Ring the Bell

[Travlr]

I've noticed that there seems to be two different mind sets in how people buy and use a cow to make money. One, and probably the most popular, is to find the cheapest cow you can find and throw the best bull on her you can afford to make as good a calf as you can get with a cheap cow. The other mind set is to buy the best quality cows you can afford and again, use the best bull you can afford. From what I've seen on CT, it seems like more people buy cows based on final price than on quality.

It seems to me that one strategy is going to be more likely to ring the bell at the sale barn/private treaty than the other, just about every time. So I guess the question is, does buying cheap cows end up making more profit... or does a few more pennies per pound to buy better cows justify the added expense?

I always liked to ring the bell and have the best price for the day when selling because I always felt it cost the same money to raise a cheap calf as it did to raise a bell ringer... except for the price of the cow. A nickel a pound more on a 1500 pound cow is $75 to get a better calf raiser, and if she lasts for several calves I think she pays for herself and then some. I figure the calf from the better cow is going to wean heavier and have more muscle, and might be twenty cents more valuable per pound in the sale ring.

Which then begs the question, how do you judge the quality of a cow. What makes one better than the other?

 

[mwj]

It is very easy to make a keyboard profit where there are only 2 variables and 75 bucks from top to bottom on brood cows. Thanks again for the words of wisdom.

ps

don't forget your earplugs while you are ''ringing'' that bell!

 

[Travlr]

It is very easy to make a keyboard profit where there are only 2 variables and 75 bucks from top to bottom on brood cows. Thanks again for the words of wisdom.

ps

don't forget your earplugs while you are ''ringing'' that bell!

So basically... you don't know.

 

[alacowman1]

I Raise my own replacements, and buy the best bull's I can afford..

 

[Travlr]

I Raise my own replacements, and buy the best bull's I can afford..

So how do you choose your replacements to raise? What do you look for?

 

[MACVSOG]

i once asked a friend if he had any cheap hay for sale. he responded "i don't have cheap hay, i have the best." i knew what he had. so i think
in terms of not cheap, but inexpensive.

i have been able to buy lots of "cheap" cows at auction. most have turned out great and still on the property. cheap price does not necessarily correlate with cheap quality. maybe i was lucky on those days it just happened that no buyers were present who
saw what is did or were looking for that type. regardless, still go with
the best bull. cheap/inexpensive, just semantics

 

[mwj]

So basically... you don't know.

You obviously do not know either. Throw out some bait so you can snipe at other peoples answers is not ringing the bell.

 

[Travlr]

You obviously do not know either. Throw out some bait so you can snipe at other peoples answers is not ringing the bell.

Well if you actually have an answer I'd like to hear it. But if your idea of value added to the thread is to impede other people learning, then go ahead and offer nothing of value.

 

[clarkmorefarm]

Of the few stockyards I either worked at or went to, we didn't have a bell to ring

Didn't realize it was a thing.

 

[Brute 23]

Which then begs the question, how do you judge the quality of a cow. What makes one better than the other?

With out history on an animal you are just trying to read tea leaves.

Performance is what makes one better than they other. I have a small list going of young to middle age cows that will get cut in the spring. They are good cows but they score or the bottom end of the herd and are going to get replaced by the latest generation of heifers.

 

[Travlr]

With out history on an animal you are just trying to read tea leaves.

Performance is what makes one better than they other. I have a small list going of young to middle age cows that will get cut in the spring. They are good cows but they score or the bottom end of the herd and are going to get replaced by the latest generation of heifers.

So what makes them score low?

 

[mwj]

Kudzu intolerance would be a big problem for people breaking in to the high profit cattle business. Also access to poultry litter and free beer slop has to be figured into it. When you get into the exotic crossbred bulls that are homo for black you can ring that CAB three way cross bell ringing from low dollar cows stocked at 2-3 per acre.

This computer cattle profit is a piece of cake.

 

[gcreekrch]

So what makes them score low?

Cmon Traver, that is a no brainer for a truecow man

 

[Travlr]

Cmon Traver, that is a no brainer for a truecow man

Okay... so are there people here that don't know?
I look at one guys cows and wonder why he bothers... and another guys cows and wish I had some of them. And I look at the results in the sale ring and wonder why the one guy isn't trying to learn from the other guy.
It's great to buy a good bull and get good calves from it regardless of the cows you have, but the bull is only half of the genetics. Is it hard for people to choose better animals?
Sorry if I thought there would be some use to this thread.

This is a red angus cow. I used this image because it's easier to see the strengths and flaws in an image of a red cow. If people don't know what her strengths and flaws are and how they translate to more dollars, then wouldn't they like to learn? The difference between a successful operation and a hobby farm may be the difference between someone being able to pick good stock and not.

 

[mwj]

Where did this good cow sell and what was the premium that it cost to buy her? How many were available that day ? How much time would the ''average'' new poster on this forum need to find this type of cow in there area. Do you count your time and travel expense against any profit from this superior cow. This should be a very good discussion.

 

[Rmc]

Cmon Traver, that is a no brainer for a truecow man

You do realize he doesn't own a single cow right?

 

[Travlr]

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." - William James

 

[Brute 23]

You do realize he doesn't own a single cow right?

Only taking criticism from cattle people is a double edged sword. On one hand they understand the business, on the other they can feed the delusion.

 

[Travlr]

"If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, 'He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would have not mentioned these alone.'" - Epictetus

 

[Travlr]

You do realize he doesn't own a single cow right?

Yes, it's true at the moment. I retired. So no cows at the moment. And I've managed somehow to never own a single dwarf cow in need of a stylist... not even one. Regardless of how "efficient" they are. LOL...