How does sending cattle to a feedlot work?

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Could some of you tell me exactly how sending calves to the feedlot instead of selling them at the sale barn works? I hear a lot of people around here talking about it, but don't really understand the costs involved or how many head you have to have to do this. Is it something that is profitable or is it too risky for a novice like me? I am thinking about trying this next year. Thanks for any information and advice.
 
I believe most yards would want a pen of 50 to 60 calves min or about 25,000 lbs. Some yards will group small lots with other clients lots to make a pen. The best advice I can give you is look online for some feeders and ask them to be sure. CattleFeeding.com is a good site for overall feeder site. I know there are several yards that have web sites out there. Try BKTFeeders.com there are sveral others also.
 
Hello!

I have talked to a few feedlots and they want between 50 - 80 head. All same sex and same weight/age range. I don't have enough cattle to fill an order either, but if you could get together with other producers and co-mingle your calves then you could do it. Where are you located? Most people around where I am (South Central Texas -B/CS) are not interested in anything like that. There are more risks involved with such a method of selling, expecially if you are going to retain ownership, which I have not done yet so I don't really know a lot about it. Dun could answer your questions a lot better because I believe he is part of a group that does this.
 
I am in NW Arkansas (I forgot to log on before I started this post). I don't have enough to send a load, I am just planning for the future. Thanks for your the information.
 
Anonymous":2fekwe97 said:
Could some of you tell me exactly how sending calves to the feedlot instead of selling them at the sale barn works? I hear a lot of people around here talking about it, but don't really understand the costs involved or how many head you have to have to do this. Is it something that is profitable or is it too risky for a novice like me? I am thinking about trying this next year. Thanks for any information and advice.

Talk to your Extension people. I don't know if Arkansas has a state sponsored feed out program, but many states do have one for small producers. Here in OK, it's called the OK Steer Feedout. Texas calls it Ranch to Rail. OK requires a minimum of five steers, but some states also accept heifers. It's worth checking out.
 
Frankie's right.. here in Texas we have a sponsered feed out program called Ranch to Rail. It was started down here in the early 90's as an option for producers that were suffering from drought, and wanted an option for selling calves at the auction barns. It's a good program.. not only do you get an education on feed lots, they also collect data on your steers so you can see how they feed out. Very interesting information!

A lot of the breed organizations also sponser a feed out program in order to collect EPD data. If you're running a specific breed, you may want to consider talking to your breed organization.

The county extension agent would be a good place to start.
 
Seems like a common issue. The Ranch to Rail program seems restricted from my attempted contacts. Maybe we could pool together a pen from interested parties here in South Central Texas. Any takers?
 
We looked into retaining ownership once a while back because we thought we may not have enough room to finish all of our calves out, anyway, there was a little feedlot in southwestern Missouri called Diamond O Feedyard, that would take smaller groups of calves, but I can't remember how many for sure. They wouldn't be too far away for Arkansas. Talk to feedlots too. Some may specialize in retained ownership more than others or they may handle it differently.
 
Tman":1ee5tbag said:
Seems like a common issue. The Ranch to Rail program seems restricted from my attempted contacts. Maybe we could pool together a pen from interested parties here in South Central Texas. Any takers?
T man
It certainly could work in your area.
 

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