desmond":13x84jry said:
Is it really as simple as the more weight a cow puts on, the less $ per lb people want to pay for it? It has nothing to do with costs of production in different cycles?
please help !!
thanks
Desmond, your question is really a tough one to answer. Let me put it this way. Here in my neck of the woods, how much you will get for your cattle, no matter what age, gender or size, has more to do with who you are than it does with what they are.
For instance, I could go to a well known ranch near me and pay them $120 a hundred for prime angus steers. Feed em for a couple months, take em to any sale barn I could reach, and still lose alot of money on the sale because the old boys at the salebarn never heard of me. The ranch I bought em from could have a load there on the same day as me, steers from the same herd that I bought from, and get top $$$.
Reason is that everybody knows the ranch's name and is willing to pay more. I had a mentor who recently passed (long before I was done learnin from him) who would haul a load for a three hour one way drive to the salebarn in a distant town, even though there is a salebarn within 30 minutes of where we live. Reason is that he was known at the barn which is farther away, and the auctioneer would give him a personal plug when his cattle ran thru the ring.
See, if the auctioneer says "we got 15 black steers here", well, that's one thing. When he says "we got 15 good black angus steers here from Mr. so-and-so of the Whatever Ranch", well that's quite another. Mr so and so is going to get alot better price.
I know this is speaking from a real small scale here, and may not even be what your looking for but I guess I'm just tryin to tell ya that there are ALOT of variables to consider. I hope it gives you at least a little more insight at least.
george
