selling heifers

[mdw]

I need to ask a question that displays my ignorance. I'm in south central Texas, not too far from San Antonio. I generally sell my calves at the auction. I have a person who wants to buy some of my heifers directly for breeding (I was going to keep them as replacements). These are 13 month old, Angus (7/8) X Red Limousein (1/8) heifers from my best cows. They have been vaccinated with Bovishield Gold, 7 way clostridium, and RB-51. They have RFID tags. They also received Valbazen. I'm not good at estimating weights, but I'd guess they would go 650-700 lbs. This past week the auction market gave $1.10-$1.50 for feeder heifers. Can any of you with a lot more experience than me give me an idea what a fair asking price would be?

 

[J+ Cattle]

Quality and condition can vary a lot and is also a big factor in selling price. At 13 months I'm assuming they're still open and not bred.
A good set of pictures will help with the estimates.

 

[SBMF 2015]

If you feel they are good enough to be future cows and this guy wants them, $1,500 is a starting point. At an Angus production sale I was at last wknd. The lower end plain open heifers brought 1,500-1,900.

 

[Son of Butch]

$1050

If you feel they are good enough to be future cows and this guy wants them, $1,500 is a starting point. At an Angus production sale I was at last wknd. The lower end plain open heifers brought 1,500-1,900.

Angus production sale = angus heifers with production records and you can produce F1s from them, even the plain ones

With these all you know is they are black from F2 cows
Apparently op is willing to sell them for whatever the reason

feeder prices here
550 lb top black heifers 1.55 = $850 head
700 lb top black heifers 1.35 = 945 hd
and you have to pay trucking and commission

I'd say you're doing good if you get $1250 for choice or all to go for 1100

 

[Hpacres440p]

Price them above kill price, or he may buy and flip at a higher paying sale barn…if you can load them before he buys, load them as a group and weigh at a truck scale so you know what you're dealing with. I got a VERY good deal on a 4 month old steer last summer because the guy didn't know what prices were nor what the steer's weight was. He stuck to his stated price, which I am grateful for, and probably lost $200 based on what he got for the ones he did take to the sale barn. Knowing what you have is a big start to the price.

 

[mdw]

Thanks to everybody. Here are photos of three of them which are pretty representative. Please let me know if this changes anything. By the way, calf ear tag 17 is 1/2 angus and 1/2 red limousein. She is the exception.

 

[SBMF 2015]

$1050

Angus production sale = angus heifers with production records and you can produce F1s from them, even the plain ones

With these all you know is they are black from F2 cows
Apparently op is willing to sell them for whatever the reason

feeder prices here
550 lb top black heifers 1.55 = $850 head
700 lb top black heifers 1.35 = 945 hd
I'd say you're doing good if you get $1250 for choice or all to go for 1150

I get what you're saying, and I tend to agree. But I hauled a load of 580lb feeder heifers for a guy yesterday. They cost $1,040 (1.88/lb)
If I thought they were good enough to make cows I sure would expect a premium ( I wouldn't sell them if they were mine).

 

[bird dog]

J & J cattle has most of their top of the line yearling heifers at around $1250. I would try that.

Brahman Replacement Heifers

Head Count: Inquire on availability Call or text Justin Johnson at 979-574-9149 to discuss ordering options of Brahman females or for more information on any of our other cattle for sale! >View Bred Stock for Sale >View Replacement Heifers for Sale >View Bulls for Sale

www.jjcattleco.com

J&J Cattle Co

www.jjcattleco.com

I like these

J&J Cattle Co

www.jjcattleco.com

 

[Dsth]

why not ask the buyer how much he is thinking about paying. then all you have to do is decide if you will sell at that price. if it is below what you want, you were planning on keeping anyway.

 

[farmerjan]

If I was planning on keeping them as replacements then 1500 would not be too much. Feeder heifers are anywhere from 1.50 for 5 wts to 1.35 for 7 wts here....
Also take into account that cull cow prices are high... read some of the threads. @Dave used to buy one and done old bred cows last year for the 6-700 range... in his thread he just bought 4 for something like 1060.... which he said averaged out to .87/lb.... they are bred and are broken mouth "old cows". He said the killer buyers were buying even 4-5 month breds.... There is going to be a shortage of breds in this country... farmers selling out, the drought causing many to cut way back....all these breds that are not bad cows, going to slaughter. This is going to make bred heifers be at a premium in the next couple years. You might be better off keeping them and breeding them and selling them as bred heifers if you don't want to calve them out. There are some bred heifers here bringing over 2,000... that is average decent breds, no papers or anything.

