Sold calves today

[Ky hills]

4 red white face SimmentalX steers weighed average 657 brought $3.46
They were 8 months old weaned around 45 days 2 rounds of vaccinations.
Those Simmental sired calves outweighed the black calves by over 100 lbs.
2 black/BWF heifers weighed 525, brought $3.43
2 BWF heifers weighed 415 brought $3.95
1 BWF steer #490 $3.77 would have had another BWF steer there with that one but it came down with pinkeye.
As expected the red brindle steer calf by our Brahman Longhorn cross heifer was the low point, but he was the biggest calf by our black bull he weighed 590 and brought. $3.18.
Still not bad for him as that cow is kind of like a livestock guard animal that we can sell a calf off of.

 

[kenny thomas]

4 red white face SimmentalX steers weighed average 657 brought $3.46
They were 8 months old weaned around 45 days 2 rounds of vaccinations.
Those Simmental sired calves outweighed the black calves by over 100 lbs.
2 black/BWF heifers weighed 525, brought $3.43
2 BWF heifers weighed 415 brought $3.95
1 BWF steer #490 $3.77 would have had another BWF steer there with that one but it came down with pinkeye.
As expected the red brindle steer calf by our Brahman Longhorn cross heifer was the low point, but he was the biggest calf by our black bull he weighed 590 and brought. $3.18.
Still not bad for him as that cow is kind of like a livestock guard animal that we can sell a calf off of.

So the Red white face steers and brindle steer brought more than the BWF steer. Pounds pay more than being black in this case if they were close to the same age.

 

[Ky hills]

So the Red white face steers and brindle steer brought more than the BWF steer. Pounds pay more than being black in this case if they were close to the same age.

They were within a month of each other with some cross over, but some of the black ones were the later ones born.

 

[Brute 23]

That's pretty good.

We are going to wean some calves first of July. We are flush with grass and talking about holding the calves through the summer and selling early fall. Kind of in the same boat with a couple months of age variation. I'm hoping to get them to all avg 650ish at sale time and not look fresh off the cow.

We will see if it pays. The 550s are hot right now and pushing up on $4.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ky hills you did good. We sold 18 head today... 14 steers and 4 heifers... all black except 2 char x steers.
Group of 9 steers weighed 549 brought 4.06.... 3 weighed 483 brought 4.09...... 1 char weighed 650.... brought 2.90....cow was out of synch, calving, with age of other calves, so we had kept him awhile longer. Never had anything to match so just sold him. He was a nice steer and not thrilled what he brought, but he was a single and that weight is not the most desired. 1 char x steer weighed 505 and brought 3.96....He was a nice steer... Sadly, this stockyard/market is not very kind to these char x calves. The 4 heifers weighed 540 and brought 3.10. They were the 4 we liked the least so decided to ship them. Have a bunch more that will be coming off the cows in August, will be bigger too... We preg checked these cows, 25 one day, 35 a week later... these are fall born calves... mostly Oct/Nov... so 6-8 months. Cows are mostly all in the 4-5 mo bred range and we wanted to move them around some. These calves were not weaned this time... but it was time to get some gone so we can keep the better ones and some smaller ones born Nov/Dec... They will all get weaned off by the first of Sept if not before.
Still, a LOT of money ... before commissions they averaged right about 2,000/hd.... $2135 for the steers and $1677 for the heifers.
Commissions were $55.71/head, with the "yardage, check offs, ins, commissions" etc...

Sold 3 open cull cows last sale... 1.48, 1.52, 1.58.....1300, 1090, 1200 lbs respectively. 2 were open from the preg checks, 1 was just waiting for a reason to go to the sale when we had more than 1. There was a bred cow sale so we sold them in the cull sale and watched the breds. They brought more than we wanted to spend... even with what we got for these. Seems like it still takes 2 culls to buy 1 replacement... Commission etc averaged $60/head.

 

[Ky hills]

@Ky hills you did good. We sold 18 head today... 14 steers and 4 heifers... all black except 2 char x steers.
Group of 9 steers weighed 549 brought 4.06.... 3 weighed 483 brought 4.09...... 1 char weighed 650.... brought 2.90....cow was out of synch, calving, with age of other calves, so we had kept him awhile longer. Never had anything to match so just sold him. He was a nice steer and not thrilled what he brought, but he was a single and that weight is not the most desired. 1 char x steer weighed 505 and brought 3.96....He was a nice steer... Sadly, this stockyard/market is not very kind to these char x calves. The 4 heifers weighed 540 and brought 3.10. They were the 4 we liked the least so decided to ship them. Have a bunch more that will be coming off the cows in August, will be bigger too... We preg checked these cows, 25 one day, 35 a week later... these are fall born calves... mostly Oct/Nov... so 6-8 months. Cows are mostly all in the 4-5 mo bred range and we wanted to move them around some. These calves were not weaned this time... but it was time to get some gone so we can keep the better ones and some smaller ones born Nov/Dec... They will all get weaned off by the first of Sept if not before.
Still, a LOT of money ... before commissions they averaged right about 2,000/hd.... $2135 for the steers and $1677 for the heifers.
Commissions were $55.71/head, with the "yardage, check offs, ins, commissions" etc...

Sold 3 open cull cows last sale... 1.48, 1.52, 1.58.....1300, 1090, 1200 lbs respectively. 2 were open from the preg checks, 1 was just waiting for a reason to go to the sale when we had more than 1. There was a bred cow sale so we sold them in the cull sale and watched the breds. They brought more than we wanted to spend... even with what we got for these. Seems like it still takes 2 culls to buy 1 replacement... Commission etc averaged $60/head.

