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<blockquote data-quote="Caustic Burno" data-source="post: 235883" data-attributes="member: 694"><p>Stocker cattle represent a great opportunity to turn forages into profit for the savvy cattleman. The keysto a successful stocker program lie in four areas: pasture management, cost control, proper marketingand animal management.</p><p>Pasture Management</p><p>One of the cheapest things you can do to increase weight gain in your stocker calves is to properly fertilize and lime your pastures. Properly fertilized forages contain more of the nutrients that cattle need to gain weight quickly. The best way to go about fertilizing and liming your pastures is to take a soil sample several months before the forage growing season (for example, take a soil sample in the early fall for winter wheat or ryegrass). Based on the results of the soil sample lime and/or fertilize the pasture accordingly. Another important aspect of pasture management is weed control. For every pound of weeds in your pasture there is one less pound of usable forages for your stocker calves. Cooperative Extension agent can help you choose the correct herbicide and advise you on the correct time to apply them to remove unwanted weeds.</p><p>Cost Control</p><p>Obviously, to make money raising stocker cattle you have to sell the cattle for more than you put in them. Carefully controlling input costs like feed, medication, supplements, etc. and making sure that these items result in added benefits that are worth the cost is crucial. It is beneficial to keep a record of</p><p>all costs incurred, not only for tax purposes, but to help you determine your breakeven costs for future years.</p><p>Proper Marketing</p><p>Raising big, healthy stocker calves means little if you are unable to attain the best possible price for them. The first step in a successful marketing plan is to purchase cattle types that sell well in your area. For example, black-baldie stocker cattle are in high demand while eared-breeds such as the Zebu-crosses are in low demand in sale barns. Pound for pound, black-baldie will more often than not, bring a better</p><p>price than Zebu-crosses no matter how good the Zebu-cross cattle. The next step is to find out what the buyers prefer in terms of a final weight. If the buyers in your area</p><p>prefer 6 CWT cattle, it will do you no good to keep your stockers on the pastures until they are 8 CWTs.</p><p>Proper Animal Management</p><p>When processing stocker calves, it makes sense to perform a few management procedures to increase their value. These include castrating bull calves and dehorning any horned cattle, as well as deworming and vaccinating all calves. The mere act of dehorning and castrating will increase the calves' value by</p><p>several cents per pound at sale time. Vaccinating and deworming cattle will reduce your death losses and increase productivity because sick cattle don't efficiently gain weight.</p><p>Properly matching cattle-types to available forages will also maximize productivity and weight gain. The highest quality forages should be matched up with lightweight calves, while heavier calves can be placed on slightly more mature, less nutritious forages with no loss in production.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Caustic Burno, post: 235883, member: 694"] Stocker cattle represent a great opportunity to turn forages into profit for the savvy cattleman. The keysto a successful stocker program lie in four areas: pasture management, cost control, proper marketingand animal management. Pasture Management One of the cheapest things you can do to increase weight gain in your stocker calves is to properly fertilize and lime your pastures. Properly fertilized forages contain more of the nutrients that cattle need to gain weight quickly. The best way to go about fertilizing and liming your pastures is to take a soil sample several months before the forage growing season (for example, take a soil sample in the early fall for winter wheat or ryegrass). Based on the results of the soil sample lime and/or fertilize the pasture accordingly. Another important aspect of pasture management is weed control. For every pound of weeds in your pasture there is one less pound of usable forages for your stocker calves. Cooperative Extension agent can help you choose the correct herbicide and advise you on the correct time to apply them to remove unwanted weeds. Cost Control Obviously, to make money raising stocker cattle you have to sell the cattle for more than you put in them. Carefully controlling input costs like feed, medication, supplements, etc. and making sure that these items result in added benefits that are worth the cost is crucial. It is beneficial to keep a record of all costs incurred, not only for tax purposes, but to help you determine your breakeven costs for future years. Proper Marketing Raising big, healthy stocker calves means little if you are unable to attain the best possible price for them. The first step in a successful marketing plan is to purchase cattle types that sell well in your area. For example, black-baldie stocker cattle are in high demand while eared-breeds such as the Zebu-crosses are in low demand in sale barns. Pound for pound, black-baldie will more often than not, bring a better price than Zebu-crosses no matter how good the Zebu-cross cattle. The next step is to find out what the buyers prefer in terms of a final weight. If the buyers in your area prefer 6 CWT cattle, it will do you no good to keep your stockers on the pastures until they are 8 CWTs. Proper Animal Management When processing stocker calves, it makes sense to perform a few management procedures to increase their value. These include castrating bull calves and dehorning any horned cattle, as well as deworming and vaccinating all calves. The mere act of dehorning and castrating will increase the calves’ value by several cents per pound at sale time. Vaccinating and deworming cattle will reduce your death losses and increase productivity because sick cattle don’t efficiently gain weight. Properly matching cattle-types to available forages will also maximize productivity and weight gain. The highest quality forages should be matched up with lightweight calves, while heavier calves can be placed on slightly more mature, less nutritious forages with no loss in production. [/QUOTE]
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