$100,000.00 cow

[New-bee]

I almost hate to post another response, but I had the really fascinating opportunity to meet 558H up close and personal. What a graceful, huge animal. She has repaid her owners handsomely for their $446,000 investment. And to think that I was able to buy two of her grandaughters for less than 1% of her initial price - and their numbers are better than 558H's were when they bought her. And the prices paid were less than at the local auction last fall. So I now have two of my own low cost versions of the wonder cow, and have outlined a breeding program using some outstanding bulls that should produce offspring in the mid-50's range for $B next year while keeping other desireable characteristics. New-bee

 

[jscunn]

Depends on the breed, in the Angus breed you can use either registered or comercial recip cows.

 

[New-bee]

Hi to another beginner. Went to the Riverbend Sale and the first heifer female sold for $210,000. Great looker, strong pedigree and 2536 grand-dau. She will undoubtedly be used as a donor. It looks to me like there are a couple of keys. First good breeding which can be done by almost anyone who is willing to purchase a really good cow or heifer with the proper pedigree and numbers and then use good bulls. But the second is developing the sales strategy to draw the buyers. Our operation is not quite a year old so we are still developing our strategies. But we purchased four females (three pregnant with calf at side) at the recent Riverbend sale including a really great seven star Mile High 3718 heifer with three quality markers including a double on the fourth marker. So we doubled our herd for about $2,000 per individual, and now we have three really great females with outstanding pedigrees, good rib-eye's and good IMF. And in the next two years our breeding strategy should produce seven more $B = 50+ offspring, three blending the 2536, 2104, 4206 and 558H cow genetics with the Predestined, 1680 and EXT bull genetics are expected to have $B values exceeding 56.0 which may qualify them for consideration as "Elite" crosses. Others will be double bred to the 2536 line with similar but slightly lower numbers - but still within reach of the "Elite" category. One of the bulls we are using has a 1.27 REA and .64 IMF to boost the numbers on our good females. And now we are moving to also breed for Tenderness/Quality markers which was the focus of our recent Riverbend purchases. I am convinced that beginners can get there own $100,000 cow if they have the right plan and some cash. The more difficult problem may be to sell her for what she is worth. But of course, first things first. Good Luck. New-bee

 

[Frankie]

Anyone know the answer to this. I am a fresh newbie getting lots of opinions on this.

The "secret" to selling a high dollar cow is marketing. Where will you sell the son/daughter of a $100,000 cow? In your local newspaper? At the sale barn, a consignment sale? There are sales in Denver that will bring pretty big bucks, but it will cost you big bucks to get an animal in the sale, too.

IMO, there aren't any magic cows or bulls. You can take a well bred Angus cow (for $2,000) and breed her to a top AI bull (for $35) and possibly sell that calf for $1500-$2000 as a yearling bull or bred heifer. It takes a long time at that price to make $100,000. If you have the market to sell to the high rollers, go for it. Otherwise, be careful.

 

[HerefordSire]

The "secret" to selling a high dollar cow is marketing. Where will you sell the son/daughter of a $100,000 cow? In your local newspaper? At the sale barn, a consignment sale? There are sales in Denver that will bring pretty big bucks, but it will cost you big bucks to get an animal in the sale, too.

IMO, there aren't any magic cows or bulls. You can take a well bred Angus cow (for $2,000) and breed her to a top AI bull (for $35) and possibly sell that calf for $1500-$2000 as a yearling bull or bred heifer. It takes a long time at that price to make $100,000. If you have the market to sell to the high rollers, go for it. Otherwise, be careful.


Frankie...

There is no secret and marketing is not the answer. If you have a great product, it will float to the top in a query search of the database. Try not to answer the phone. Have it disconnected and the next thing you know buyers will be knocking at your door. So you place a PO Box number on your registry address. The buyers will still find you. People want what they can't have. This is no secret. Try it and let me know what you find out. I have used this technique for years at believe me, my product was high dollar and many awards were received. You must be polite though and respectful.

Try this...go into a bar and ignore all the guys (girls) and see how many come up and ask you for a dance.

 

[Frankie]

The "secret" to selling a high dollar cow is marketing. Where will you sell the son/daughter of a $100,000 cow? In your local newspaper? At the sale barn, a consignment sale? There are sales in Denver that will bring pretty big bucks, but it will cost you big bucks to get an animal in the sale, too.

IMO, there aren't any magic cows or bulls. You can take a well bred Angus cow (for $2,000) and breed her to a top AI bull (for $35) and possibly sell that calf for $1500-$2000 as a yearling bull or bred heifer. It takes a long time at that price to make $100,000. If you have the market to sell to the high rollers, go for it. Otherwise, be careful.


Frankie...

There is no secret and marketing is not the answer. If you have a great product, it will float to the top in a query search of the database. Try not to answer the phone. Have it disconnected and the next thing you know buyers will be knocking at your door. So you place a PO Box number on your registry address. The buyers will still find you. People want what they can't have. This is no secret. Try it and let me know what you find out. I have used this technique for years at believe me, my product was high dollar and many awards were received. You must be polite though and respectful.

Try this...go into a bar and ignore all the guys (girls) and see how many come up and ask you for a dance.

"There's a sucker born every minute". I can give you a list of people I've seen at Angus sales who paid big bucks for cattle, then were out of business in 3-5 years.

As for rare genetics: A few years ago, a group bought a flush to a bull of their choice out of a well known Angus cow. They asked that she be flushed to the old Angus bull, AAR New Trend. The seller had to jump through some hoops to find the semen, but he did. Two years later, we saw some of the bulls from that flush sell and they sold no better, some lower, than more popular, available genetics. Being rare isn't necessarily more valuable, at least in the Angus business. Performance is what counts.

 

[easy]

I hope you are enjoying your pursuit of high dollar cattle because eventually sale day will come and the reality of your folly will reveal itself.
The only way you will sell cattle at the prices you are hoping for will be if the people you have bought them from support you. Go read the sale reports. It is the same buyers sale after sale, with respect to the sale managers. The Cotton & Assoc. clients support the Cotton & Assoc. clients, the Hall of Fame clients the same and so on.
Have fun playing the "game". Occasionally a 'non-player' will buy a high dollar cow and make it work but that is rare. Hopefully you can join that group. Or maybe you want to play the game. Either way, Good Luck.