2024/25 Casino has opened

[Travlr]

View attachment 52571View attachment 52572This ex roping steer arrived on August 22 weighing 510 lbs. He is 801 shrunk according to the weigh tape today.

Well I guess I don't understand what "on August 22 weighing 510 lbs. He is 801 shrunk according to the weigh tape today." means... eh? Are you saying he weighs 801 today... and not shrunk?

 

[gcreekrch]

Well I guess I don't understand what "on August 22 weighing 510 lbs. He is 801 shrunk according to the weigh tape today." means... eh? Are you saying he weighs 801 today... and not shrunk

I will speak slowly. I bought this steer on August 22, 2024. He weighed 510 lbs on that day. He was turned on pasture for 6 weeks after being vaccinated, branded and dehorned. Early October, the cattle that I had bought by then started getting a little grain on pasture. Late October, the portable feedlot was set up and calves have been getting fed hay,and were built up to 3 lbs pea screenings and 3 lbs barley daily. Using a weigh tape this morning, the tape read that he weighed 833 lbs. Anyone who has ever been honest with themselves will give feeder cattle that have not been stood with no feed or water or hauled anywhere a pencil shrink to determine actual weight. 4% is generally accepted. 833 x 4% is 32 lbs. 833 - 32 is 801. Understand now?

 

[gcreekrch]

He has gained 2.3 lbs per day since we have owned him.

 

[Travlr]

I will speak slowly. I bought this steer on August 22, 2024. He weighed 510 lbs on that day. He was turned on pasture for 6 weeks after being vaccinated, branded and dehorned. Early October, the cattle that I had bought by then started getting a little grain on pasture. Late October, the portable feedlot was set up and calves have been getting fed hay,and were built up to 3 lbs pea screenings and 3 lbs barley daily. Using a weigh tape this morning, the tape read that he weighed 833 lbs. Anyone who has ever been honest with themselves will give feeder cattle that have not been stood with no feed or water or hauled anywhere a pencil shrink to determine actual weight. 4% is generally accepted. 833 x 4% is 32 lbs. 833 - 32 is 801. Understand now?

Thanks, I don't speak Canadian very well so I appreciate your patience. Eh?

 

[Stickney94]

Heifer lot has enough.

View attachment 51788

GCreek -- you've probably mentioned this previously -- but these fenceline panels -- the feeding bar adjusts up and down using some bolt/screws or are there notches? And what kind of feet does it have on it? And forgive me -- I'm assuming these are portable/movable -- maybe they aren't.

 

[Silver]

Thanks, I don't speak Canadian very well so I appreciate your patience. Eh?

I’ve always wondered, do Americans think we use “eh” as much as we think they use “huh”? Huh?

 

[Travlr]

I've always wondered, do Americans think we use "eh" as much as we think they use "huh"? Huh?

LOL, and do you guys call each other, "Ya Hoser" all the time? I remember that was a thing on some movie or something a long time ago. And then there are our Aussie brethren, Mate.

I really enjoy accents and colloquialisms. Seems like everything is getting more homogenized as time goes on.

 

[gcreekrch]

GCreek -- you've probably mentioned this previously -- but these fenceline panels -- the feeding bar adjusts up and down using some bolt/screws or are there notches? And what kind of feet does it have on it? And forgive me -- I'm assuming these are portable/movable -- maybe they aren't.

I will take a couple pictures for you tomorrow

 

[gcreekrch]

I thought I had taken a picture of that steer when he arrived and finally found it.

 

[Silver]

The difference is incredible.

 

[Travlr]

I thought I had taken a picture of that steer when he arrived and finally found it.View attachment 52606

I wonder if it grew at all frame wise. It sure looks like all the gain was flesh.

 

[gcreekrch]

I wonder if it grew at all frame wise. It sure looks like all the gain was flesh.

Some frame too

 

[Stonewall Joe]

LOL, and do you guys call each other, "Ya Hoser" all the time? I remember that was a thing on some movie or something a long time ago. And then there are our Aussie brethren, Mate.

I really enjoy accents and colloquialisms. Seems like everything is getting more homogenized as time goes on.

I work a lot in Australia and "Mate" is used pretty often along with many "F" bombs thrown into most conversations. A friend of mine came over and made a presentation to a large group at a meeting and he was asked not to say the "F" word so many times. He opened up his presentation by saying he had been asked not to say "F,,," so many times but he couldn't help it because he gets so "F,,,,,," excited when he talks.

