Air December 5, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. Just as a reminder, do not think for a minute that the cold snap we had last week was winter. It was just a precursor of weather to come.

When we think about our cow herds and our calf crops, do we always fall into the trap of doing what we’ve always done with those calves after weaning? And do we know how many years we make, or lose money at this and over the long haul how are we doing? Those were some questions that some beef cattle specialists and ag economists have been looking at over at K-State for quite some time. A very in-depth analysis was preformed looking at both spring and fall born steers and then weaning those calves and going different directions. Let me tell you about the results with spring born steer calves. Realizing that not everyone manages their cow herds alike, they looked at calves that weighed an average of 475 at weaning and then some bigger calves that weaned at 575 lbs. They then considered about 5 fairly realistic scenarios. The heavier calves went straight to the feed yard for 192 days or first to a background yard for 120 days and then 117 days in the feedlot. They evaluated all costs and looked at how many years they made or lost money and what the average was over the period of years. The heavy calves that went straight to the feedlot made money 15 out of the last 19 years with an average of $89 profit per head over that period. Going to the background lot was not as profitable. This practice made money 13 out of 19 years with an average of $49 per head. The lighter steers had four scenarios. All made money over the 18 years of the study with a range of $36 per head to $101 per head. All calves were weaned in October. On the low end the calves went to the background yard for 144 days and then to the feedlot for 133 days, a fairly standard practice. It made money 13 of 18 years and that average was $36 per head over the period. On the high end the calves went into preconditioning for 25 days and then to wheat pasture for 129 days (probably with a little supplement), then to summer grass until the middle of July and then to the feedlot. This made money 16 of the 18 years at an average of $101 per head. There is a lot more information here, but what it shows is that you need to be flexible to take advantage of opportunities that come along, and don’t be trapped by tradition. Contact me if you want to see all the information from this study.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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