Heavy breds?

[piedmontese]

Thinking that buying some old heavy bred cows might be a good idea. Plan is to calve them and let them wean the calf and sell the calves and the cows as slaughter.no bull needed. Butcher cows are high now and u can buy heavy breds for around $1500 and if u have the time and can hit several sales u can put together a decent group of cattle. I know anything can happen but this seems like a pretty good plan. I have a lot of sale barns within 30-90 miles of me so within a couple weeks I could put together around a 100.what do u all think?

 

[Texas PaPaw]

The key to making this work is to buy the old breds for very little over their kill value. Probably no more than $1.00-1.05/# based on today's kill prices. Have been buying these old breds for a couple of years now and it has gotten very difficult to buy them within $.10-.15/# of their kill price since last October. In my area, the demand for anything bred has gotten crazy. If bred, she only needs 1 good eye, 2 good teats, and 3 good legs to find a take home buyer. Could be different in your area. Also having an economical home for them is critical.

On a 1200# cow, a $.10-.15 premium over kill, means Jr has to subsidize mom $120-$180 + the value of whatever weight loss she has.

Here's the formula to figure what you can pay for them.

Kill value of cow
+sell value of calf
-expense to take pair to sell time
-profit
=max purchase price

Bottom line is if you can get them bought right and have an economical home, they can be very profitable. Around here, would probably take 4-6 weeks to buy 100 unless you pay bigtime $$ and buy a wide range of calving dates.

 

[piedmontese]

Thanks for all the good info and yea I'm kinda lucky in that I have several nearby sale barns to choose from. One of them is actually having a ranch sell off that has 1000 cows and 200 are old and heavy bred so hopefully might be able to pick up several there.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

The big dispersal sale will help with more cows available but should be heavily advertised. Around here, those kind of sales draw in a number of ignorant "gotta buy me some cows" buyers who bid like crazy until they get there desired numbers bought. Until all of these type buyers run out of money, cows will sell very high, then possibly you can buy them more reasonable. Best to sit on your hands for 2/3 or 3/4 of the sale, then maybe you can buy them right. Most likely the older cows will sell at the end so that should help you.

Do your homework and have your numbers figured out before you get there. If you focus strictly on $ per head most likely will come home with a bunch of lighter weight cows as the smaller cows will sell cheaper per head, but will figure out more per pound. The larger cows usually figure out the cheapest per pound even though they cost more per head. What they cost PER POUND is the critical element as that is the way you will be selling them. Strongly suggest only buying a few at the first few sales you go to until you are able to guess weight good enough that can keep price per pound where it needs to be.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Would be helpful to know the general area you are in if you care to share. Be even better if it was in your profile.

 

[piedmontese]

I'm in Kansas and the sale barn I use the most is Eldorado. Yes the upcoming special sale is being advertised an there will be a packed house. I agree with you on buy by the lb and not head.i won't be surprised if most of the older cows at this sale go for more than I am willing to give but there maybe some singles at the end I can get.

 

[Dave]

I have done this for years and it has worked well for me. One thing I do is kick a bull in with them. Cows that are bred don't come into heat causing disruption in the herd. Calm cows will gain more. I try to find a bull who will put on weight thus gaining value and I don't care about the breed because the cows will go to slaughter long before they calf. Has as been stated the money is made by buying the cows right.

 

[piedmontese]

That actually makes pretty good sense. Just buy any old bull for cheap and then resale him right with the cows.