bullred
Well-known member
So far I've gotten some great advice from this board so I've got an idea I'd like to run by y'all and see what you think. I've recently bought some property and have been moving toward getting back into the cattle (cow/calf) business after many years of absence. My plan was to pick up about 20 bred tigerstripe cows, or 3 and 1's this August. I would then pick up a pretty decent Black Angus bull and continue on. Well, last week I was offered a great deal on a bull calf out of a very good Clark Angus Ranch sire. So I went ahead and bought him. The catch is, he's only 4 months old. So I'm looking at about a year (Jul-06) before he's ready to start reliably servicing cows.
Now if I pick up even short-bred cows in August they'll be calving around Feb-06 or so. This is going to mean I've got five months or so before the bull is ready to go – if everything goes as it should. If I buy long-bred cows, I've got even longer to wait unless I AI or borrow/rent a bull.
So as an alternative to this I've been thinking about picking up about twenty 400 lb. calves at the sale barn, feeding them out until they are about 700-800 lbs and then sending them back to the auction. Here's some data. 300-400 lb feeder calves are going for an average of 133.00/cwt around me. That's $528 for an average 400 lb calf. 600-800 lb feeders are going for an average of 102.00/cwt, or about $714 for a 700 lb calf. That's a $186 spread. If I figure 2 lbs/day gain that's about 150 days start to finish. After which I would then buy my bred tigerstripes, and my bull should be ready when they are. Of course this all depends on market conditions, and other variables. I'm not looking to make a ton of money, just cover my expenses with the spread. I've got 88 acres of knee high bahia grass right now, and plenty of hay given to me by the rancher that's been cutting hay off the place up until I decided to do something with it. One question I have is should the 400 lb auction barn feeder calves be ready to go straight to grass, with supplement of course, or will I have to go to creep feed to get the 2 lb/day gain? Any other insights or opinions are truly appreciated. Thanks.
CJ
Now if I pick up even short-bred cows in August they'll be calving around Feb-06 or so. This is going to mean I've got five months or so before the bull is ready to go – if everything goes as it should. If I buy long-bred cows, I've got even longer to wait unless I AI or borrow/rent a bull.
So as an alternative to this I've been thinking about picking up about twenty 400 lb. calves at the sale barn, feeding them out until they are about 700-800 lbs and then sending them back to the auction. Here's some data. 300-400 lb feeder calves are going for an average of 133.00/cwt around me. That's $528 for an average 400 lb calf. 600-800 lb feeders are going for an average of 102.00/cwt, or about $714 for a 700 lb calf. That's a $186 spread. If I figure 2 lbs/day gain that's about 150 days start to finish. After which I would then buy my bred tigerstripes, and my bull should be ready when they are. Of course this all depends on market conditions, and other variables. I'm not looking to make a ton of money, just cover my expenses with the spread. I've got 88 acres of knee high bahia grass right now, and plenty of hay given to me by the rancher that's been cutting hay off the place up until I decided to do something with it. One question I have is should the 400 lb auction barn feeder calves be ready to go straight to grass, with supplement of course, or will I have to go to creep feed to get the 2 lb/day gain? Any other insights or opinions are truly appreciated. Thanks.
CJ
