2017 Changes ?

[Stocker Steve]

Spoke with a young neighbor with 80 cows yesterday. He is working hard to improve and grow, but did not show much profit last year. Changes we discussed were less AI, more legume inter seeding, more pasture sub division, and selling little used equipment. What changes are you planning for this year?

 

[Margonme]

I started this last year and it will go into effect this year. One calving season to occur in September/October. I do have one heifer that will calve March 10 but I will roll her over into fall.

The benefit is one calving season and one breeding season. Also, I can manage the cows as one group.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

I'm adding AI this year, and added some lease land to keep all my replacements. Still clearing brush and reseeding back with better native grasses. I have a few hundred acres to prescribe burn when the wind favors it.

 

[jedstivers]

Just refining my stocker program.
Studying the med side more, building a excell spreadsheet to track every cost.
Wanting to get a roof over some working facilities, wanting a roof over some pens and building a lot of smaller pens inside my big one to keep them in groups of 20 while starting.
Wanting scales under the chute or a pen with a scale, actually need both.
Thinking of going to electronic tags to track performance better and tie that to the spreadsheet.
Going to try some pre vac, weaned and cut calves and compair cost, preformance, and net money to the sale barn uncut, unweaned calves I'm running now. I think I'll see a advantage to the pre vac ones if I can accurately track all cost, death loss and preformance but I'm a numbers guy and that's that counts in the end.

 

[Bigfoot]

Hadn't done this in a while--------I'm going to buy some steers in the spring, and just turn em loose with my cows. I'll catch em back at my fall gather. What ever they gain, is just what they gain on grass.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Just refining my stocker program.
Studying the med side more, building a excell spreadsheet to track every cost.
Wanting to get a roof over some working facilities, wanting a roof over some pens and building a lot of smaller pens inside my big one to keep them in groups of 20 while starting.
Wanting scales under the chute or a pen with a scale, actually need both.
Thinking of going to electronic tags to track performance better and tie that to the spreadsheet.
Going to try some pre vac, weaned and cut calves and compair cost, preformance, and net money to the sale barn uncut, unweaned calves I'm running now. I think I'll see a advantage to the pre vac ones if I can accurately track all cost, death loss and preformance but I'm a numbers guy and that's that counts in the end.

Great plan. I found more meds needed and a lower ADG with stinky bulls.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Hadn't done this in a while--------I'm going to buy some steers in the spring, and just turn em loose with my cows. I'll catch em back at my fall gather. What ever they gain, is just what they gain on grass.

I still have my spring heifers on the cows. Plan to take the heifers to grass.
Plan to do more stockpiling.
Also plan to start planting one year of RR soybeans in my renovation rotation.
Net will mean hard cull'in and fewer cows.

 

[jedstivers]

Just refining my stocker program.
Studying the med side more, building a excell spreadsheet to track every cost.
Wanting to get a roof over some working facilities, wanting a roof over some pens and building a lot of smaller pens inside my big one to keep them in groups of 20 while starting.
Wanting scales under the chute or a pen with a scale, actually need both.
Thinking of going to electronic tags to track performance better and tie that to the spreadsheet.
Going to try some pre vac, weaned and cut calves and compair cost, preformance, and net money to the sale barn uncut, unweaned calves I'm running now. I think I'll see a advantage to the pre vac ones if I can accurately track all cost, death loss and preformance but I'm a numbers guy and that's that counts in the end.

Great plan. I found more meds needed and a lower ADG with stinky bulls.

What's a stinky bull?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Big enough to be hard to band and mature enough to smell male.
Size will vary with breeding.
Often in the 600# to 800# range.

 

[jedstivers]

Ok. Not a term "here".