Too much angus!

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cypressfarms

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Sold a large chunk of my calves today at the local stockyard. Good news is my 205 ww is 36 pounds more than last year (539 pounds), and a all time high for me. Bad news is the average price per pound I got was 32 cents per pound less than in 2006 (My best year since I started keeping really detailed records in 2005). So I stayed at the auction for a while and talked to the manager. I don't get to attend auctions as much as I would like, and even then I rarely stay the whole time. I've known this guy for a long time, and he told me that I had too much angus in my calves. I almost fell out in disbelief. Apparently the order buyers for the stockyards want more potential growth (read more continental blood). Sure, my heifers would bring great prices at a replacement sale because most are black with some ear, but the order buyers don't want them as much.

The black baldies I had outsold the regular "black" (brangus) calves by 10 cents per pound, and most of the baldies were heifers!

So I have some managing to do. I can either split my calves and sell the heifers in replacement sales to bring more, or bring in another bull to add "continental" - or a combination of both. I hate being trendy with bulls, but you can't argue with your customer. If I had brought the same amount of calves in pounds and they had been yellow, I would have made about $1500 to $1800 more. That's close to the cost of a bull. Plenty to think about....... Too much angus :?
 
cypressfarms":10ormu9w said:
The black baldies I had outsold the regular "black" (brangus) calves by 10 cents per pound, and most of the baldies were heifers!

You had too much brahman, not too much angus. Why do you think that is not the case?
 
xbred":1v3mhumu said:
where did you sell?? amite, baton rouge, carencrow??


Baton Rouge - Dominique's stockyard.


Ga Prime, I stuck around to watch all of the calves - he was right. I went through the sales receipts and my calves that were more angus brought less. When I bring calves I note the sales number (sticker) so I can trace the calf back to the moma. All of the calves brought for today's auction were sired by my Angus plus bull. About 1/2 were off of brangus momas, and the other half off of beefmaster momas. The calves that had beefmaster momas brought more to a calf per pound than the brangus, and weighed more. The baldies were from brangus momas crossed with a hereford. All close to the same amount of ear.
 
cypressfarms":r3vmr96n said:
Ga Prime, I stuck around to watch all of the calves - he was right. I went through the sales receipts and my calves that were more angus brought less. When I bring calves I note the sales number (sticker) so I can trace the calf back to the moma. All of the calves brought for today's auction were sired by my Angus plus bull. About 1/2 were off of brangus momas, and the other half off of beefmaster momas. The calves that had beefmaster momas brought more to a calf per pound than the brangus, and weighed more. The baldies were from brangus momas crossed with a hereford. All close to the same amount of ear.

Good explanation. I sold some just weaned heifers in excellent condition last week (F1 char/angus mostly) and was disappointed in the price paid. Mid eighties for six weights. One of the heifers was F1 Lim/angus (black) and brought the same price as the char/angs (smoky).
 
ga. prime":3p3awiac said:
cypressfarms":3p3awiac said:
The black baldies I had outsold the regular "black" (brangus) calves by 10 cents per pound, and most of the baldies were heifers!

You had too much brahman, not too much angus. Why do you think that is not the case?

I have to disagree. A pen of six heavy bred angus cows 6 & 7 year olds brought $550 a head Friday. Angus go cheap. Angus steers do okay but if you want to make the most on females, the more ear the better.

Baldies with ear seem to be where the money is this year. I haven't been sitting through that many sales tho. Mostly word of mouth and seeing what happens at the few sales I have been at.
 
When you actually put a pencil to the paper and calculate breed percentages:

First, most of my cows are commercial, so I have to assume that they carry the standard % of brangus and beefmaster.

With that, the calves that have brangus momas are about 81% angus, 19% brahman. The calves with beefmaster momas are only 40% angus, 34% brahman with the the rest being hereford and shorthorn. It would seem the easiest solution would be to split the herd and put a hereford bull on the brangus, and leave the angus plus bull on the beefmasters. I still think that with either of these crosses the best bet would be to hold the heifers a little longer and consign them in the many replacement sales we have. Black baldy steers sell well, and I'd have black beefmaster cross steers as well. I think this could work better than throwing a Char. bull on the beefmasters - you wouldn't seem to have the same option to sell as replacements. I just can't leave money on the table like this year. If calves still brought 1.40/pound it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but when their in the eightees the profit margin is razor thin. Tomorrow I'm putting a call in to the other local auction in Mansura to see what they experience.
 
cypressfarms":2jp5phgl said:
When you actually put a pencil to the paper and calculate breed percentages:

First, most of my cows are commercial, so I have to assume that they carry the standard % of brangus and beefmaster.

