Cull cows

[S&S Farms]

If you have any cull cows to market I would be gettting it done soon. If the dairy buyout does happen expect the cull cow market to get cut in half price wise.

 

[bigbull338]

man i just dont get it.all of the panic of the dairy buyout.they spread the selling of those cows out over 3 months or so.they dont affect the feeder prices 1 bit.an i really haven seen a bad cull cow price slump in 3 or 4yrs. culls here are going for $35 to $61/100.ease up off the dairymen.they keep milking cows no matter what comes their way.their weekly feed bill would make your eyes buggout.

 

[mnmtranching]

Why don't they just slow down the import of low quality commercial beef for a few months?

 

[novaman]

I was surprised to see another round of herd retirements this quickly. It is impossible for me to say but in my opinion we are reaching the point that most of the dairymen sitting on the fence as to whether they should quit or not have already been taken out. It would seem this round wouldn't be as big as the last round.

 

[bigbull338]

the CWT doesnt do a dang bit of good.because the dairies that are left just add more cows.an that makes up for what milk was taken off the market.the only thing that would work is a mandatory culling rate.an all of the dairies big or small has to follow it.say a 15% cull rate every year.plus your normal cull rate.wich means youd be culling your low producers your kicking cows your wild cows your 3 teated cows.

 

[denoginnizer]

the CWT doesnt do a dang bit of good.because the dairies that are left just add more cows.an that makes up for what milk was taken off the market.the only thing that would work is a mandatory culling rate.an all of the dairies big or small has to follow it.say a 15% cull rate every year.plus your normal cull rate.wich means youd be culling your low producers your kicking cows your wild cows your 3 teated cows.

I dont know much about dairy cows but if some gov guy told me I had to cull 15% of my beef herd there might be a fight.

 

[bigbull338]

now you get it.the dairies that stay in pay for the CWT buyouts.an they add more cows to their herds so theres always gonna be an oversupply of milk according to the gov.an then they still buy powder an other dairy products from overseas.

 

[L Weir]

the CWT doesnt do a dang bit of good.because the dairies that are left just add more cows.an that makes up for what milk was taken off the market.the only thing that would work is a mandatory culling rate.an all of the dairies big or small has to follow it.say a 15% cull rate every year.plus your normal cull rate.wich means youd be culling your low producers your kicking cows your wild cows your 3 teated cows.

Or they keep their replacement heifers so they can be back in business again the following year like some dairy farmers I hear are doing around here.

 

[grannysoo]

Why don't they just slow down the import of low quality commercial beef for a few months?

Because our government makes big $$$$ off import/export. Nothing better than the hidden tariffs and fees heading straight to the gov-mint coffers.

 

[talldog]

Why don't they just slow down the import of low quality commercial beef for a few months?

Because----------- That makes sense !!!!! :tiphat:

 

[TexasBred]

the CWT doesnt do a dang bit of good.because the dairies that are left just add more cows.an that makes up for what milk was taken off the market.the only thing that would work is a mandatory culling rate.an all of the dairies big or small has to follow it.say a 15% cull rate every year.plus your normal cull rate.wich means youd be culling your low producers your kicking cows your wild cows your 3 teated cows.

I dont know much about dairy cows but if some gov guy told me I had to cull 15% of my beef herd there might be a fight.

Dairy culling rates in this part of the country will run from 25 to 35% year end and year out.

 

[Alberta farmer]

In Canada we have supply management of dairy cows. Basically what this means is the supply of milk shouldn't exceed the demand. Originally when it was first brought in you recieved a quota for the amount of milk you could produce. The price of milk was set at a profitable level for the dairy operator.
What started out as a fairly good idea evolved into a system where the quota became a very valuable asset that could be bought and sold. Eventually most of the small dairies were bought out. I think the quota for a single cow is now about $35K....so if you want to build a small 100 cow dairy the quota will cost you $3.5 million, before you even buy any cows or buildings! This has basically eliminated any young Canadian farmers from entering the dairy business. Instead we have wealthy European farmers coming in buying up the quota.
I don't think it a particularly good system but it has kept prices for dairy products high for the consumer and provides the immigrant dairy farmers with a steady reliable income.

 

[1982vett]

I think the quota for a single cow is now about $35K....so if you want to build a small 100 cow dairy the quota will cost you $3.5 million, before you even buy any cows or buildings! quote]
Maybe it is a "been there, done that" sort of a deal. But if I had the 3.5 million, I darn sure wouldn't be spending it on a bunch of cows...of any kind.