 

[ClintM]

J & J cattle has most of their top of the line yearling heifers at around $1250. I would try that.

Brahman Replacement Heifers

Head Count: Inquire on availability Call or text Justin Johnson at 979-574-9149 to discuss ordering options of Brahman females or for more information on any of our other cattle for sale! >View Bred Stock for Sale >View Replacement Heifers for Sale >View Bulls for Sale

www.jjcattleco.com

J&J Cattle Co

www.jjcattleco.com

I like these

J&J Cattle Co

www.jjcattleco.com

Just bought a load from them, excellent selection and quality replacements.

 

[Dave]

B has me going to the sales to buy heifer which he plans to breed and sell this fall. He wants good heifers weighing 650. His limit is $950. That is $1.46 on a 650 pound heifer. That is to buy with intent to sell and make a profit in the fall. To someone intending to keep I would up that price. $1,100-1,200 is not out of line.

 

[Muletrack]

He can probably get bred heifers pretty easily at $1500, so that's pretty high. I think you will do good to get anything over a top feeder price bid for them this year (since feeder heifers are good this spring). A 1500 price tag does not guarantee they will breed once and again breed back. It's a lot of risk on the buyer when he could just as well buy proven cows in the 4th to 7th calf range. Sometimes the less fancy heifers make the best cows. My 2 cents is all

 

[farmerjan]

Agree @Muletrack ... we don't buy heifers as a rule. Give me a cow that has a couple calves under her belt. Sometimes you get one that doesn't make much milk, but for the most part buying at a farm "liquidation sale" will get you some decent ones. And if they are a little bit older, then there was a reason the farmer kept them that long...unless they are high headed and he just couldn't get them in....

 

[Stocker Steve]

Traditional in some places to pay steer price for select replacement heifer calves.

A number is just a number.

 

[Muletrack]

What you pay might matter in how much money you got. Now that I got more money, I try like the dickens to pay less!

 

[Rafter S]

I need to ask a question that displays my ignorance. I'm in south central Texas, not too far from San Antonio. I generally sell my calves at the auction. I have a person who wants to buy some of my heifers directly for breeding (I was going to keep them as replacements). These are 13 month old, Angus (7/8) X Red Limousein (1/8) heifers from my best cows. They have been vaccinated with Bovishield Gold, 7 way clostridium, and RB-51. They have RFID tags. They also received Valbazen. I'm not good at estimating weights, but I'd guess they would go 650-700 lbs. This past week the auction market gave $1.10-$1.50 for feeder heifers. Can any of you with a lot more experience than me give me an idea what a fair asking price would be?

When I was selling heifers I generally got $100.00 over auction barn price. That paid me for the trip to the vet and a little extra, plus I was saving the commission.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

When I was selling heifers I generally got $100.00 over auction barn price. That paid me for the trip to the vet and a little extra, plus I was saving the commission.

The $100 over sounds about right plus you save the commission and trucking. If you are retaining any for yourself besure to keep
from those calved in the 1st calving cycle only. Never let someone 'top' your herd!

 

[Lucky]

I'd look at J&Js website and base my prices off theirs. Last open heifers I bought were around $1,150 I believe.

 

[Warren Allison]

I need to ask a question that displays my ignorance. I'm in south central Texas, not too far from San Antonio. I generally sell my calves at the auction. I have a person who wants to buy some of my heifers directly for breeding (I was going to keep them as replacements). These are 13 month old, Angus (7/8) X Red Limousein (1/8) heifers from my best cows. They have been vaccinated with Bovishield Gold, 7 way clostridium, and RB-51. They have RFID tags. They also received Valbazen. I'm not good at estimating weights, but I'd guess they would go 650-700 lbs. This past week the auction market gave $1.10-$1.50 for feeder heifers. Can any of you with a lot more experience than me give me an idea what a fair asking price would be?

How many does he want to buy?