Supplementing 2007 Grazing for a Profit

[Stocker Steve]

I supplementing this year with $1.50 bu corn bought last November. With this corn price and a value of gain in the $0.80 to $1.02 range I could easily justify supplementing grass cattle with energy.

Corn in my area is currently $2.00 bu and moving up, and feeder prices are dropping. My guess is that supplementing next year will be break even or provide a modest profit. I have been measuring a supplementation feed conversion range of 8 to 11 pounds of feed per pound of gain.

Any suggestions for improving feed conversion and/or improving profits with a grass/corn grain ration???

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Steve
The rule of thumb I was taught is warm season grasses usually need to be supplemented with protein whereas cool season grasses need more energy.

Corn gluten & DDG's can supply both as they are 20+% protein, yet their highly digestible fiber will provide a starch-free source of energy that will not reduce forage intake as higher levels of grain can. Soy hulls are a good source of energy but don't have the protein of CG or DDG. They are probably better for supplementing cool season grasses than warm season grass.

If you are in an area with ethanol plants you might check out DDG's or other byproduct feeds.

A good relationship with a non-feed company employed nutritionist could be a good investment in these times of rising grain prices & declining cattle prices.

IMO-the next few years will be quite challenging in the livestock business due to the exploding demand for grain from the ethanol business. If fuel prices remain high, the ethanol plants can bid all the corn they need away from livestock feeders and still make a profit. The good news is about 1/3 of each bushel of corn used for ethanol will be available as DDG's for for livestock feed. Those who have the local availablity of these byproducts could have a significant price advantage over those farther away.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Stocker Steve]

It seems like most of these by products are priced as protein supplements - - so they do not pencil out real well if you look at the $/mega calorie. If you buy by products in the off season they do get closer to the price of corn energy, but I still have to truck them north. Am I missing something here or am I just used to $2 corn?

I had one old boy tell me to buy grain screenings. Do you have any experience with this?

 

[Texas PaPaw]

No experience with grain screenings but suspect they would be highly variable in nutritive value. Could be cost effective if produced locally.

As feed prices (cost of gain) increase there will eventually (after some lag time) be an increase in the value of gain, which could make supplementing with higher priced corn feasable. In the near term, cost of gain is increasing faster than the value of gain on your cattle making this transition period quite challenging. By spring turnout the value of gain could be more in line with your increased cost of gain.

If you are not located near an ethanol plant or a major livestock feeding area, you are probably in a lower than average corn price area and can competively feed corn once the effects of a higher cost of gain work their way into feeder cattle prices, resulting in a higher value of gain.

Just another 2 cents worth.