Sold some Weaned Calves Tonight

[littletom]

Special weaned sell Glasgow Ky. Two rounds of shots weaned at least 60 days. No bulls, dehorned, heifers have to be open, Comingled in 50,000 pound lots,eid tags.
2,400 head sold
mine did
700 # 1.51$ steers
850 # 1.36$ steers
I sold one heifer at 610# 1.34
Everyone seemed happy I was, second year for this.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Special weaned sell Glasgow Ky. Two rounds of shots weaned at least 60 days. No bulls, dehorned, heifers have to be open, Comingled in 50,000 pound lots,eid tags.
2,400 head sold
mine did
700 # 1.51$ steers
850 # 1.36$ steers
I sold one heifer at 610# 1.34
Everyone seemed happy I was, second year for this.

Congrats!

You did very well littletom.

 

[BRYANT]

I watched some sell yesterday at and auction that is close to what they were bringing, maybe slightly better. I saw a post on another thread that they acted like they were not worth hauling to a sale they were so cheap. They may not be what they were a few years back but they are still higher than what I or anyone else that has been in it very long have sold them for. It could be worse, cause I have seen it worse.

 

[skyhightree1]

I watched some sell yesterday at and auction that is close to what they were bringing, maybe slightly better. I saw a post on another thread that they acted like they were not worth hauling to a sale they were so cheap. They may not be what they were a few years back but they are still higher than what I or anyone else that has been in it very long have sold them for. It could be worse, cause I have seen it worse.

One thing I'd like to remind you of is your looking specifically at the dollar amount. I remember my family tickled to get .68 per lb or somewhere about. Difference between yesteryears and today is apples to oranges comparison. Recently imputs to keep cattle are alot more and too equipment lands etc. Just looking at the dollar figure years but mathematically I'm pretty sure today's imputs are alot higher than then if you did a study.

 

[BRYANT]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

 

[sim.-ang.king]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

Poor managers, make poor wages.

 

[farmerjan]

You either have to rent/lease or buy the land, so the cost has to have a figure put to it. Most would not be buying any amount of acreage if they didn't have the cattle, so they need to figure in the cost.
I would be jumping up and down, tickled, :banana: to get $1.85 for 450 wt steers right now. They have been running in the $1.30 to $1.45 here for the best, and heifers barely 1.00-1.20. Hoping it will pick up a bit here soon.

 

[Nesikep]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

The thing is that these days cattle can't pay a mortgage like they used to be able to do.. with moderate ranch being a million bucks, maybe more by the time you stock it and put machines on it.. lets say it holds 300 head? well, those 270 calves you get ain't paying you a living wage and the $50K or more you'll owe to the bank every year.

 

[skyhightree1]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

I will say this waiting 15 months to clear $200.00 isn't exactly a good thing for me. I have way more work in them than that measely 200.00 which is why I sold down. If I were getting 2.25 per lb I may had hung in there but I was spending more time with cattle than my family or something to do with them. What one person considers good money may not be for someone else.

 

[sstterry]

Those prices are still a sight higher than they are bringing in our area!

 

[JMJ Farms]

I'd be :banana: all the way to the bank if I could get that right now! You done good Tom.

 

[frank boucher]

Sounds like a good sale Tom,I sold mine at Joplin thursday in Wean-Vac sale,sounds like same preconditioning program but they don't commingle them.They had about 6500 head.Mine brought,
790# steers $1.40
740# steers $1.41
738# heifers $1.33
Seen some 7-8 wt steers bringing low $1.50's,thinner yearling type,they called mine calves and a little fleshy.

 

[farmerjan]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

The thing is that these days cattle can't pay a mortgage like they used to be able to do.. with moderate ranch being a million bucks, maybe more by the time you stock it and put machines on it.. lets say it holds 300 head? well, those 270 calves you get ain't paying you a living wage and the $50K or more you'll owe to the bank every year.

Nesi, couldn't agree with you more. If we didn't both have our full time jobs, there is no way we could live off the cows and pay a mortgage on the 75 acre farm my son bought a couple of years ago. The land without the house was in the neighborhood of 225,000 and that was less than alot of them around here. Bought the house a year later when they couldn't make the payments on that but it is rented for almost twice what I pay, and it pays the mortgage, taxes, insurance etc. on the house. The cows/calves are paying for the land but barely with the way prices have dropped.

And Sky is right, $200 per calf isn't worth all the time away from family and such over the course of the year.

 

[BRYANT]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

I will say this waiting 15 months to clear $200.00 isn't exactly a good thing for me. I have way more work in them than that measely 200.00 which is why I sold down. If I were getting 2.25 per lb I may had hung in there but I was spending more time with cattle than my family or something to do with them. What one person considers good money may not be for someone else.

