sell herd confusion

[rockridgecattle]

okay so we made the resolve to sell a fair chunck of the herd.
Called the auction today to see about booking in, protocols, cost effective to pre check and sell as bred cows or sell as cows at the regular sale.

the auction suggested to hang on, buy hay if needed, there is some in the area to buy, or send the cows to a guy in the area to feed out for a while, then sell or bring back home and calve out.
Does it pay to buy hay? I'm going to call one of the guys he suggested to fing out the priceof his hay. Deep down I can think of better ways to spend that money.
:???:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

That feller ain't paying the bills. Not that i am always right, but in some thing like this i will make my on decision. That way when i am wrong i can only blame my self.

 

[bigbull338]

heres some qs that might help you make up your mind.how much hay does it take to get a cow through the winter in your area.2 how much do you have going into winter.3 how meny cows do you have to winter.4 do you have any cull cows to sell.5 how much is hay selling for in your area.

 

[dun]

If there is curretnly a glut of cows on the market because of other herds selling off, the auction folks may feel that feeding hay and waiting until the glut has cleared would bring more money. That's the reason to sell down early if that's what you think you'll end up having to do. The early sellers get paid a fair market value, the late commers get squat.

 

[rockridgecattle]

first sale had 320 animals on offer
200 were cows
25 bulls
80 something calves and yearlings
cows brought 45-55 cents /lb with some close to .60 (age verified good quality cows)
she told me about the bulls...forgot but they were clost to .60 i think
4-500 steers average 1.0625 with high end at 1.14 but there were only a few on offer.

 

[fitz]

To each his own. I can't see buying hay to feed cows I'm going to end up selling anyway. Would have to be mighty cheap hay or a heck of an increase in cattle sales to come.

 

[grannysoo]

I had a neighbor that fed a lot of hay last year. I believe his comment to me was that it was costing him a calf a day.

You won't get rich anytime soon feeding hay...

 

[Jalopy]

Could it be possible to take their advice but only on half the ones you planned to get rid of. That way you would have money for hay for the remaining ones and if the price does recover you can get some added value. Just a thought. However if you made the decision to sell then stick to your plan and manage your money as you see fit. How's That for wishy-washy? :lol:

 

[hillsdown]

This summer is going to effect all of us, I don't know anyone who has had it turn out the way they wanted. I thought I would be in the same place as you and Randiliana but just as I was going through my cattle to see who has to go we were offered another hay field to put up because they are selling their herd.

Hay is going from 60 $'s a ton with rain to 110 $'s a ton no rain and there is a lot of it but the quality is crap.
I don't think you can break even at those prices not with the fluctuation of cattle prices and if it is another cold winter like the last , one will be feeding a lot more hay..

Good luck RR, I hope it all works out for you.

 

[bigbull338]

$110 a ton for hay is still cheap.thats $55 a round bale.2yrs ago in our drought people was giving $60 to $100 a bale for hay including trucking.i know a 89 year old women that bought 150 round bales or more an had them hauled in.an by the time she got done buying the hay an hauling it in she had $60 to $80 or more in every bale she bought.an she sold her cows early this spring.after feeding them bought hay all winter.

 

[hillsdown]

$110 a ton for hay is still cheap.thats $55 a round bale.

$110 a ton is .055 cents a pound if my math is correct which it may not be.. :lol2:
Our bales our heavier because of the hay we put up ,an average 5x6 bale hard core is around 1350-1400lbs thus you are looking at 70 -80 dollars a bale ,plus shipping.
So cheap it is not and we are not in a drought.
If you had to feed 8 months out of the year and 3 of those months had -40 weather, I guarantee most of you would not have cattle if you have to buy hay. You will never break even unless you have magic cattle or very deep pockets and don't care about throwing your money away.Not now ,not with the livestock industry the way it is.

 

[dun]

Are thos US dollars and cents or Canuck dollars and cents?

 

[hillsdown]

Are thos US dollars and cents or Canuck dollars and cents?

Dun, I was referring to Canadian dollars but it really doesn't matter since our dollars are still pretty close to par 0.965 :cowboy: .

But, if it were in Euros we all would be in trouble ,I think the currency for Euros is about 0.6427. :lol2:

 

[shorty]

I know it won't help you where you are , but slaughter cow prices are pretty good here right now , I sent two cows to New Holland last week , my check was almost $1800 for the two. I thought that was good for culls .

 

[dun]

Are thos US dollars and cents or Canuck dollars and cents?

Dun, I was referring to Canadian dollars but it really doesn't matter since our dollars are still pretty close to par 0.965 :cowboy: .

But, if it were in Euros we all would be in trouble ,I think the currency for Euros is about 0.6427. :lol2:

I didn;t know what the exchange rate was. At one time it was pretty significant

 

[ALX.]

Good time to bail if you weren't in for the long run.

Cows are strong, but notice here we are seeing pre BSE prices for calves. Maybe a blip?
http://www.ontariostockyards.on.ca/weekly_mr.html

You can't carry significant debt and buy hay and run cattle. For profit anyway.

If you NEED to reduce, fine, but i smell something good in the not too distant future.

 

[Aaron]

If you buy hay, you'll be financing it for the next 10 years. Not worth it. Also agree with ALX, something is in the wind. Cows are up, calves down. Cut your herd in 1/2 and look at your hay situation. If need be, sell all the cows, keep all the bred heifers and calves (some stocker/some replacements) and regroup next year. A few guys in this area are doing this exact thing. First week in Sept is the last good time to sell cull cows. After that it is all downhill. Locally, there is a .15-.20 difference between Sept 1 and Oct. 1 on cull cows.

I wouldn't bother with selling bred cows. Just cull hard on anything that has or may give you a problem this coming winter/spring. :cowboy:

Tough times don't last forever....but tough producers do.