sold calves today

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I'm at a loss to explain it then. Maybe got severely docked for being bulls?

 

[skyhightree1]

Same here... Did anyone find out where they were selling them that cheap at? :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

I looked at all the KY reports and did not see any that cheap.

:lol2: :lol2:

 

[TXMike]

Maybe. Between work and storms by the time I got em in a pen the bands weren't opening enough so I just left em bulls. Didn't figure I'd get that much dock for em.

 

[joeu235]

I asked a buyer several years ago what was his penalty for uncut bulls sold at around 7 months. He said about $30 per head.

 

[goddy]

Seems to me the best way to get more $ would be to produce something better than a 400 lb calf. Maybe simple thinking but I'm a simple man

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Seems to me the best way to get more $ would be to produce something better than a 400 lb calf. Maybe simple thinking but I'm a simple man

I think the debate here is not over the weight by why the calves sold so low in their respective weight class vs. their peers.

 

[Ebenezer]

Seems to me the best way to get more $ would be to produce something better than a 400 lb calf. Maybe simple thinking but I'm a simple man

I think the debate here is not over the weight by why the calves sold so low in their respective weight class vs. their peers.

Or frame and muscling. Downside of highly efficient cows that are small and lightweight is that calves have a hard time getting into the most profitable part of the marketing. Small frame will cost you more than bull/steer.

 

[goddy]

Seems to me the best way to get more $ would be to produce something better than a 400 lb calf. Maybe simple thinking but I'm a simple man

I think the debate here is not over the weight by why the calves sold so low in their respective weight class vs. their peers.

Or frame and muscling. Downside of highly efficient cows that are small and lightweight is that calves have a hard time getting into the most profitable part of the marketing. Small frame will cost you more than bull/steer.

So the "highly efficient small framed cow " is highly efficient at producing animals the buyers don't want ?

 

[JMJ Farms]

I think the debate here is not over the weight by why the calves sold so low in their respective weight class vs. their peers.

Or frame and muscling. Downside of highly efficient cows that are small and lightweight is that calves have a hard time getting into the most profitable part of the marketing. Small frame will cost you more than bull/steer.

So the "highly efficient small framed cow " is highly efficient at producing animals the buyers don't want ?

Nope. The "highly efficient small framed cow" is highly efficient at producing animals that may have a smaller frame and less muscling. Therefore these calves may not grade as good and thus may not bring as much money. However the important calculation is not which calf brought the most, but which cow had the highest return based on sales price of calf (-) cost to raise said calf. Just because that calf doesn't have a large frame and brings less than a number 1, doesn't mean that the number 1 calf was more profitable, because it's highly likely his momma probably ate more in order to raise him. Not a given.... But likely.

 

[Ebenezer]

Biggest killer of pricing is small frame. What do you do to get those +20% stocking rate of "efficient cows"? Drop their mature weight. Can you find decent FS 5 cows that weigh 1000 pounds? Sort of a Jersey look, most likely. So to get them to look like beef cows the FS tracks downward. Now they look good. It doesn't take long to learn that the market dictates unless you go the way of the Lone Ranger and try to make an unconventional market. Unconventional market then makes you turn the whole program upside down and you are in the corner with one door to go through, your way or the highway, grunt, push and shove to keep it moving. And it takes more time, more risk, more...

Small frame here: dock about $35 to $40 CWT last week. Try 500 pound calf: $175 to $200. Multiply that loss through all of the calves and extras you can raise because the cows are "efficient". It will be some slow walking and some sad singing. You either breed for the market or against it. Two worlds collide: cost of production and market value. Efficiency versus economics. If you cannot sell them for a profit with the least effort, why raise them?

 

[fenceman]

I'm really close to capital but never sold there, looks like I need to consider it.