 

[farmerjan]

I will speak slowly. I bought this steer on August 22, 2024. He weighed 510 lbs on that day. He was turned on pasture for 6 weeks after being vaccinated, branded and dehorned. Early October, the cattle that I had bought by then started getting a little grain on pasture. Late October, the portable feedlot was set up and calves have been getting fed hay,and were built up to 3 lbs pea screenings and 3 lbs barley daily. Using a weigh tape this morning, the tape read that he weighed 833 lbs. Anyone who has ever been honest with themselves will give feeder cattle that have not been stood with no feed or water or hauled anywhere a pencil shrink to determine actual weight. 4% is generally accepted. 833 x 4% is 32 lbs. 833 - 32 is 801. Understand now?

Most cattlemen here do not describe cattle with a "shrunk weight" ... they would just say what they weigh... or something like he taped at 833 lbs or something. Shrunk is basically only used when a load of cattle are sold and then something like 2-5% shrink or some such... at least in this area. And those types of groups are off one farm most of the time...usually sold off the farm from videos..... I admit I was confused until you explained it. Few people here in this area, ship cattle in trailer loads... most of the "smaller farmers and ranchers" have groups of 5-10-20 to get sold at a time. Except when cattle are co-mingled at what we call "graded sales"... That is when the state grader is there when cattle are brought in and there can be 5 of yours and 6 of mine and 2 of neighbor Joe's ... all similar cattle and similar weights... and they get co-mingled in one pen and get sold as a "graded pen"... so that buyers can make up a trailer load with one or 2 "pens" for their clients... there is greater risk of sickness just from the "mixing" of cattle and buyers know that... as do the clients/buyers that they ship them to... but here in our area, with all the smaller farms, most cattlemen run 20- 50-100 cows at most, so do not have the numbers like you do. Since my son does a little of the "buying" like you do, in much smaller numbers, but the same idea of being able to make up a group that has been together, so any sickness or "bugs" have been dealt with and the cattle then are more hardened and cohesive as a group. Still, we mostly sell in groups of about 20 or so at the biggest.....

 

[gcreekrch]

Most cattlemen here do not describe cattle with a "shrunk weight" ... they would just say what they weigh... or something like he taped at 833 lbs or something. Shrunk is basically only used when a load of cattle are sold and then something like 2-5% shrink or some such... at least in this area. And those types of groups are off one farm most of the time...usually sold off the farm from videos..... I admit I was confused until you explained it. Few people here in this area, ship cattle in trailer loads... most of the "smaller farmers and ranchers" have groups of 5-10-20 to get sold at a time. Except when cattle are co-mingled at what we call "graded sales"... That is when the state grader is there when cattle are brought in and there can be 5 of yours and 6 of mine and 2 of neighbor Joe's ... all similar cattle and similar weights... and they get co-mingled in one pen and get sold as a "graded pen"... so that buyers can make up a trailer load with one or 2 "pens" for their clients... there is greater risk of sickness just from the "mixing" of cattle and buyers know that... as do the clients/buyers that they ship them to... but here in our area, with all the smaller farms, most cattlemen run 20- 50-100 cows at most, so do not have the numbers like you do. Since my son does a little of the "buying" like you do, in much smaller numbers, but the same idea of being able to make up a group that has been together, so any sickness or "bugs" have been dealt with and the cattle then are more hardened and cohesive as a group. Still, we mostly sell in groups of about 20 or so at the biggest.....

No matter how many in a group. They are bought on shrunk weight. A single calf that is full when it enters the ring is discounted (sometimes not enough) to reflect the fill. Bigger groups the same. Pre sold cattle have a shrink worked into the formula they are sold on depending on distance they are hauled to the scale.

 

[J+ Cattle]

I had help Kenny, a good man on the tail and an Aussie girl multi tasking with her phone and the foot rope.

I've not seen it done this way before, what I'm used to is the foot rope is pulled tight holding the rear leg back to where it is parallel with the ground and tied. The steer with its head in the headgate standing on three legs can't kick or do much of anything. Nobody needs to hold the tail or the rope.

Another thing that I see that is different is the foot rope itself. If you braid a single link of chain to the end of the rope and feed the rope through the link to form the loop when you let the rope loose and slack, you can shake it and have it drop to the ground without having to reach in to remove it.
It's interesting to see how tasks are performed differently in different areas.

 

[farmerjan]

