Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Replacements, buy em or raise em???
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="SRBeef" data-source="post: 630727" data-attributes="member: 7509"><p>This is an interesting and thought-provoking thread. Reading the posts above I realize that in my situation there are a couple of other ways of looking at things:</p><p></p><p>A retained heifer (and her dam) may not have brought in any hard cash this year but that heifer is still an asset - and a growing asset as she puts on pounds. Yes she does consume hay and grass which is an expense but if we can keep the average daily gain up and the hay/feed/grass costs down she is still producing a net profit on the balance sheet. Up until breeding at 15-16 months she can be valued as a beef animal. At 15 months if she weighs 1000 lb and could be sold for beef at 80 cents she has a value of $800 to use some round numbers.</p><p></p><p>15 months = about 450 days x $1.20 avg cost/day = about $540 of feed and upkeep so she has produced a net profit on the balance sheet of $800-540 = $260 even though she has not been sold. Obviously you can generate different numbers but the idea is she has made a balance sheet profit up to breeding even if she has not been sold. At breeding time her income switches over to the value of the calf she will produce or her value if sold as a bred heifer or pair if sold after calving.</p><p></p><p>Another factor for some of us that sell beef to consumers is that there is a value to many customers to being able to say that that animal was born here on my farm. I market my beef as "natural" beef (no hormones nor antibiotics) that I could not in good conscience claim if I bought calves. Some customers like the idea of knowing where their beef came from. If you sell commercially this is not a factor but there is some value to retaining heifers if you sell beef to a certain markets.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SRBeef, post: 630727, member: 7509"] This is an interesting and thought-provoking thread. Reading the posts above I realize that in my situation there are a couple of other ways of looking at things: A retained heifer (and her dam) may not have brought in any hard cash this year but that heifer is still an asset - and a growing asset as she puts on pounds. Yes she does consume hay and grass which is an expense but if we can keep the average daily gain up and the hay/feed/grass costs down she is still producing a net profit on the balance sheet. Up until breeding at 15-16 months she can be valued as a beef animal. At 15 months if she weighs 1000 lb and could be sold for beef at 80 cents she has a value of $800 to use some round numbers. 15 months = about 450 days x $1.20 avg cost/day = about $540 of feed and upkeep so she has produced a net profit on the balance sheet of $800-540 = $260 even though she has not been sold. Obviously you can generate different numbers but the idea is she has made a balance sheet profit up to breeding even if she has not been sold. At breeding time her income switches over to the value of the calf she will produce or her value if sold as a bred heifer or pair if sold after calving. Another factor for some of us that sell beef to consumers is that there is a value to many customers to being able to say that that animal was born here on my farm. I market my beef as "natural" beef (no hormones nor antibiotics) that I could not in good conscience claim if I bought calves. Some customers like the idea of knowing where their beef came from. If you sell commercially this is not a factor but there is some value to retaining heifers if you sell beef to a certain markets. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Replacements, buy em or raise em???
Top