backgrounding questions

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bbf

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I've done some research and havent really found all the answers Im looking for, and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction. We run a small herd of about 30 cows, spring calf try to wean a 450 to 600 lb animal.
For the past 8 years or so we've been selling our calves to a farm that puts about 200 lbs of gain on them and away to the sell barn they go. Im toying with the idea of keeping 10 to 15 steers through the winter and selling in the spring when prices have a spike. Our cows over winter on stockpiled orchard grass and we usually plant a few rye pastures and feed grass hay.
We have feeding barns avaliabe that arent being used and always have plenty of hay left over.
Would retaining some steers and adding weight with hay and grain over the winter increase our profits?
If so what type of feed program would work well for this?
If we decide to feed grain this winter it would have to be bagged feed which we can get at a slight discount if buying a skid at a time. If this proves to be a profitable venture we would add a grain bin next year to buy bulk feed. Or get a mixer/grinder to mix and store our own.
Any advice or links to publications dealing with how to get started would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nathan
 
Wih that number and buying bagged feed- it won't be worth the effort and risk most years.
 
bbf, If you tell us what state you are in ,it will help us answer your questions. In my area some producers would wean and winter some of their calves,and then run them on pasture until fall and sell direct to feedlots as heavy 18 month old cattle.
When 5 wt steers are bringing $2 a lb , I can't see keeping them to heavy weights and then only getting $125 a cwt or so on a direct order.
 
A lot depends in the current market, for instance if I had a bunch of 500lb calves right now, I would no way sell them, If I could I would try to keep them until either the market improved or they got to about 800lbs. And that's what I am doing right now everything I have under 500lbs won't go to town until fall.
 
We are in central NC. We were thinking of keeping all of our steers and buying enough to have a load of 40 or 50 in the fall and over wintering them to sell in the spring. We have room to feed 60 cows at the barn and we feed the herd in pasture during the winter. Dad was talking about feeding broiler litter mixed with hay and either soy hulls or cracked corn. We have an unlimited supply of litter, a dry stack shed for storage and to let it go through a heat and we make more than enough grass hay. Im not too keen on the idea of feeding litter and was thinking of keeping 10 or 15 steers from our herd this year to feed out on grain as a small test run. Advice and ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nathan
 
After doing some research regarding using broiler litter as a feed source I'm not even sure if its legal.
Dad got the idea from a cousin that used to run about 400 stockers back in the 90's. He has since retired from farming and lives a nice comfortable life at the coast. Guess I will contact the local extension office and ask them.
 
Feeding chicken manure is still legal. It works ok for overwintering cows, Its not as useful feed to calves. A good buyer can spot a chicken **** calf and will discount it severely.

There is more to storing good litter than piling it up---- its a skill to do it right,

Latley Litter has more value as fertilizer than feed.
 
We have a 110 x 48' dry stack shed. We store all our litter and run it through heat cycles (check temp and moisture and keep records along with analysis) we have 3 houses and it provides us plenty of fertalizer for our 50 acres of pasture and 30 acres of hay fields. We were selling litter to a local row cropper but he just picked up 4 more houses of his own and were not sure if hes going to take our litter anymore. We dont have a spreader truck or a means to haul it so were not sure of how to get rid of it all if he dosnt take it anymore. Just looking for other ideas to put it to our own use.
 
Where in central NC?-- I may be interested in your litter.

If you are going to buy more calves you need to buy enough to sell as a trailer load on video auction.
 

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