Since probably 75% of the cattle raised and sold by farmers here in this area, are sold at the stockyards... whether singly, in small groups, or even in larger groups... if they go through the ring... they are sold by the weight they were weighed in at. The only time that there is shrink figured in, is for cattle that are SPECIFICALLY stated with xx shrink. I think that you do it a bit differently. When we take in say 5 head... they go across the scales...and it says they weigh 550 lbs .... that is the weight that shows on the wall when they come in the ring... and that is what we get paid on.... We had 18 in one group, they went across the scale in 3 groups of 6 since the scale cannot handle that many at a time... 3 weights of over 800 lbs were added together and divided by 18 to get an average weight per animal... and that is what we got paid for... total weight but they post the AVG weight of the animals on the electronic sign and the total weight of the group....
Shrink is not figured into the price paid "per se"... Yes, it is figured in by the buyers,,, and fat cattle bring less knowing they will "shrink" some in transport etc... that is what the buyers get paid for... to see that and to know at a glance what the shrink might be... but overall, around here, average people in general do not think shrink weight when cattle come into the ring.
Also, places that announce the seller; and some do and some do not; will tell the buyer what to expect... some cattle will shrink more than others, some are considered "harder" cattle than others and will shrink less..
To just look at an animal, like your steer, and tape him, then that is what most people would consider his weight... which it is at that time... and I don't think anyone on here would have held you to the fire if it weighed 801 or 833... to me, it was just a tape measurement amount... that no one I know takes for gospel anyway, as tape measurements will give you an APPROXIMATE weight...
I realize that even a few pounds can make a big difference to cattlemen that feed and move alot of cattle like you do... it just is not a "first thought" thing with farmers just looking at an animal here, and comparing to the weight like when you acquired him.

 

[gcreekrch]

Since probably 75% of the cattle raised and sold by farmers here in this area, are sold at the stockyards... whether singly, in small groups, or even in larger groups... if they go through the ring... they are sold by the weight they were weighed in at. The only time that there is shrink figured in, is for cattle that are SPECIFICALLY stated with xx shrink. I think that you do it a bit differently. When we take in say 5 head... they go across the scales...and it says they weigh 550 lbs .... that is the weight that shows on the wall when they come in the ring... and that is what we get paid on.... We had 18 in one group, they went across the scale in 3 groups of 6 since the scale cannot handle that many at a time... 3 weights of over 800 lbs were added together and divided by 18 to get an average weight per animal... and that is what we got paid for... total weight but they post the AVG weight of the animals on the electronic sign and the total weight of the group....
Shrink is not figured into the price paid "per se"... Yes, it is figured in by the buyers,,, and fat cattle bring less knowing they will "shrink" some in transport etc... that is what the buyers get paid for... to see that and to know at a glance what the shrink might be... but overall, around here, average people in general do not think shrink weight when cattle come into the ring.
Also, places that announce the seller; and some do and some do not; will tell the buyer what to expect... some cattle will shrink more than others, some are considered "harder" cattle than others and will shrink less..
To just look at an animal, like your steer, and tape him, then that is what most people would consider his weight... which it is at that time... and I don't think anyone on here would have held you to the fire if it weighed 801 or 833... to me, it was just a tape measurement amount... that no one I know takes for gospel anyway, as tape measurements will give you an APPROXIMATE weight...
I realize that even a few pounds can make a big difference to cattlemen that feed and move alot of cattle like you do... it just is not a "first thought" thing with farmers just looking at an animal here, and comparing to the weight like when you acquired him.

This steer is definitely not worth $3.70 Can. funds like the better steers in the pen, he will likely be a cutback from the load and be discounted because of his ancestry.
However, shrink is a very real and costly reality when trading cattle. If you are selling through the ring and full cattle are presented they can and will be discounted because in this steer’s example 32 lbs @ $3.70 is $118.40, a lot of money to be on the truck floor at destination.
801 lbs x $3.70 is $2963.70…….. $2963.70 divided by 833 lbs is $3.5575…… Most buyers will err on the safe side and discount this animal another 5 to 20 cents depending on how full they are. Properly presented quality cattle (dehorned, castrated with both nuts gone, good genetics and relatively empty stomach) will always command higher prices.

 

[gcreekrch]

I found some pics.

Leg. Need to find a better picture. There are 2 pieces of channel iron welded back to back for better attachment to leg and bottom frame rail.

Over time, bigger cattle can stress panels enough to break uprights from bottom rail. We repair a few every winter.

The last load we had made we eliminated the 1x1 tubing and welded rail directly to slider ring. We have 90 of these panels now. They are a great tax write off that should appreciate in value if one keeps them in good condition.

I will take a couple pictures for you tomorrow

 

[Travlr]

This steer is definitely not worth $3.70 Can. funds like the better steers in the pen, he will likely be a cutback from the load and be discounted because of his ancestry.
However, shrink is a very real and costly reality when trading cattle. If you are selling through the ring and full cattle are presented they can and will be discounted because in this steer's example 32 lbs @ $3.70 is $118.40, a lot of money to be on the truck floor at destination.
801 lbs x $3.70 is $2963.70…….. $2963.70 divided by 833 lbs is $3.5575…… Most buyers will err on the safe side and discount this animal another 5 to 20 cents depending on how full they are. Properly presented quality cattle (dehorned, castrated with both nuts gone, good genetics and relatively empty stomach) will always command higher prices.

I think we do it in a less complicated way down south of you, and it probably all averages out in the end. But I kind of admire your way of doing things if only that it means you don't shy away from doing it the hard way. I'm not so sure what that says about us though...