New bull, lease or buy?

[shaz]

Hey guys,
I've been renting a bull from Tn Livestock Producers for the last 4 years. Cost is 1300 per year. Wondering if I wouldn't be better off buying an 18 month old bull this time around.

I haven't bought a bull since Jan 2012. What is a reasonable price for an 18 month old Angus bull with fairly uniform EPDs?

Thanks

 

[A.J.]

In my area in East TN, 2-3000 would get you a nice bull. You could find some for more or less, but that's the typical price range I see most in. It might be different in your part off the state though. Not sure if you would be interested in the TAEP program or not, but it would pay up to 50% towards a qualifying bull.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

How does that program work? Do you lease for XX number of days?

 

[shaz]

How does that program work? Do you lease for XX number of days?

The lease is for a year. Just found out they sold TLP to another outfit and no longer are involved in genetics.

 

[farmerjan]

2 year lease cost will buy a decent bull. How long would you keep one? We have bulls we bought in 2012.... good bulls stay here. We have enough cows to move them around and seldom if ever would they get accidently used on their daughters. Rent out a couple to farmers with only 10-20 cows. Good dispositions and good calves means they stay. They will pay for themselves easily that way. If you only use one for 2-3 months, might not be worth buying, but then 1300 is alot of money for a couple of months work.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Buy a virgin bull or a bull from a reputable source with a negative Trichomoniasis test.
$3,500 is a pretty avg starting point for good 18mos bulls around here.

 

[kenny thomas]

I'm curious as to what the contract says. I can find a pretty decent bull for that amount if he is used a couple years.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Sounds like you are paying alot. Sorry bulls rent for $500/yr here.

Lowest cost good bull is a proven 3 to 5 year old from an operation that is retaining heifers.

I bought a good 5 year old for $2,000 and then used him for two years, for $350 per year in depreciation plus feed..

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Shaz I never caught how many cows you were covering with the $1300 rental. A decent bull will cover at least 20 or more cows in two chycles
Three for sure if you don't need them that close. Consider the cows you have and the heifers from them would be from a different bull
would give you two years before you would need to consider a diffeerent bull. Odds are against it but if you could get by a year without
culling for opens or (?) you may get three years from the rental. That is still $65 dollars a calf stud fee with a 100% marketed calf crop.
I would not worry about a daughter or two if they good enough. That situation would take care of itself in the 4th year when you changed bulls.
Myself, I prefer to own the bull. Do what works for you.

 

[crossbredcalves]

I bought my last two bulls as long yearlings and grew them out myself. I was able to get them for just above market value and kept them for a couple years and sold them for enough to replace them. I don't expect to make money on an aged bull.

 

[Stocker Steve]

A mature purchased bulls can cover a lot of cows. We have had a bull cover up to 78 cows in a small paddock MIG system. (He was 7.8 years old.) So very low cost per calf.

Yearling not so much.

 

[Silver]

If I use a bull for 4 years my annual cost of ownership (not counting maintenance costs of course) is between $250 and $350 per year, depending on what balogna bulls are selling for at the time. Canadian dollars. Hard to justify leasing one.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I've been watching and thinking about buying this 15 month old red angus out of registered stock for a while now. They want 1250 for him.
That's like bottom dollar I think.
Most decent bulls are 15-1750 and up as far as u wanna go

 

[Muletrack]

Hey guys,
I've been renting a bull from Tn Livestock Producers for the last 4 years. Cost is 1300 per year. Wondering if I wouldn't be better off buying an 18 month old bull this time around.

I haven't bought a bull since Jan 2012. What is a reasonable price for an 18 month old Angus bull with fairly uniform EPDs?

Thanks

Have been renting for several years and would be hesitant to go back to owning. My supplier charges $900 for one bull and $800 each for multiples. That's for the breeding season. No reason for me to keep them around one day longer! I'm a fall calver and when the breeding season is done (Jan. 1), I take 'em home. Never have late bred cow that way, and no bulls around to feed and to bust things up the rest of the year. Expect to pay $3,000-$3,500 for a good bull, and all the headaches of owning him! East Central North Dakota.

 

[Muletrack]

Have been renting for several years and would be hesitant to go back to owning. My supplier charges $900 for one bull and $800 each for multiples. That's for the breeding season. No reason for me to keep them around one day longer! I'm a fall calver and when the breeding season is done (Jan. 1), I take 'em home. Never have late bred cow that way, and no bulls around to feed and to bust things up the rest of the year. Expect to pay $3,000-$3,500 for a good bull, and all the headaches of owning him! East Central North Dakota.

As a fall calver in North Dakota, I just can't have a late-bred cow -- calves too easily become 90-pound popsicles!

 

[wbvs58]

As Muletrack has said, you have to factor in the convenience of not having a bull around when he is not needed.

Ken

 

[WFfarm]

Bull rental around us is about $500/year, but usually only keep them 3 months. You can find a decent registered mature bull that someone has to get rid of because they are keeping daughters for $1700-$2000. A lot of good bulls get sold in their prime by small farms because they aren't able to rotate groups of cows.

 

[Ky hills]

I've never leased one, because have always been concerned about what they might have been exposed to somewhere else as well as their disposition. Breeding age bulls here are anywhere from around 1800$-3500$, with a lot of those in the $2000-$2500 range. We have been keeping back a couple bull calves for several years and sometimes use them as the main bulls and then will buy an out cross bull when needed. When we were doing bred heifer programs we used CE bulls and went through a lot of them which got pretty costly, so started raising our own. Just recently purchased an 11 month old bull for $1750, which in my opinion was just as good as some that are priced at $3000 or more that weren't much older.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Bull rental around us is about $500/year, but usually only keep them 3 months. You can find a decent registered mature bull that someone has to get rid of because they are keeping daughters for $1700-$2000. A lot of good bulls get sold in their prime by small farms because they aren't able to rotate groups of cows.

This is one of the ways I end up with bulls for my battery. Aside from our own farms, I have a handful of really reputable breeders within miles that offer me their clean-up or senior herd sires when they can't use them anymore. I get great bulls for just over kill price, and the breeder knows the bull is going to keep getting used and don't have to deal with shipping or marketing them.

As a lease program owner, I'm kind of surprised that the OP's lease is for the entire year. Our customers pay for the convenience of knowing the bull is there only for breeding season, not a day more. Not having to feed, house, test, manage or purchase a bull makes the price I charge well worth it to them. The bull they want shows up on time and leaves the same!

 

[shaz]

Thanks, my last rented bull was from Deer Valley.
I'm trying to cover 50 cows. I do have a little Brangus bull right now but he can't cover the herd.