- How many cattle have you ever finished out on feed?
About 7,500 in the last 10 years.
- What makes you the most money in the feedlot, carcass
quality or gainability?
Gain, carcass comes later.
- Are pounds king?
In the feedlot, no. Cost of gain relative to gain is.
On the Ranch, no. Total cost of gain figuring in all costs on a per cow exposed to the bull basis is.
On the rail, no. COG to put that total package on the rail per unit of pound produced is.
It is also trumped by the feedlot COG, and the cowherd productivity relative to COG.
- What does the feeders pay premiums for, short dumpy cattle
or bigger framed good boned cattle?
Big ones, but it's a trap, SRG, get past it. Just make them more middle of the road, but not dumpy. Control the averall size by age at marketing and mangement of feeding program the last 60 days before marketing.
- If we want a premium for our calves, who do we have to
please, other commercial cattleman or the feeders?
None of the above, I retain ownership on mine. Serving either of them is fallacy.
I make the most money by defying all the phony antagonisms you are griping about. Everything you listed is totally controllable with a little thought, get out of the trap you are in. Really think about what you are saying, and then you can make money for your producers.
Until then, you will just be selling them bigger and bigger mentality. It works in the good times. Falls on it face, when the whole picture of cow cost, and total ranch profitability per unit of output is calculated.
You'll do fine as long as you sell to your kind of customer. To someone more output/input based, you cattle will fail.
mtnman
About 7,500 in the last 10 years.
- What makes you the most money in the feedlot, carcass
quality or gainability?
Gain, carcass comes later.
- Are pounds king?
In the feedlot, no. Cost of gain relative to gain is.
On the Ranch, no. Total cost of gain figuring in all costs on a per cow exposed to the bull basis is.
On the rail, no. COG to put that total package on the rail per unit of pound produced is.
It is also trumped by the feedlot COG, and the cowherd productivity relative to COG.
- What does the feeders pay premiums for, short dumpy cattle
or bigger framed good boned cattle?
Big ones, but it's a trap, SRG, get past it. Just make them more middle of the road, but not dumpy. Control the averall size by age at marketing and mangement of feeding program the last 60 days before marketing.
- If we want a premium for our calves, who do we have to
please, other commercial cattleman or the feeders?
None of the above, I retain ownership on mine. Serving either of them is fallacy.
I make the most money by defying all the phony antagonisms you are griping about. Everything you listed is totally controllable with a little thought, get out of the trap you are in. Really think about what you are saying, and then you can make money for your producers.
Until then, you will just be selling them bigger and bigger mentality. It works in the good times. Falls on it face, when the whole picture of cow cost, and total ranch profitability per unit of output is calculated.
You'll do fine as long as you sell to your kind of customer. To someone more output/input based, you cattle will fail.
mtnman