ask where you are find'n cheap grain these days?
Now I have to ask, are you talk'n about feeder calves or stocker calves? I can see get'n through the winter cheap with stockers (unless you live in parts of the nation that had a 100 year drought this summer and no grass go'n in to winter). But "feeder" calves for most folks means grain and I have to ask where you are find'n cheap grain these days?
One of my neighbors sells all his heifers as feeders and keeps feeds out all his steers on his own corn. He seems to make a go of it, but I know I couldn't since I buy my corn from him so I have a better idea of what it really costs 
. I try to make my feeder calves as marketable as possible to feedlots and that seems to be the sweet spot. Worked by the vet, have the vet come back to double vacc., weaned 1 week after castration, weaned for 6 weeks+, and eatin' corn the whole time to 550lb+. Seems to bring you top dollar since that's exactly what the big lots are looking for. Even then, it's hard to profit. You can't count any eggs before they hatch (e.g. the check is in your hand).
. I try to make my feeder calves as marketable as possible to feedlots and that seems to be the sweet spot. Worked by the vet, have the vet come back to double vacc., weaned 1 week after castration, weaned for 6 weeks+, and eatin' corn the whole time to 550lb+. Seems to bring you top dollar since that's exactly what the big lots are looking for. Even then, it's hard to profit. You can't count any eggs before they hatch (e.g. the check is in your hand).Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
pleaz tell how u do it cattle feeder guru as I a big dummy along with some nabors hoo feed several thousand hed of cattle and feed ground hay ddg. ma b i can fee them hay and keep them 4 3 yrs, bet they gane good at 20 below zero on a lo energy diet, yoo s smart, I so dum!
> But they do have grass finished beef around here.? That arent feed any grain.
Unless you get contracted to sell your finished cattle into a Grass-Fed Beef marketing program, you may lose your shirt trying to sell them in the commercial fat cattle market though. Most likely the would be bought cheap and taken back to a feedlot.
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