Bred Heifer Pricing Question

[Brute 23]

Will U$S 2,000 bred heifers make money for the buyer?

Maybe, depending on what they are and the operation the buyer is running.

I was more concerned with the OP selling them that cheap. We sell heifers 60-90 days past weaning for $1000-1200 fairly easily. Usually little to no advertising involved. They mainly get grass and a little sweet feed to settle them in. I don't see how you can buy heifers, raise the to breeding age, AI them, hold them thru another winter and sell them for $1500-2000.

 

[Dueyb]

All situations are different but we run lean and have a good margin in them at $1800.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We sell heifers 60-90 days past weaning for $1000-1200 fairly easily. Usually little to no advertising involved. They mainly get grass and a little sweet feed to settle them in. I don't see how you can buy heifers, raise the to breeding age, AI them, hold them thru another winter and sell them for $1500-2000.

Sounds like all the profit is in seed stock, not development.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Guy I know that bought those 2700-3100 heifers when prices were high that last year before prices tanked said it will take 12 calves to get their $$ back to each their own but I can't afford to tie up that much in something unproven.

Hope they were brimmer crosses, so they can deliver 20+ calves each to pay off the note by 2035. :cowboy:

 

[Stocker Steve]

All situations are different but we run lean and have a good margin in them at $1800.

2x with home raised.

 

[skyhightree1]

Guy I know that bought those 2700-3100 heifers when prices were high that last year before prices tanked said it will take 12 calves to get their $$ back to each their own but I can't afford to tie up that much in something unproven.

Hope they were brimmer crosses, so they can deliver 20+ calves each to pay off the note by 2035. :cowboy:

I sat on my hands at that sale so there was no mistaken that I wasn't bidding on those high priced walking pieces of gold :lol:

 

[Brute 23]

We sell heifers 60-90 days past weaning for $1000-1200 fairly easily. Usually little to no advertising involved. They mainly get grass and a little sweet feed to settle them in. I don't see how you can buy heifers, raise the to breeding age, AI them, hold them thru another winter and sell them for $1500-2000.

Sounds like all the profit is in seed stock, not development.

We don't go after papers and stuff but I try to buy quality animals. Most of our stuff is cross bred with Brahman influence. Just good, hardy, ranching cattle.

I don't sell any thing that I wouldn't keep and I don't sell any thing for more than what they can earn the buyer.

 

[machslammer]

Bred heifers at an all breed sale today we're mainly Angus, red Angus, and sims and brought 1500-1800

 

[bball]

Sale today I went to..1500 to 1700.
1700 was AI bred.

 

[M.Magis]

Sale I went to last week probably averaged around $2000 on heifers. Sale today was show cattle oriented and prices reflected that.

 

[jdg]

You get what you pay for ain't always true in the cattle business, as some people are known to pay more for something than it is worth. Having said that, I believe that there are $1500 bred heifers that are overpriced, and $2500 open heifers that are underpriced, but there's a lot more risk involved in the latter than the former. One bull calf raised by that $2500 heifer might NET you $3500 two years down the road. I said "might".

Are you selling freezer beef direct, club calves, registered breeding stock? Are you retaining ownership in a feedlot? Marketing is the difference maker. Direct sales are less volatile than taking your calves to the local barn when you need money.

I usually put a price on the sale heifers I believe they are worth to me, and keep them if they don't sell. This leaves me the option to sell three-in-one's for a premium after calving. So far this has worked in my model, and keeps my genetics moving in the right direction.

To answer the question, I'd say the heifers are probably worth $1600-$1900, but that's sight unseen and not knowing who's looking.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If you factor in some OH and a little death loss and depreciation and a very small return to your labor & management - - then you come up with a much lower bred value for those who are not in the seed stock business.

Approximately U$S 1,037 would be the top, $850 would be better. I bought 5 last month for $910 and I may have overpaid.

 

[talltimber]

I don't know where your market is SS, and I couldn't find any reports from MN anyway. I looked at a result from Bloomfield, IA, under the IA weighted average feeder calf result page. It shows a medium and large 1 heifers weighted average of 724 @ 141.50 (calves). (Calves) identifier was in the margin so I assume they were unweaned, so they are not going to go much cheaper than that, in that weight class. That is a total per head cost of 1021.46 for unweaned, much less bred, feeder heifers. What did those five bred heifers weigh, and what did they look like. Sounds like you did good for what I have pictured in my head as something I'd want for bred heifers. I'm thinking they should have weighed at least over 800, depending on what stage they were in.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I am a sucker for certain kinds of sort offs. Old stocker habit...
Two are fancy thin 2nd calvers that bred back for May. Work fine in my system. Two had a lot of white on the belly. We will see, jury is out on them. One sweetheart wf that had a limp when she went through. Straightened out after a week.
They averaged just over a 1000#, and have put on at least 50# since.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I am a sucker for certain kinds of sort offs. Old stocker habit...
Two are fancy thin 2nd calvers that bred back for May. Works fine in my calve on grass system. Two had a lot of white on the belly. We will see, jury is out on them. One sweetheart wf that had a limp when she went through. Straightened out after a week.
They averaged just over a 1000#, and have put on at least 50# since.