Buying bred Heifers... Why even do it?

[Stocker Steve]

This is mainly intended at those who buy heifers from replacement sales. Why do it? What gain is there in it? I have a hard time just keeping my own heifers, and still are uncomfortable at calving time. Too many uncertainties. Are they going to have calving difficulty, are they going to abandon the calf, will they have enough milk, etc.

1) You do not understand the risks
2) You accept risk if you can buy them right
3) You like small commercial cows
4) You like to eat grass fat wf heifers
5) You calve out of season for your area
6) You can sell bred 3 year olds for more than you pay for bred hiefers
7) You have a facility to isolate them
8) A combination of the above

I bought 20 sales barn heifers last November. I bought rwf and herefords and small ones. The stuff others did not want for $215 under the average market. Lost one to pnuemonia before vac caught... Had one still born calf and pulled one calf the mama did not want - - so these two got fat on grass and went to the locker plant.
Ended up with 17 pairs and then sorted off the three more this fall that I did not like. One sold for $60 less than I paid and two sold for $350 more than I paid. Sold the calves for sightly less than I had into the heifers. Now have 14 bred three year olds left from this group and they do not owe me anything.
I agree there is a lot of risk. I agree that most sales barn heifers are not worth what people pay for them, but there can be deals in any category if you are willing to go there.
Sign me up for 2,3,4,5,6,7

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

I often wish CT had a "Like" button like facebook. I like the heck out of some of this.

But back to the initial question, I don't think I read this in a previous comment, but if I'm wrong, please pardon the duplication.

The only good argument I can make for buying bred heifers is this: If I buy a large group of bred heifers from a breeder that's been working with the same genetics for some time, I can get a really uniform group of cows to start a herd, and if they're all bred to the same bull, I'll get a fairly uniform calf crop. And that's important to some people. By the time a group of cows is 4 or 5 years old, chances are some have been added from a place or two here and there. It's also unlikely that a group of cows is all going to be the same age if one farm is selling a large number of females.

But hey, what another person wants to spend his or her money on is none of my business, and if you've got someone willing to pay a king's ransom for a bred heifer, good for you. Different strokes and all that...

Like

 

[angus9259]

And manages them similar to the way you do.

:nod: :nod: :nod:

With all the "risks" and higher price for bred heifers, you could also ask why anyone would keep their own heifers too it seems. It's because you anticipate/hope they will be as good or better than their parents and you know how they're managed. So, if you know where the heifer came from, while there's no guarantee that they will be genetically equal or superior to their parents, you can hope they may be. Otherwise, as I said, why not take the extra money of bred heifers and sell everything you have?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Otherwise, as I said, why not take the extra money of bred heifers and sell everything you have?

Best question on this thread. On a per acre basis - - selling bred heifers has the highest return per acre that I can project today. So if you do not think they are worth buying, why not be the seller???? :cboy:

 

[dun]

Otherwise, as I said, why not take the extra money of bred heifers and sell everything you have?

Best question on this thread. On a per acre basis - - selling bred heifers has the highest return per acre that I can project today. So if you do not think they are worth buying, why not be the seller???? :cboy:

If a heifer wouldn;t be worth buying why should she be sold as a breeder to someone else?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Otherwise, as I said, why not take the extra money of bred heifers and sell everything you have?

Best question on this thread. On a per acre basis - - selling bred heifers has the highest return per acre that I can project today. So if you do not think they are worth buying, why not be the seller???? :cboy:

If a heifer wouldn;t be worth buying why should she be sold as a breeder to someone else?

It is not that she is low quality, it is that you can run more heifers per acre than (larger) cows, and bred heifer prices are way up this year.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

More fuel for the fire

http://beefproducer.com/story.aspx/cow/ ... t/14/45813

 

[angus9259]

Otherwise, as I said, why not take the extra money of bred heifers and sell everything you have?

Best question on this thread. On a per acre basis - - selling bred heifers has the highest return per acre that I can project today. So if you do not think they are worth buying, why not be the seller???? :cboy:

If a heifer wouldn;t be worth buying why should she be sold as a breeder to someone else?

The heifer is worth keeping . . . in fact, she's worth way moooore than to keep her. So, as good as she is, sell her and buy a good middle aged cow with some production records and put the rest of the money in the bank. I'm not questioning quality, I'm just saying if quality bred heifers are too expensive to buy then they're to expensive NOT to sell.