@Ky hills that is correct. Plus, Universities pushed hard for everyone to have smaller cows (more cows/acres) - but, after research it kinda blew some of what they were preaching out the window. Maintenance is not as "linear" as they thought. For example: a 1000# cow does not eat half as much as a 2000# cow. Big exaggeration, but you see what I mean.
Also, every cow, whether 1000# or 2000# has to be calved out, checked/treated for health/foot issues, heats if breeding AI (or breeding with a bull and you want calving dates), more expense per herd for vaccines, more cattle to work thru chute, etc etc. More cows per acres did not pencil out as more profitable as they once thought. Worming will cost you more, I will grant you that.
Yeah, I raise Simmental, but now a days, they are no bigger than most good PB British herds.
I wean my steers, precondition them. They will average 8.5 months of age. This year they averaged 706# X $1.45 = $1,024. That will pay a lot of extra deworming expenses. And that's not counting the ones I sold as show steers for $1500 - sorry, couldn't help bragging.
Not trying to talk anyone out of going for what they want to look at and work with, just pointing out facts.
"The most efficient cow is the one with the highest milk potential that can — without reducing the percentage of calves successfully weaned — repeatedly produce a calf by bulls with the growth and carcass characteristics valued most in the marketplace," Johnson says. "The industry can absorb all sizes. We don't need better cow sizes for our managers; we need better managers for our cows. Know your operation well and manage it to the best of your ability. It's the most important thing you can do."
"In theory, they say, bigger animals have an advantage because they use energy more efficiently. For instance, says Jennifer Johnson, a graduate student at the King Ranch, 100 cows that weigh 1,000 pounds each are equal to 87 cows that weigh 1,200 pounds each in terms of maintenance feed requirements. That means bigger cows have 20% more weight but only take 13% more feed."