Minnesota Bred Cow Sale Premiums

[Stocker Steve]

There was a large run last Saturday of about 1050 head. I brought in a trailer load and stayed till the bitter end. Comparing groups of the same quality:

Blacks had a $100/head premium over reds.
Bwf had a $67/head premium over blacks.
Not enough rwf to test the market.
March/April calvers had a $112/head premium over May/June calvers.
Largest kill cow was 2,142# for $0.69

There was a shortage of buyers towards the end so I trailered 3 red/rwf May/June calvers to help support the market. When I asked the wife to come out and help run them through the chute she said at least I don't chase other women...

 

[BC]

There was a large run last Saturday of about 1050 head. I brought in a trailer load and stayed till the bitter end. Comparing groups of the same quality:

Blacks had a $100/head premium over reds.
Bwf had a $67/head premium over blacks.
March/April calvers had a $112/head premium over May/June calvers.

There was a shortage of buyers towards the end so I ended up with 3 red/rwf May/June calvers to support the market. The wife said at least I don't chase other women...

I don't understand why someone would pay a premium for a black cow, when you can use a black bull and get the black calf from a red or yellow cow that costs less. Besides, I prefer a red or yellow cow for heat tolerance here in East Texas.

 

[Jake]

Besides, I prefer a red or yellow cow for heat tolerance here in East Texas.

That last sentence shows exactly why black cattle to you are not worth the premium. In much of the country where heat tolerance isn't even a train of thought the added value of black calves at the barn along with the reputation of angus cattle are the reason that the black cows/heifers will bring more. As much as so many people hate to admit it the majority of the commercial industry has found great utility in their black cows.

 

[3waycross]

There was a large run last Saturday of about 1050 head. I brought in a trailer load and stayed till the bitter end. Comparing groups of the same quality:

Blacks had a $100/head premium over reds.
Bwf had a $67/head premium over blacks.
March/April calvers had a $112/head premium over May/June calvers.

There was a shortage of buyers towards the end so I ended up with 3 red/rwf May/June calvers to support the market. The wife said at least I don't chase other women...

I don't understand why someone would pay a premium for a black cow, when you can use a black bull and get the black calf from a red or yellow cow that costs less. Besides, I prefer a red or yellow cow for heat tolerance here in East Texas.

I agree and besides that, the one place where blacks do no seem to bring a premium is for killers. They all sell according to condition. So buying them cheaper, breeding them black and selling the the same as that black cow at the end isn't the worst plan.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The most profitable combination for me has been putting a black bull on a herf cross rwf cow. The calves are not monstors but the cow is thrifty and the weaning percentage is higher.

 

[snickers]

i've got a 6yr old bwf cow that we raised going to the sale barn today, she had a calf thursday and she was on the list to go anyway but thought we'd give her another chance but this yr she has terrible front teats and havent had any luck getting the calf on her so today will be her one way ticket and i really hate it, i can't bear to go watch her go thru the ring. we also took her calf to sell as a bottle calf since we don't want to mess with another one of those. we will be in the market for a couple heifers this spring or young cow's yeah i know that will hurt but we'll bite the bullet anyway. i'll let you guys know what she brings if your interested. a beef bottle calf does really well at the sale so we'll see.

 

[3waycross]

The most profitable combination for me has been putting a black bull on a herf cross rwf cow. The calves are not monstors but the cow is thrifty and the weaning percentage is higher.

If I was going to start over commercial tomorrow I would go out and buy the best brokemouth herf cows I could find. Breed them to a RED GV bull and keep the dtrs for replacements and sell the cows when they were used up. Then I would do just what you say and breed them to a high growth Angus bull. The heifers would sell great for replacements and the steers would really ring the bell at the sale barn.

 

[Stocker Steve]

It is hard to find Hereford cows in this country. I purchased a group of small Hereford cows a couple years ago for $450 each. Wish I had more.

 

[snickers]

10 minutes before loading momma and calf the darn thing latched onto momma and wouldnt let go so needless to say they got to stay for another year, now hopefuly we wont have any issue's with the calf getting sick or anything. maybe we were to quick to haul off.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

So be honest Snickers, how long did it take you to get that calf to latch onto momma?

 

[snickers]

well tennessee we should of took them to the sale barn anyway husband went to the farm this morning and the calf is still breathing but thats it, should have given another shot, kept a closer eye on them etc. just because they start nursing mom doesnt mean everythings ok. bummer. oh yeah she did start nursing on her own with no help honest