I have been in a few conversations like that the past couple of weeks.... online, at sales, at ropings and pennings, etc. Consensus is while steers may stay where they are for a while, there is no way for them to go but down. If they get any higher, people are going to quit eating as much beef. But so many cows have been, and are being, slaughtered.... that there is about to be a shortage of brood stock. Heifers, open or bred, bred cows, pairs , and 3 n 1s are all brining more and more each week. 2 producers I know that had intended on breeding their cows back with sexed for male semen, have told Dan to order sexed for female semen. Clay bought 3 out of those 7 reg Red Char bred heifers I got last month. He was going to AI them with BH sexed for male semen. He gave $3200 for them and has been offered $4500 for the pairs ( All 7 were bred to reg Red Char with sexed semen to produce heifer calves). He now plans on AI-ing his 3 back with sexed for heifer, Red Char semen.
The man that raises the reverse black baldies, got the other 4. He was going to breed them to his Black Hereford bull, but he too has decided to breed them back with Red Char sexed for female semen. When he sold out last month, Clay kept 2 reg Brangus cows and a black BM cow, the Red Angus x Charbray and the red Brangus x Char heifers he got from Dan a year or so ago and the Brangus bull he got from me in February. But, he is gonna take that bull down to the Kudzu place Friday, and AI any those 5 not already bred with sexed for female semen now. And , that is what I am gonna do with those 8 Brahmas I bought yesterday...breed then for f1 Black Hereford and f1 Red Char heifer calves.
I always think it is foolish to retain heifers for your own brood cows but those who have this year, may be sitting on a gold mine if they decide to sell them as open long yearlings later on.
My thoughts on it are: I don't think I would AI my entire commercial beef herd for heifer calves Steers neither, as far as that goes, I think I would use regular semen, or just use bulls, and get some heifers and steers. I think that in the coming year or maybe 2, your heifer calves will sell as well as the steers. I just wouldn't put all of my eggs in one basket.