What weight and when to sell steers ??

[snoopdog]

If selling off the cow I like to keep them under 600 # as the steer buyers don't what them bigger and leaving them on the cow that big is not good on the cow or next calf coming. Some cows all you can get is 500-550 # calf as not great milkers.

That is my experience , generally . With some market /season variables .

 

[Lrj505]

That's exactly where I keep coming up with when I take a pencil and paper to the cost expense etc. under #600 in March is around $1000 steer.

 

[Silver]

I find that calves at 210 days of age that weigh 750 straight off the cow tend to bring a lot more dollars than those at 550.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

That's exactly where I keep coming up with when I take a pencil and paper to the cost expense etc. under #600 in March is around $1000 steer.

How old are they in March?

 

[True Grit Farms]

I find that calves at 210 days of age that weigh 750 straight off the cow tend to bring a lot more dollars than those at 550.

Is 750 lb average or exceptional at 210 days? We can only hit that kind of weight by creep feeding, asap.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I sell steers before the cost of gain is more than the value of gain.
So the size depends on the time of year and the cost of feed.
You can usually double your profit in this area by back grounding spring born calves on local feeds.

 

[snoopdog]

I find that calves at 210 days of age that weigh 750 straight off the cow tend to bring a lot more dollars than those at 550.

Is 750 lb average or exceptional at 210 days? We can only hit that kind of weight by creep feeding, asap.

I don't see that without creeping spring calves / or winter wheat pasture for fall calves . Not saying it ain't so, but when you add those inputs , margin drops .

 

[Silver]

I find that calves at 210 days of age that weigh 750 straight off the cow tend to bring a lot more dollars than those at 550.

Is 750 lb average or exceptional at 210 days? We can only hit that kind of weight by creep feeding, asap.

I don't see that without creeping spring calves / or winter wheat pasture for fall calves . Not saying it ain't so, but when you add those inputs , margin drops .

Why not? Is it the weather down there, forage quality, or genetics? Just wondering why.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Is 750 lb average or exceptional at 210 days? We can only hit that kind of weight by creep feeding, asap.

I don't see that without creeping spring calves / or winter wheat pasture for fall calves . Not saying it ain't so, but when you add those inputs , margin drops .

Why not? Is it the weather down there, forage quality, or genetics? Just wondering why.

Forage quality is my first guess, and right now its a 101 in the shade, that might have something to do with it also. I can't see genetics being a part of it, I use good bulls and have some cows with good pedigrees.

 

[snoopdog]

I don't see that without creeping spring calves / or winter wheat pasture for fall calves . Not saying it ain't so, but when you add those inputs , margin drops .

Why not? Is it the weather down there, forage quality, or genetics? Just wondering why.

Forage quality is my first guess, and right now its a 101 in the shade, that might have something to do with it also. I can't see genetics being a part of it, I use good bulls and have some cows with good pedigrees.

I would agree that forage quality is probably the biggest factor , as said , it deteriorates fast when the temps get close to the century mark .

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I have good quality grass, good genetics, mostly moderate temperatures in summer, don't creep feed - and I don't get those weights either, not an average weight across the board.
Good job Silver - what frame size cows and weights do they run. I know Canadian cattle are usually pretty big.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Many folks have better genetics than their forage can support.
Night time temperatures, clover %, residual %, and rest period length are key for high ADG.
Don't spend all your $$$ on bulls - - save some for clover seed and lime.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I hit those weights on individual animals, just don't average them.

 

[bird dog]

The timing of your good grass in the calfs life has a lot to do with it. This year my weaning weights are down significantly because our grass is bad. April was cool and the grass never got going good before it got hotter than normal in May and the rain quit completely. If our area's hay production is bad (which it is) our area's weaning weight are going to be lighter.

I have had only one year where my weaning weights were around 700lbs for late fall calves. My average year they are around 625. This year they are running about 585. This is at about 210 days. I don't think my Jan/Feb calves are even going to do that.

 

[Silver]

I have good quality grass, good genetics, mostly moderate temperatures in summer, don't creep feed - and I don't get those weights either, not an average weight across the board.
Good job Silver - what frame size cows and weights do they run. I know Canadian cattle are usually pretty big.

The post I wrote earlier in response to TG seems to be missing. I stated that I do not average that across the board. The pitfalls of 60 days of calving and 15-20% first calvers. However, last year I did have a nice pen of #780 steers fresh of the cows, but their age could possibly have been as much as 225 days.
In my post I also told him it was unusual to get the question he gave me. Usually at the sale barn people come up and their first question is "How big are your cows?" Followed by "when do you start calving?" The truth is our cows are average for the area. Year in and year out older cull cows go through the ring at around #1300. To some that's big, to others it's not. What people forget to take into account is that if an operation is reasonably careful and raises it's own replacements for 60 or 70 years and selects good bulls it darned well should be raising a calf crop that weighs up well.

 

[Lrj505]

Alfalfa creep fed is to expensive. Good alfalfa not rained on. Watch them grow.

 

[NEFarmwife]

I just pulled our records from last year. Via cattelmax, heifers and steers. 111 calves had a WW of 704. AWW of 695, and a WDA of 3.28. I just did one group, not sure how to dismiss a few categories to get one large one.

That was straight off of pasture, no creep. I believe genetics has a lot to do with it.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Farmwife - was that a 205 day adj ww? excellent!!

 

[Supa Dexta]

My avg was 636 last year (including the tail end @ 150 days) - had some around the 750 mark though, including heifers in that 210-220 range. One heifer was 766 at 196 days, couple steers over 800 by 220.

 

[NEFarmwife]

Farmwife - was that a 205 day adj ww? excellent!!

Yes. If I recall when I pulled that report, the average days we weaned was at 217 but it calculates the 205 for us.

We would have left them a bit longer on pasture last year but pastures weren't looking too hot. We would have kept them out atleast another month otherwise, we pulled the very end of July. We ultrasounded mommas in pasture and worked/pulled the calves.

The calves are not implanted either. We are part of the NHTC program.