to buy or not to buy

[starbaby]

need to buy but sale barn today to rich for my pockets . bottle fed 95lb calf 350.00 what the heck
it's a seller market for real .
always 1 turd behind the cow!
also heard were in for 1 hot summer

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Here a good 1 week old beef breed calf off a old killer cow will cost you around 450$ right now. I also saw a baby jersey bring 220$ last week.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I agree Starbaby! Prices are too high for me to buy anything also. Unfortunately (for buyers) with grass coming on in our area, they may go even higher!

 

[Alan]

So I have black baldy calves coming at the end of March, should I give them a week or so on the cow and ship them as newborns? I would get $250 to $400 (?????) per calf with only taxing the cow for a week and saving grass. It's a real guessp what I would get at weaning.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

So I have black baldy calves coming at the end of March, should I give them a week or so on the cow and ship them as newborns? I would get $250 to $400 (?????) per calf with only taxing the cow for a week and saving grass. It's a real guessp what I would get at weaning.

I have thought that to. It's pretty good times when a baby is worth 450$ and a 400lb calf will bring 1000$.

 

[Bigfoot]

I don't see me running very many stockers this year. I might give some thin killer cows a try. I havent done that in a long long time.

 

[stocky]

There has been a huge demand for baby calves around here this winter due to so many people losing baby calves due to the weather. 400-450 is the going rate for a beef calf, heifer or bull. Because so many people want the babies to put on the cows, the 3-7 day old calves are bringing as much as the month old calves. I have bought several calves for myself and neighbors to put on cows and I have paid from 380-425 for real good 4-6 week old bull calves. That sounds outrageous, but if a calf is 6 weeks old, it isn't that long until it weighs 300 lbs and at 300 lbs it is worth 2.50-2.75 per pound. Last night was below 0 degrees and 30mph winds and we got another 10 inches of snow, tonight will be 5 degrees, so most calves born last night or tonight will not make it. So, baby calves will be in demand the next few days around here, if there are any for sale. It is something to make you think about after we had so many years that you could not get a 400 dollar average for your weaning calves, now you can get it at 3 days old. Of course, your cow cost you 400-600 at that time and now they cost 1400-over 2000, so you need to try to get that 1,000 dollars for your weaned calf.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

There has been a huge demand for baby calves around here this winter due to so many people losing baby calves due to the weather. 400-450 is the going rate for a beef calf, heifer or bull. Because so many people want the babies to put on the cows, the 3-7 day old calves are bringing as much as the month old calves. I have bought several calves for myself and neighbors to put on cows and I have paid from 380-425 for real good 4-6 week old bull calves. That sounds outrageous, but if a calf is 6 weeks old, it isn't that long until it weighs 300 lbs and at 300 lbs it is worth 2.50-2.75 per pound. Last night was below 0 degrees and 30mph winds and we got another 10 inches of snow, tonight will be 5 degrees, so most calves born last night or tonight will not make it. So, baby calves will be in demand the next few days around here, if there are any for sale. It is something to make you think about after we had so many years that you could not get a 400 dollar average for your weaning calves, now you can get it at 3 days old. Of course, your cow cost you 400-600 at that time and now they cost 1400-over 2000, so you need to try to get that 1,000 dollars for your weaned calf.

We had a nice yellow baldie heifer with some ear and a little age only bring 325$ here last week. I thought of what you told me you had been paying when she sold.

 

[Aaron]

Save your money and buy a pot load a few years down the road when the prices drop through the floor again. You might get lucky and have it happen sooner then that.

 

[branguscowgirl]

So I have black baldy calves coming at the end of March, should I give them a week or so on the cow and ship them as newborns? I would get $250 to $400 (?????) per calf with only taxing the cow for a week and saving grass. It's a real guessp what I would get at weaning.

I don't know.......Personally, I would leave them on the cow for awhile longer if you have the feed. If you wean a bit early at 400 lds. I don't see how you can go wrong. Not too big of a demand on the cow, and the calf isn't eating a big quantity of your grass. Just my thoughts. Others may have a much different opinion. :2cents:

 

[John SD]

If your simply looking for a chore to keep yourself occupied, I'll go out on a limb here on a cattle site and suggest looking into raising bum lambs if you can get them reasonable. :hide:

If not ... then I will second what Aaron said. Keep your powder dry for opportunities later on.

 

[ranchmom77]

I've bought 4 calves in the last week and have paid $500 each for them. The 2 I got yesterday I talked the guy down from $600 each. Very very high demand for calves here due to the weather bu I'm not shipping my mama cows for something that wasn't her fault.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Save your money and buy a pot load a few years down the road when the prices drop through the floor again. You might get lucky and have it happen sooner then that.

It is indeed a matter of knowing when to hold and when to fold. How many times have I drug home an empty trailer from the sale barn? Other times I have to go get a trailer and make two trips.

I fear we are going to head for double digit inflation soon. We may regret not buying now.

 

[TexasBred]

If your simply looking for a chore to keep yourself occupied, I'll go out on a limb here on a cattle site and suggest looking into raising bum lambs if you can get them reasonable. :hide:

If not ... then I will second what Aaron said. Keep your powder dry for opportunities later on.

I hear Dorpers are selling very high.

 

[Rafter S]

It's hard to believe. I can still remember people taking a baby calf to the auction and the auction barn would send them a bill instead of a check because it didn't bring enough to pay the commission.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It's hard to believe. I can still remember people taking a baby calf to the auction and the auction barn would send them a bill instead of a check because it didn't bring enough to pay the commission.

I remember that. In '76 you could go to a dairy and take their new born bull calves, and they would thank you; they did not like knocking them in the head.

 

[LLCFARMS]

Three years ago I got a dairy bull calf for $7.50 today at the sale they were bringing $250- $300 cow calf pairs were running $1200 to $1800 bred cows $780 to $1400
goats were up to $75-$300 glad i took 4 billys to sale

 

[starbaby]

think I can guess but what is a thin killer cow?
and and you joking ?
why would you buy a bull Holstein ?

 

[backhoeboogie]

why would you buy a bull Holstein ?

There was a time you could make money on them.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I talked with Springfield Livestock Market today. They have a special cow sale the first Saturday of each month. I have a 2 year old that did not breed back with AI, but got behind and is now bred to our Simmental bull for a November calf (will be her second calf). We are a little heavy on cows right now, and our state sale got canceled this spring due to low numbers. So I am stuck with being heavy all summer (20+ pairs plus yearling heifers and a bull, all on 45 acres ), or selling this young cow and maybe another (we will still be heavy, but the rest are stuck to AI or have an embryo). Anyway, he told me that young bred black cows will be pushing $2000, and if she was a little further along she would likely bring $2500! I can not consign her to our association sale, and get that without all the commissions and such for a sale catalog. I am tempted to take her to either the April or May sale, since she will be a little further along and the grass will be in good then. Hard to not let her go, and it will help pay the feed bill for the show cattle this spring and summer!