Simmental

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I'm a small time hobby farmer who is in love with fleckvieh simmental. My wife says my hobby needs to start breaking even. We have purebreed cattle, but not registered. We always get the lowest prices at the salebarn (our cattle obviously aren't black). What is the best market for our product?

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Now is that fair? What other hobby is required to break even? Bass fishing, snow skiing, bird hunting, knitting, shopping? Seriously though, are you keeping good records so you actually know what the cattle cost/earn? Have you considered the tax benefits of raising cattle? Feeding your own animals and selling direct to the consumer might be your best bet, but it takes time to develop a market. My suggestion would be to feed them out yourself. Most states have some sort of retained ownership program for small cattle producers. In Oklahoma it's called the OK Steer feedout; Texas A&M runs the Ranch to Rail Program in Texas. Costs vary from program to program, but you sell the finished animal to the packers on a grid basis. That might or might not be a good thing, but it is a learning experience. Good luck....

> I'm a small time hobby farmer who
> is in love with fleckvieh
> simmental. My wife says my hobby
> needs to start breaking even. We
> have purebreed cattle, but not
> registered. We always get the
> lowest prices at the salebarn (our
> cattle obviously aren't black).
> What is the best market for our
> product?

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we take our calves off the cows and put them in the lot and finish them out and often sell them straight to a packer we seem to do realy well that way but I don't have much experience with straight simmy cattle all of our are at least part angus or charlois

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> I'm a small time hobby farmer who
> is in love with fleckvieh
> simmental. My wife says my hobby
> needs to start breaking even. We
> have purebreed cattle, but not
> registered. We always get the
> lowest prices at the salebarn (our
> cattle obviously aren't black).
> What is the best market for our
> product? the reason you are getting low prices when you market your calves is because it takes a simmintal a lot longer you grade out in the feedlot that it does an angus. try an angus, brangus, or black simmental to get rid of the white on your calves and you will see your prices increase at the market on your calves

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We used to raise Simmies...fullbloods, often with 3/8 to 1/2 fleck. We had registered stock, so it's not exactly the same, but if we had calves we weren't going to sell as breeding stock, we slaughtered them on the day they were weaned...uncut (uncastrated) but dehorned young. We sold the meat directly to our customers, who really loved the lack of fat yet very tender meat. It was technically red veal we were selling, since the animals were about 7.5 to 8 months of age. They weighed between 750 and 900 lbs liveweight and dressed about 220 to 240 lb sides--some were heavier and dressed more, some were lighter or dressed less, but most were in this range. It is a bit of a hassle dealing with people in this way, but we found it very satisfying and profitable. It's just what worked for us!
 
I am somewhat in your shoes. You might want to try breeding those Fleckvieh to a Red Angus or Simbrah for some replacement females. Either way you should get the white of the calves and have some very good calves. I work with several full fleck breeders and they seem to be doing very well. I also use full fleck in my Simbrah program to increase muscle and fleshing ability. What part of the country do you live in and maybe my fleck guys or me can help you out marketing your calves.

Matt S. Bar M Ranch

> I'm a small time hobby farmer who
> is in love with fleckvieh
> simmental. My wife says my hobby
> needs to start breaking even. We
> have purebreed cattle, but not
> registered. We always get the
> lowest prices at the salebarn (our
> cattle obviously aren't black).
> What is the best market for our
> product?

[email protected]
 
> I'm a small time hobby farmer who
> is in love with fleckvieh
> simmental. My wife says my hobby
> needs to start breaking even. We
> have purebreed cattle, but not
> registered. We always get the
> lowest prices at the salebarn (our
> cattle obviously aren't black).
> What is the best market for our
> product?

Though we don't raise Fleckvieh, I agree that they are some of the nicest looking cattle there are.

If you prefer to market your calves through the sale barn and want to improve on the price you are getting for the calves there are a few things you may want to consider:

-get involved in your state's feeder calf certification program, which usually requires dehorning, castrating, vaccinating (in the neck region), having the calves weaned and bunk broke for 30 to 45 days, etc.

-check with the American Simmental Assn. and your state Simmental association to see if they have breed specific feeder calf sales in your area or a listing of Simmental influenced feeder calves for sale where you can list your calves for sale.

-breed your cows to a good black Angus or Brangus bull. You still get to look at those pretty Fleckvieh cows in the pasture, but the resulting calves will likely bring quite a bit more at the sale barn. Not only that, but the Fleckvieh/Angus heifer calves should make great replacement heifers that you may be able to sell at a premium over feeder calf price. In order that you still maintain a Fleckvieh cow herd, breed a handful of your better cows artificially to a Fleckvieh bull every year to get your Fleckvieh replacement females.
 
What are the tax savings to raising beef?

> Now is that fair? What other hobby
> is required to break even? Bass
> fishing, snow skiing, bird
> hunting, knitting, shopping?
> Seriously though, are you keeping
> good records so you actually know
> what the cattle cost/earn? Have
> you considered the tax benefits of
> raising cattle? Feeding your own
> animals and selling direct to the
> consumer might be your best bet,
> but it takes time to develop a
> market. My suggestion would be to
> feed them out yourself. Most
> states have some sort of retained
> ownership program for small cattle
> producers. In Oklahoma it's called
> the OK Steer feedout; Texas A&M
> runs the Ranch to Rail Program in
> Texas. Costs vary from program to
> program, but you sell the finished
> animal to the packers on a grid
> basis. That might or might not be
> a good thing, but it is a learning
> experience. Good luck....

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> What are the tax savings to
> raising beef? Most costs of production are deductible; feed, hired labor, fencing, etc. Costs minus sale price of purchased animals is deductible. Check with a good tax accountant to make sure.

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At the major livestock shows, the classifiers are now classifying solid black cattle into Simy classes. The rules state Purebred characteristics. It looks like they are getting Maine charactoristics in the breed. From what I read , they should have some white markings??

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