how long tell you make your money back?

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ez14.

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so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?
 
ez14.":gs94lacf said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?

You better sharpen your pencil again on a retained heifer.
You have two years upkeep on the dam at 1.50 a day with no return. You have a 1.50 in the heifer from weaning to calving of 420 till calving. You have roughly 1700 bucks in that heifer if your truthful with yourself.
With cattle prices today you can't raise replacements cheaper than you can buy
There is no financial advantage to the commercial terminal operation to retain.
 
ez14.":hydsp0zj said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?
Did you figure your land cost in there?
 
ez14.":3m2p0g55 said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

Congratulations on mulling it over. Lots of folks don't. They just pour their wallets out on the ground without consideration.

The advantage is retained genetics. Secondly is cows knowing my routines such as when its time to change pastures as well as what their perimeters and parameters are etc A cow on the farm who has always been on the farm doesn't know any different or long to go home. You know, without doubt, what their inoculations and issues are. No second guessing. (can you tell I like retaining?)

If I buy a heavy bred I may be buying a problem. Money ahead but perhaps a loss I am not aware of.

Sometimes it hasn't taken me 3.27 years. Sometimes it has taken longer. There are variances in market, weather, and other things that are beyond my control. It sure makes things worse when you make a mistake that is within your control.
 
It's actually pretty hard to assign a value to a retained heifer. In today's market, it would be conservative to say that a heifer cost you $1500-------lost revenue, feed, grass, hay, mineral, on and on. Probably well over $1500, but that's the number I would use. Then, it's going to cost you $350 a year to own her. It's a bad time to be farmer actually.
 
I am planning on it taking slightly over 3 years. If the market goes lower and have more than a few not make it it will obviously be longer.
 
I've learned the hard way that I can retain a better heifer than I can afford to buy. It also doesn't hurt as bad to cut bait and sell her if she doesn't get bred back on time for that 2nd calf.
 
Better bump it to 5 yrs and then if you lose a calf or another cow during that time that cost has to be spread over the others as well... People try and low ball themselves and think they're doing themselves a favour.

Only cost me 200 bux to run my truck this month! In gas.... Dont worry about the tires, oil, insurance, wear.
 
Caustic Burno":3ki1qidh said:
ez14.":3ki1qidh said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?

You better sharpen your pencil again on a retained heifer.
You have two years upkeep on the dam at 1.50 a day with no return. You have a 1.50 in the heifer from weaning to calving of 420 till calving. You have roughly 1700 bucks in that heifer if your truthful with yourself.
With cattle prices today you can't raise replacements cheaper than you can buy
There is no financial advantage to the commercial terminal operation to retain.

I think you living in the past CB. I feel like the way the prices were last year raising your own replacements made the best sense. Fuel, feed and the calf prices were cheap. I don't understand why folks buy heifers instead of bred cows? But I'm glad they do, because I haven't sold any home grown heifers at the sale barn in years.
Lots of people bought heifers and retained heifers when the prices were high, very poor business decisions. IMO
Making money is always a good thing, take the sure bet when you can.
 
I like for 3 calves to pay for a cow no matter if it is bought or raised.

Im going to buy some cows this weekend and it always makes me nervous. Over the years I have gotten better about my choices but it still makes me nervous. When I feed cows or work cows Im always happy with the replacement heifers. They are the first ones in the pen, they are easy to handle... I have history with them and that has value.

That's the thing about buying cows. There are some real good looking cows that throw crappy calves. There are crappy looking cows that raise great cows. We have multiple, multiple generations out of certain cows in our pastures. Its hard to buy that kind of history on an animal. There are certain cows that when they calve I almost run to see if its a heifer or a bull because if its a heifer its a keeper.
 
True Grit Farms":238ona5s said:
Caustic Burno":238ona5s said:
ez14.":238ona5s said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?

You better sharpen your pencil again on a retained heifer.
You have two years upkeep on the dam at 1.50 a day with no return. You have a 1.50 in the heifer from weaning to calving of 420 till calving. You have roughly 1700 bucks in that heifer if your truthful with yourself.
With cattle prices today you can't raise replacements cheaper than you can buy
There is no financial advantage to the commercial terminal operation to retain.

I think you living in the past CB. I feel like the way the prices were last year raising your own replacements made the best sense. Fuel, feed and the calf prices were cheap. I don't understand why folks buy heifers instead of bred cows? But I'm glad they do, because I haven't sold any home grown heifers at the sale barn in years.
Lots of people bought heifers and retained heifers when the prices were high, very poor business decisions. IMO
Making money is always a good thing, take the sure bet when you can.

