Repeat customers

[HOSS]

I have a customer that I have been selling some of my younger cull cows to (culled from my herd for things like being out of synch on calving time, less than perfect udders etc). He has really liked them. Back in the fall he bought 5 or 6 heifers from me that were A.I. calves out of my commercial herd. He bought them at weaning but wanted them for replacement heifers. Yesterday he called saying that he will take every heifer that I have at weaning again this year and at a premium if I agree to reserve them for him. He also sent me some pictures of the weanling heifers that are now yearlings and will be ready for breeding in June. It feels really good to not have to advertise heifers or worry about taking them to the sale barn. A.I. on commercial cattle pays off more than most people realize. Here are the heifers as of yesterday. The pics may be a bit wide for the screen....just do a ctrl - one time and it will reduce to the correct width.

 

[tdarden3k]

Hoss
I was just pondering this issue last night. For the producer who is NOT planning on keeping replacements would they rather see them sold to acquaintances who would be adding them to his herd or have them sold at the auction for "what-ever" purpose.

There are a couple of growers in my area. I dont know yet how or if they are selling their heifers, but under cetiain conditions I would like to have 10 or so of their replacements every year.

 

[cowwrangler]

they look nice hoss,starting to slick off good

 

[HOSS]

Hoss
I was just pondering this issue last night. For the producer who is NOT planning on keeping replacements would they rather see them sold to acquaintances who would be adding them to his herd or have them sold at the auction for "what-ever" purpose.

There are a couple of growers in my area. I dont know yet how or if they are selling their heifers, but under cetiain conditions I would like to have 10 or so of their replacements every year.

I like the arrangement of selling them to select clients who keep coming back. I get a better price than the sale barn and I will be able to follow their progress as they grow and become momma cows. I can look for ways to improve on the next crop by using the information supplied by customers that I have developed a relationship with. My personal thoughts are that I would not buy replacement heifers from a sale barn unless it was a specific sale just for that. I like to know more about the background of a heifer before I plunk down hard earned cash no matter how good she looks. I prefer to see her momma if I can. I take heifers that are not up to snuff to the sale barn but my best get sold right off the farm.

I would approach those growers and see if they would consider selling you 10 heifers or so. Tell them your criteria and what specific traits you desire and they can reserve those for you........but......you have to be willing to pay a premium and a pretty good one at that otherwise it is not worth the hassle and he will just load them up with the rest and take them to the sale.

 

[tdarden3k]

Hoss
What would you consider a "premium " on 10 head sold at weaning if you approached a grower early in the game.... sale barn rates + $100 /hd premium.... more ??? Less? Thanks

 

[cfry]

I've always sold at a barn but made my first sale straight from the farm last spring. I have to say it was much easier and the gentleman was very satisfied. I'll be doing more sales from home.

 

[HOSS]

Hoss
What would you consider a "premium " on 10 head sold at weaning if you approached a grower early in the game.... sale barn rates + $100 /hd premium.... more ??? Less? Thanks

I have been getting 20 to 25% more as a premium over sale barn rates for really good heifers. I look at the sale barn report and take sale average for similar weight / color heifers and add the premium.

 

[machslammer]

Hoss
What would you consider a "premium " on 10 head sold at weaning if you approached a grower early in the game.... sale barn rates + $100 /hd premium.... more ??? Less? Thanks

I have been getting 20 to 25% more as a premium over sale barn rates for really good heifers. I look at the sale barn report and take sale average for similar weight / color heifers and add the premium.

What wts you selling them at? selling at how many days weaned? Was thinking about selling some off the farm ones too, but didn't know a good price or where to start at. . If sale barn is 1.25 for 500-600# what's a good price?

 

[HOSS]

The last batch averaged 633 lbs at 180 to 195 days of age and sold right off the cow. The price is dependent on the quality as well. I am selling mostly A.I. sired heifers from know bloodlines even though they are from commercial cows. I would look at asking 1.50 lb right off the farm for good heifers. If they don't move you can always come down a bit. I got $1,100 hd for some of the weanlings and $950 for others depending on quality. At that time the market was bringing 1.28 to 1.30 lb for heifers.

 

[machslammer]

The last batch averaged 633 lbs at 180 to 195 days of age and sold right off the cow. The price is dependent on the quality as well. I am selling mostly A.I. sired heifers from know bloodlines even though they are from commercial cows. I would look at asking 1.50 lb right off the farm for good heifers. If they don't move you can always come down a bit. I got $1,100 hd for some of the weanlings and $950 for others depending on quality. At that time the market was bringing 1.28 to 1.30 lb for heifers.

That's good. How you advertise around here, other than just knowing certain people, lsn, or craigslist?

 

[HOSS]

The last batch averaged 633 lbs at 180 to 195 days of age and sold right off the cow. The price is dependent on the quality as well. I am selling mostly A.I. sired heifers from know bloodlines even though they are from commercial cows. I would look at asking 1.50 lb right off the farm for good heifers. If they don't move you can always come down a bit. I got $1,100 hd for some of the weanlings and $950 for others depending on quality. At that time the market was bringing 1.28 to 1.30 lb for heifers.

That's good. How you advertise around here, other than just knowing certain people, lsn, or craigslist?

Both....got a costomer from there that developed into a long term thing. Others have been through my county cattlemans association and word of mouth.

 

[skeeter swatter]

You must really be doing something right! Nice heifers.

 

[bigbull338]

hoss with comm heifers bringing $1100 or more a hd,i think if i was you id charge him $1100 to pick from all of your heifers.an then the heifers that are left would go to the sale barn.

 

[HOSS]

hoss with comm heifers bringing $1100 or more a hd,i think if i was you id charge him $1100 to pick from all of your heifers.an then the heifers that are left would go to the sale barn.

bigbull, we do not see $1,100 6 weight heifers at the sale barn here. More like $800. Especially at the time I sold those. I was happy to get 950 to 1100 off the farm. No haul bill and no commissions. I hear replacement heifers are really high down in Texas......has made me wonder if putting together a truck load and bringing them down would pay off :cowboy:

 

[bigbull338]

hoss all cattle is high here in texas.

 

[Nesikep]

I have just started selling off the farm, and haven't been charging much of a premium over sale barn prices (close friends who do me a lot of favors, etc), and I want to get a baseline on the performance of what I sell... if my customers are really happy with my animals and they do well, I'd have more confidence in charging more... So far I've sold one really big steer (about 1600+ lbs at 25 months), a full blood brother as a bull, about 700ish at 6 1/2 months, and this fall I have a bull calf who is looking great so far at about 250-300 lbs at 7 weeks... That one is a bit of a horse trade with my GV bull and him for a Simm bull and the value of an steer equivalent to the bull calf... The GV bull is a fair bit lighter than the Simmi, same age, so I figure I get a premium for the bull calf in the additional weight of the Simm. I wish there were more ranches in the area (there's only about 2 dozen at most), so it makes it hard to spread word. Since we bought the original group of cattle, we've never bought females again, and we're down to 6 maternal bloodlines, and working on reducing it to 4... By doing this, I have a very good knowledge of every cow, her weaknesses and strengths, and can better predict how she'll do.