Short Bred Cow $

[Stocker Steve]

Our first bred cow sale of the fall is occurring this weekend. A few March/April/May calving cows have been coming through the barns, and mostly selling from $1200 to $1450 per head. Seems high with 6 + months of hay feeding ahead of us, and the continuing decline of the kill market. What are you thinking?

 

[Toad]

I went to one of my local barns today and almost every short bred cow that came through was below $1000. A few cows that were 7+ went for a bit more. You could have picked up a good number of old short breds for an average of $800.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I went to one of my local barns today and almost every short bred cow that came through was below $1000. A few cows that were 7+ went for a bit more. You could have picked up a good number of old short breds for an average of $800.

I did a napkin calculation and came up with $900. Maybe I should sell some old girls for $1200?

 

[Aaron]

The cheapest breds at our sale on Saturday were young thin BA cows for $1225. A group of six fancy RA heifers went highest at $3100. I figured the top was $2500, before the sale. Kicked myself for not sending a bred heifer, or two, down. So guys will pay big money for top quality and not a dime above kill price for less than appealing, older cows.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The cheapest breds at our sale on Saturday were young thin BA cows for $1225. (Canadian)

I hope you were not tempted to go black ?

 

[Aaron]

Almost. But I don't need to bring some disease in from a less-than-reputable herd. Another thing that makes it hard to buy breds here is most guys still breed for March, not May/June.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Most folks here breed for March and April. Some guys w/o calving facilities will turn bulls out on July 4th, and then hope for good weather in April and early May. They end up with a wreak once in a while.
The ideal calving season starts on Mothers Day. :nod: Since I aim to calve on grass in May/June - - there are always "June calving" cows that are discounted in the early spring if I want to take that risk. With the local "June" kind a few calve in April, about 1/3 in May, about 1/3 in June, some in July, and maybe in one in August.
I sorted off cows that hadn't calved by Memorial day and put 21 of those on one farm. One dink heifer heifer, but the rest really look nice and I am tempted to take them to grass.