I looked back at the sale receipt and the cost to sell 10 head of feeders was $759.45 with total commission $651.25 of that.
We thought we got a good sale on them.
Very happy with the Simmental cross calves, they were rwf but definitely didn't get the Hereford dock.
I tried to watch different things sell and remember what they brought but that went out of my mind within a few minutes of thinking ok I'll try to make a point to remember that.
Hard to get an apples to apples comparison of quality and breed types but I do remember a Hereford steer brought .28 cents less than a black one.
A CharolaisX that was just an average single brought .12 cents less.
With good quality groups of CharolaisX calves they are only back maybe 2-5 cents.
They sold a group of 80 some CharolaisX that sold pretty much right along in price with the groups of black calves.
There was a big group of mostly black/BWF calves with 2 CharolaisX steers in the bunch. They sold with the option to pull the 2 off and the buyer did.
Another big group mostly black with a CharolaisX and a couple reds sold with the option but that buyer took them all.

 

[cowman82]

I looked back at the sale receipt and the cost to sell 10 head of feeders was $759.45 with total commission $651.25 of that.
We thought we got a good sale on them.
Very happy with the Simmental cross calves, they were rwf but definitely didn't get the Hereford dock.
I tried to watch different things sell and remember what they brought but that went out of my mind within a few minutes of thinking ok I'll try to make a point to remember that.
Hard to get an apples to apples comparison of quality and breed types but I do remember a Hereford steer brought .28 cents less than a black one.
A CharolaisX that was just an average single brought .12 cents less.
With good quality groups of CharolaisX calves they are only back maybe 2-5 cents.
They sold a group of 80 some CharolaisX that sold pretty much right along in price with the groups of black calves.
There was a big group of mostly black/BWF calves with 2 CharolaisX steers in the bunch. They sold with the option to pull the 2 off and the buyer did.
Another big group mostly black with a CharolaisX and a couple reds sold with the option but that buyer took them all.

wow, that commission is high. Our barns average around 1.3% around here. was that at bluegrass or paris?

edit.. asked the wife.. she said yea KY is very high in commission we used to pay similar to yours and we usually sent everything to Paris.

 

[farmerjan]

I write everything down... only way I can remember what stuff does... Bigger groups of char x calves will also bring closer to what the black ones bring here... Groups of 5 or more of anything do better than singles or pairs. The market further north there are alot of small time buyers that will help the prices on the singles, pairs and small groups.
There will be groups here that will have one or two char x , and reds, in there with option for buyer to pull... some do and some don't also.

 

[farmerjan]

Agree that your commission is a little high. They are all getting higher... but we figure with everything figured in... yardage, commission, beef checkoffs and all... it runs in the $50-65 / per head range.

 

[Ky hills]

wow, that commission is high. Our barns average around 1.3% around here. was that at bluegrass or paris?

edit.. asked the wife.. she said yea KY is very high in commission we used to pay similar to yours and we usually sent everything to Paris.

That was Bluegrass.

 

[Dave]

They don't give the option to take off X number of head in a group unless the buyers ask for it. Buyers rarely ask for it based on color although that is not 100%. Mainly when they ask to cut some it is size or quality.

 

[farmerjan]

Usually here if the buyer asks to pull a calf or something it is because it is different size, or quality, or is limping or something obvious... but usually will offer to pull a different color out when the auctioneer knocks them off... unless they are in a co-mingled group of "graded calves"... then they are bidding on whatever is in the pen. It is announced when they come in the ring if they are "one owner" calves or a co-mingled graded pen...

 

[Dave]

They don't do the co-mingled thing here. It is always one owner if it is one calf or one hundred. The sales all have ring scales so when bigger groups come through they will announce there is 2, 3, 4 drafts. Run in whatever the scale will weigh, run them out and bring in the next draft until they have weighed them all and then sell all of them.

 

[Ky hills]

At regular sales here they don't comingle but at some special graded feeder sales they do comingle. At the graded sales the calves are graded according to breed type color, frame, condition etc.
At regular sales it's one owner lots.
In the large groups there will be sometimes 3 or more drafts. They run several in and weigh and then let them out and bring the next draft of the same group in and weigh them until they get to the last draft then the weights of all drafts are averaged and the calves sell.
I don't know if a buyer signals to the auctioneer that they want to pull one or two out, but the auctioneer often announces we'll pull one or two for anybody.
It can be for different things like color, or breed type, sometimes a smaller calf, or a lame one.

 

[Brute 23]

Report for yesterday had a group of steer that avg #620 @ 385 for $2387. That's pretty good.

 

[cowman82]

i just got my check yesterday. Group of steers @ 500 even got me 1900'ish and a group 460 lb heifers hit 4.27/lb. so over 1900 for them as well/

unweaned, only 1 round of shots.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Fats in Kalona, IA hit $2.52 this week. The grain markets were up Friday and cattle on the board backed off a tick. It will be interesting to see if corn starts to rally, will live feeder cattle start to back off? Cattle feeders are notorious for running on ultra thin profit margins and they are making some money right now but if feed prices go up something will have to give.

 

[farmerjan]

i just got my check yesterday. Group of steers @ 500 even got me 1900'ish and a group 460 lb heifers hit 4.27/lb. so over 1900 for them as well/

unweaned, only 1 round of shots.

Great on the steers... BUT.... HOLY COW on the heifers... your heifer prices are way ahead of ours here... GOOD for you.

 

[ClinchValley86]

If people want heifer calves for breeding, they're sure gonna have to bid more than the feeders are willing to pay. I suspect commands heifers were breeding quality?

 

[cowman82]

If people want heifer calves for breeding, they're sure gonna have to bid more than the feeders are willing to pay. I suspect commands heifers were breeding quality?

they sure looked good. so good I kept 5 out of the group.