 

[novaman]

The government has taken a simple supply/demand market and mottled it all up. With subsidies and all the other interferences generated by the government there is no way for the market to control supply and demand. If there were some way to eliminate every subsidy, the end result would be a market that would have better control of supply and demand and these huge price swings wouldn't be an issue. Instead we are going the opposite direction with more and more government support being applied. Now they are talking about implementing a supply management program. This is a complete joke. It appears that nobody in Washington and/or all the high places realizes how detrimental this would be. Of course these days, the dumber and more absurd something sounds the better the chance that it will be enacted.

 

[dun]

The government has taken a simple supply/demand market and mottled it all up. With subsidies and all the other interferences generated by the government there is no way for the market to control supply and demand. If there were some way to eliminate every subsidy, the end result would be a market that would have better control of supply and demand and these huge price swings wouldn't be an issue. Instead we are going the opposite direction with more and more government support being applied. Now they are talking about implementing a supply management program. This is a complete joke. It appears that nobody in Washington and/or all the high places realizes how detrimental this would be. Of course these days, the dumber and more absurd something sounds the better the chance that it will be enacted.

People voted for "CHANGE". With any luck they'll leave a little change in our pockets to jungle

 

[GMN]

I was surprised to see another round of herd retirements this quickly. It is impossible for me to say but in my opinion we are reaching the point that most of the dairymen sitting on the fence as to whether they should quit or not have already been taken out. It would seem this round wouldn't be as big as the last round.

I was surprised also, and it was kind of like on the sly. I didn't even get the notice in the mail until a few days ago, and its only a 2 week period. I think you are correct there are many farms just sitting by waiting to see what happens with prices. i read an arcticle last week that by October prices may be up to $16 a cwt, but what if they aren't? Its getting kind of crazy financially, and what use to be fun, is just getting kind of depressing.

GMN

 

[Stocker Steve]

A few "cow/calf" guys around here have gone totally seasonal here due to the high price of hay and the length of the winter. They buy bred cows in Feb/Mar and kill then all in August. This turns my stomach a bit, but I will cull hard the next two months. I am shipping five cows today and have two grass feds going to the locker plant. I have some more to go in August. Cull cow price usually peaks then.

 

[talldog]

That's all I need---- Somebody in the Da** Government telling ME what to do !!! :x :x

 

[BC]

the CWT doesnt do a dang bit of good.because the dairies that are left just add more cows.an that makes up for what milk was taken off the market.the only thing that would work is a mandatory culling rate.an all of the dairies big or small has to follow it.say a 15% cull rate every year.plus your normal cull rate.wich means youd be culling your low producers your kicking cows your wild cows your 3 teated cows.

I dont know much about dairy cows but if some gov guy told me I had to cull 15% of my beef herd there might be a fight.

Dairy culling rates in this part of the country will run from 25 to 35% year end and year out.

Grazing daries here in East Texas will normally cull 15% - 20%. The confinement daries out in the panhandle and New Mexico will have cull rates of 30% or more. The only way to get prices up is to produce less which means fewer cows are needed. Most dairymen could cull the bottom 5% of their herd and barely notice the drop in bulk tank readings.

 

[novaman]

The only way to get prices up is to produce less which means fewer cows are needed.

While you are right, this sort of statement implies that the answer to this problem is simple. There is no doubt that cutting down on supply will result in higher prices. However, it seems very few people understand how difficult it is to simply "flip the switch". The spike in price in '07 stimulated a sharp increase in production in order to meet increased demands. Obviously that demand has dried up, but you can't just cut production in a week or even a year. It takes time for corrections in production to occur. The point I'm trying make is that while cutting production to stimulate price increase is a positive move, we must also work to restore demand. I firmly believe that had it not been for this recession we would be cruising at a decent price right now.

Most dairymen could cull the bottom 5% of their herd and barely notice the drop in bulk tank readings.

Again you are right, but again I don't necessarily agree that this is the way to go. Under normal circumstances the bottom 5% would still likely be making a profit in a well managed herd. Just because they are on the bottom doesn't mean they are garbage. When prices return those 5% would be nice to have around. Some may think my thinking is greedy and while it seems that might be so, I firmly believe in my plan. Replacements aren't overly high priced right now but they still don't come "cheap".