I am lost now 15 months ??? to clear 200.00 ????
450 X 1.85 = 832.50 So it cost you 632.00 per calf expense
If I subtracted the cost to buy the land I would never make anything but I look at the land as and investment that makes money by going up in value and cattle as just and extra way to bring in some income.
example; I got a 200 acre track that I bought a few years back for 800.00 per acre. 5 years later a 160 that butts up against mine, as far as I am concern its not near as good place, sells for 1750.00 per acre. So if I take the price of the land I never make any money on cows but the place sets there with nothing on it then is still making money by increasing in value. But if I have cattle on it then I can do improvements that will make it increase in value and use them as a tax write off where if you have no cattle on it then you can only use the expense write off when you sell against capital gains

 

[BRYANT]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

CORRECTION I try to be truth full in what I say But I missed this a little, went back and found the video of these cattle selling. It was in Sept 2018 and there was only 93 head rather than 200 and they brought 2.00 per pound rather than 1.85 and they weighed 457 rather than 450

 

[littletom]

While back someone posted a good you tube video on making money with cows, or real cost of ranching it was good one, some younger rancher in dakotas broke it down. If someone knows the one please re post.

 

[skyhightree1]

I am lost now 15 months ??? to clear 200.00 ????
450 X 1.85 = 832.50 So it cost you 632.00 per calf expense
If I subtracted the cost to buy the land I would never make anything but I look at the land as and investment that makes money by going up in value and cattle as just and extra way to bring in some income.
example; I got a 200 acre track that I bought a few years back for 800.00 per acre. 5 years later a 160 that butts up against mine, as far as I am concern its not near as good place, sells for 1750.00 per acre. So if I take the price of the land I never make any money on cows but the place sets there with nothing on it then is still making money by increasing in value. But if I have cattle on it then I can do improvements that will make it increase in value and use them as a tax write off where if you have no cattle on it then you can only use the expense write off when you sell against capital gains

I have every expense tied into it. I on average spray nitrogen on hayfields and pasture, like some fertilizer rent etc. 15 mos because I'm caring for the calf through the mom keeping her isn't free. Once calf is born average 6 months before I sell it. So 180 days to keep calf I charge them 1.60 per day which works out to be 288.00 then add shots etc. Below is a few things to look at. Here lands average of $3500.00 per acre I have bought land but bought off of my income and wives income because we wanted the land in no way have we expected cattle to pay for it. CB enlightened me a lot on adding the true costs then I started researching more. Also for what I sell our price here averages $ 141.25-159.25

https://www.drovers.com/article/fall-ca ... pring-2018

https://www.cattlefax.com/ccbe/

https://www.beefmagazine.com/cow-calf/w ... t-keep-cow

 

[Nesikep]

sky, true inputs are higher but people act like they aint worth giving away I don't see that. I saw a guy that sold 200 hd. of 450 wt. steers a few weeks back 1.85 per pound and a lady kept saying at that price they were not worth raising ?????? don't know but I think he made money ??????? I don't see any way you can subtract land , if you are buying it, because that is and investment that around here goes up in value ????

The thing is that these days cattle can't pay a mortgage like they used to be able to do.. with moderate ranch being a million bucks, maybe more by the time you stock it and put machines on it.. lets say it holds 300 head? well, those 270 calves you get ain't paying you a living wage and the $50K or more you'll owe to the bank every year.

Nesi, couldn't agree with you more. If we didn't both have our full time jobs, there is no way we could live off the cows and pay a mortgage on the 75 acre farm my son bought a couple of years ago. The land without the house was in the neighborhood of 225,000 and that was less than alot of them around here. Bought the house a year later when they couldn't make the payments on that but it is rented for almost twice what I pay, and it pays the mortgage, taxes, insurance etc. on the house. The cows/calves are paying for the land but barely with the way prices have dropped.

And Sky is right, $200 per calf isn't worth all the time away from family and such over the course of the year.

We paid $200K for our place 28 years ago (land and machinery, cattle extra) and prices for calves were about $1.25 (CAD)/lb
Today you would never buy the place for a million, and calves are $2/lb

Considering land as an investment is one thing, making a living until you can capitalize on it is another. It's a rich man's game now since no one without capital behind them can start off.

 

[Lucky]

While back someone posted a good you tube video on making money with cows, or real cost of ranching it was good one, some younger rancher in dakotas broke it down. If someone knows the one please re post.

https://youtu.be/3Z3kXevsLfs

 

[Lucky]

Special weaned sell Glasgow Ky. Two rounds of shots weaned at least 60 days. No bulls, dehorned, heifers have to be open, Comingled in 50,000 pound lots,eid tags.
2,400 head sold
mine did
700 # 1.51$ steers
850 # 1.36$ steers
I sold one heifer at 610# 1.34
Everyone seemed happy I was, second year for this.

I would be happy with those prices, you are definitely on the right track. I'd really like some more info on how you got them there. How long weaned, how much feed, etc. I've got a set that are within 90 days of each other and been weaned 90 days now. Gave them 5-6# a day for first 75-80 days then upped it to 9-10#. Plan on selling soon but I won't hit your weights.