Advice for management

[ncboy34]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

 

[Jogeephus]

Tough question without seeing them but I think it would depend a lot on how long you care to go without a paycheck. You can sell high and if you are a good scrounger you can still pick up some really good deals on good cattle from people who don't want to be inconvenienced by having to load them on a trailer.

 

[randiliana]

Sell the calves and buy back bred cows or pairs. $800 for the calves vs $1100 for the cows and you don't have to wait 2 years.

 

[bigbull338]

easy choice sell all the calves an buy pairs or bred cows an you have income.keep heifers an be 3yrs for you have income.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I agree with practically everyone above.

You're getting into business decisions. Think accordingly.

 

[msscamp]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

I'm going to go against the tide here as far as heifers born are concerned. By keeping the heifers that you raised - assuming they fit the standard that you have set for your herd - you gain a couple of things that cannot be had with purchased heifers. Those things are history, bloodlines, and past performance of their mothers, grandmothers, and possibly great grandmothers. Given the heritability(sp?) of mothering, udders, and a few other things, I personally believe these things far outweigh the price those heifers will bring at auction, and are worth the 2 year wait for a calf. Just a little something to think about. ;-)

 

[Caustic Burno]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

Keeping heifers is not free the last time I put a pencil to it came to around 1500 dollars to retain a heifer.
Then you have a crapshot until she calves. You do get the knowledge of history retaining but it is still a crapshoot until she becomes a proven commodity. The worst part to me if you loose the heifer there is no write off as she was raised on the farm. I always viewed as driving without insurance.

 

[msscamp]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

Keeping heifers is not free the last time I put a pencil to it came to around 1500 dollars to retain a heifer.
Then you have a crapshot until she calves. You do get the knowledge of history retaining but it is still a crapshoot until she becomes a proven commodity. The worst part to me if you loose the heifer there is no write off as she was raised on the farm. I always viewed as driving without insurance.

You are absolutely right on raising heifers is not free, but I have to disagree with you on the part about calving out heifers being a crapshoot. Last time I checked, buying a bunch of bred heifers either came with a guarantee that they were bred, open, or no guarantee at all of any kind. I have never seen a bunch of heifers sold with a guarantee that they would calve with no losses of either heifer or calf. Seems to me that this would be another reason to retain replacements because you control what bull they are bred to.

 

[tom4018]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

I'm going to go against the tide here as far as heifers born are concerned. By keeping the heifers that you raised - assuming they fit the standard that you have set for your herd - you gain a couple of things that cannot be had with purchased heifers. Those things are history, bloodlines, and past performance of their mothers, grandmothers, and possibly great grandmothers. Given the heritability(sp?) of mothering, udders, and a few other things, I personally believe these things far outweigh the price those heifers will bring at auction, and are worth the 2 year wait for a calf. Just a little something to think about. ;-)

This is why we usually keep some of our own. We try to keep some heifers out of out top cows. We also try to buy some, so our replacements are about half home raised and half purchased. You just need to look at them real close and be honest with yourself. We have kept some that we should not have.

 

[grubbie]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

Keeping heifers is not free the last time I put a pencil to it came to around 1500 dollars to retain a heifer.
Then you have a crapshot until she calves. You do get the knowledge of history retaining but it is still a crapshoot until she becomes a proven commodity. The worst part to me if you loose the heifer there is no write off as she was raised on the farm. I always viewed as driving without insurance.

You are absolutely right on raising heifers is not free, but I have to disagree with you on the part about calving out heifers being a crapshoot. Last time I checked, buying a bunch of bred heifers either came with a guarantee that they were bred, open, or no guarantee at all of any kind. I have never seen a bunch of heifers sold with a guarantee that they would calve with no losses of either heifer or calf. Seems to me that this would be another reason to retain replacements because you control what bull they are bred to.

IF you have the grass. I wouldn't do it if I had to feed them, just my opinion. I will add this, though it is a little off the business subject. I take a lot of pride knowing that the cattle I am raising are all decendants of the first few cows my grandfather had when he started in the early 1900's. A lot of history in this herd, it has supported many families. We know every bite of beef we eat came from Granpa's cows. Now, my grand kids are eating it as well. Just kind of a good feeling.

 

[Elliotb16]

If prices are high sell the heifers, if they are cheap you can afford to hold them

 

[Caustic Burno]

This year I through calves born and some bought I have about 9-10 calves. Two are steers so they are going to be sold for sure. The rest are heifers. Some are black angus but more than half are charolais cross (not black hided). Originally I was planning on keeping these heifers to breed but they are 6 months old at the oldest. My question is would I be better off selling them with prices high and just buying some back when the prices fall off a little. I was thinking about keeping my best black ones and selling the rest.

Sell the calfs and buy red cows first they are cheaper and you have no options with a black cow
If you want black calves put a homo black bull on them, yellow a Char , red a red bull.
You can change your calf crop color at any time by changing the bull.