With that, the calves that have brangus momas are about 81% angus, 19% brahman. The calves with beefmaster momas are only 40% angus, 34% brahman with the the rest being hereford and shorthorn. It would seem the easiest solution would be to split the herd and put a hereford bull on the brangus, and leave the angus plus bull on the beefmasters. I still think that with either of these crosses the best bet would be to hold the heifers a little longer and consign them in the many replacement sales we have. Black baldy steers sell well, and I'd have black beefmaster cross steers as well. I think this could work better than throwing a Char. bull on the beefmasters - you wouldn't seem to have the same option to sell as replacements. I just can't leave money on the table like this year. If calves still brought 1.40/pound it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but when their in the eightees the profit margin is razor thin. Tomorrow I'm putting a call in to the other local auction in Mansura to see what they experience.

With the prices here right now I see no profit in selling anything but out.
Hay is where the money is to the horse people.
A person will spend money on a hobby when nothing else, be it golf, fishing etc.
Cypress the last bunch I hauled averaged 91 cents and it has been falling ever since.
With the price of the three F's the future looks bleak except fpr the leanest.
 
Angus Cowman":2rbuxcwk said:
That sucks the prices you guys are getting down there
I just contracted my hfrs last week at $1.05 based at 610lbs
and they are probably 85-90% angus
The problem ,ay not be too much angus as it is not enough growth
 
At the Giddings sale yestiddy, it looked like everybody was selling whatever they could catch and get loaded in a trailer. Don't know about prices yet. I hope we weren't having to pay the buyers to take them......
 
Cypress, as you look at various ways to market your animals, have you looked at retained ownership? Many states have programs that help producers retain ownership on some of their cattle.
 
If they don't show "ear" you should truck your calves North. BA calves will sell $5-10 a hundred over all others.
 
dun":1bppu98q said:
Angus Cowman":1bppu98q said:
That sucks the prices you guys are getting down there
I just contracted my hfrs last week at $1.05 based at 610lbs
and they are probably 85-90% angus
The problem ,ay not be too much angus as it is not enough growth

The calves I sold were in the 450 to 550 pound range with some of the beefmaster calves being a little heavier. The highest I saw any calves going for was right at $1/pound for any weight/sex grouping. I looked up bordering states and most (texas, oklahoma, arkansas) are averaging around 1.05 to 1.10 for 500 pound steers. Louisiana is definitely a little lower.
 
cypressfarms":26vp0izk said:
dun":26vp0izk said:
Angus Cowman":26vp0izk said:
That sucks the prices you guys are getting down there
I just contracted my hfrs last week at $1.05 based at 610lbs
and they are probably 85-90% angus
The problem ,ay not be too much angus as it is not enough growth

The calves I sold were in the 450 to 550 pound range with some of the beefmaster calves being a little heavier. The highest I saw any calves going for was right at $1/pound for any weight/sex grouping. I looked up bordering states and most (texas, oklahoma, arkansas) are averaging around 1.05 to 1.10 for 500 pound steers. Louisiana is definitely a little lower.
you might talk to Kenny Thomas I believe that he works with another producer so they can market their calves in larger and like lots so they can sell off of the farm
might be an option if you and your dad or maybe someone else could get together and do that
Just an idea
 
dun":2gq6zukh said:
Angus Cowman":2gq6zukh said:
That sucks the prices you guys are getting down there
I just contracted my hfrs last week at $1.05 based at 610lbs
and they are probably 85-90% angus
The problem ,ay not be too much angus as it is not enough growth
sounds more like it
 
Ok this may be a dumb question, but I have to ask. (I am from the east coast and fairly new to this board)
When you guys talk about the cows/calves having more "ear", what do you mean by that? Thanks
 

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