Not as cheap as heifers here there is no way I can raise them to breeding age for 600 to 800 dollars bought four last January for 2400 bucks that are dropping calves right now. Actually sold
4 cutters bought heifers and put folding money in my billfold
 
ez14.":16wanzl7 said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?
Go back to "start" and use more realistic numbers for sale price, survival rate and expenses..... and by all means include all your expenses.
 
True Grit Farms":fvf2ge8c said:
I don't understand why folks buy heifers instead of bred cows?

I've started buying pairs or 3 n1's. I've been able to find some better deals on proven cows with a few years on them then in heifers.

I know seed stock guys that feel like a five year old cow is obsolete because they are producing better off spring every year. Their obsolete cows still have good genetics. They don't sell many pairs that way but you can find them bred to some nice bulls.
 
With the current prices we are figuring 4-5 years for a heifer to pay for herself, then hope that she has another couple of calves to start showing a return. Bred cows here are running 700 to 1500 per head and heifers are in the 1000 to 1400 range. I don't buy heifers. Been there done that, and every sale we go to my son and I look at each other when we see people buying these unproven heifers. Nope, I want a cow if I am buying something bred. We mostly will buy at a sale where there are people selling down...but you don't always know for sure. We do buy a fair number when they are cheap; and last month bought 9 bred cows and 1 with a month old calf for 9300. A few cost 1100 and the most were under 900; avg 930 a head with one calf already on the ground. We mouthed them, and 2 were old, but in good flesh, the rest were in the 6-8 yr range. Yes, we keep cows until they have no teeth if they do a good job, and only cull for a few things; Crummy calves, meaning the cow probably doesn't have much milk usually, open at preg check, really bad feet/legs, BAD DISPOSITIONS. We raise about 20 heifers a year out of our best cows and sell the rest. We are flexible, and have raised as few a a half dozen when prices were high and as many as 40 when they were giving them away.
Sold 19 calves, 4 small the rest 4 wts and about paid for the 10 cows and 1 calf. And we still have mothers of the calves sold except 3 that were old and open.
 
Prices last week on heifers were 1.15-1.25 for 4 wts and 1.10 to 1.20 for 5 wts. That was up from the .90-1.00 they were bringing in dec....Sold 2 open heifers at 850 lbs each for .97 So say nearly $825 and that was nearly enough to buy 2 of the heavy breds that are due to calve this spring.
 
Caustic Burno":2tc08gvg said:
ez14.":2tc08gvg said:
so i've been running some numbers and i came up with 3.27 years for a heifer being raised the way i raised mine

that is figuring a 500 lb calf sold at $2.00 lb (i know thats not what anybodys getting now but its the number i used)
the cost of feed (from my experience)
and a little money for the vet and AI breeding

that is not counting the cost of fencing or death. and a 100% weaning/sale rate

i know thats not going to be perfectly accurate but should be close for me

whats yours?

You better sharpen your pencil again on a retained heifer.
You have two years upkeep on the dam at 1.50 a day with no return. You have a 1.50 in the heifer from weaning to calving of 420 till calving. You have roughly 1700 bucks in that heifer if your truthful with yourself.
With cattle prices today you can't raise replacements cheaper than you can buy
There is no financial advantage to the commercial terminal operation to retain.
these are heifers that i bought at 8/9 months old and the cost you got is real close to what i had figured (i didn't write it down but it was 1680 give or take 5)

Supa Dexta":2tc08gvg said:
Better bump it to 5 yrs and then if you lose a calf or another cow during that time that cost has to be spread over the others as well... People try and low ball themselves and think they're doing themselves a favour.

Only cost me 200 bux to run my truck this month! In gas.... Dont worry about the tires, oil, insurance, wear.
i have got it figured in two ways which is how long tell she pays for herself (the cost to buy, feed, breed, and any vet expenses) and how long tell i make any money on my operation (which includes fencing, deaths, and ANY other expenses) i have a notebook that EVERY CENT i spend for the cattle gets recorded (i can tell you down to the penny what i have spent on them) due to the cost of getting set up for them and the fact that one heifer (50% of the herd) died it will be a long time tell i make any money (assuming the other one doesn't die) the way thing are now so im going to have to find some other way of making it (stockers in the summer or bottle calves or something like that)
RanchMan90":2tc08gvg said:
Did you figure your land cost in there?
i dont have any land cost yet (im using my dads land that was not being used for anything) but id like to have a few more then i can fit on the free ground so ill have to start renting sometime

any ways ive learned a lot and have a better idea of how to do things (or maybe how not to do things :) ) so it will take a while but someday ill know what im doing and have better numbers
 

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