To each his own on bulls, but I tend to think an animal that is responsible for 1/2 of 30 calves is more important in selection than one that is 1/2 of one. Economics have to work out in the end, so you have to recapture whatever you spend, or maybe spend so that you won't lose, I don't know. I see it a little like buying a house. What works for one, won't be the right answer for another. And maybe you make do for now and upgrade when it makes sense.
If you can get a few home raised bulls from an investment, dollars can really start making sense.
highgrit":1o7t8br0 said:
Well all that is to high tech for me at this point 3Waycross. I buy cows that look good to me and then I sell what fails to meet my expectations. We all know just because it's supposed to be a great paring, doesn't mean the results are going to be great. And just because the cow looks good at the sale doesn't mean it's going to be good In our pastures. I only keep about 1 out of every 4 cows that I buy. But our heifers that we keep are getting better and better each year. So that's a good sign in my opinion. I'll be the first to tell you, I'd rather be lucky than good. And that I have a lot to learn. But I'm not afraid to ask for advice or help. And I do appreciate the help.
Also prefer keeping back heifers out of cows that work in our environment and system- especially when it's a low input situation. I think 1 in 4 is a harsher cull rate than ours when out sourcing heifers, but we loose enough that just can't cut it. Some are too heavy of milkers, other just not efficient enough.
Noted something interesting. The far majority of the herds are spring calvers. A small herd is fall calvers. Seems to be at least a hundred lb difference in weening weights from one group to the other with the fall calvers being higher. Higher plain of nutrition while wet in the later makes a big impact, but I suspect some of it is heat related loss of production as well.
Couldn't agree more that the net $ is what makes an operation fold or prosper. Spring calves wean regularly in the 5 weights here- making a living in a half desert on tough old love grass isn't easy. But it will still produce when stressed where other types of grass often fail miserably. It gets a bashing from extension agents and ag instructors, but when the severe drought around here caused many to sell off their herds, our operation stayed afloat with very minimal downsizing.
The fall calves were around 7 weights, some mid 7's. That may be more respectable, but it's at a much higher cost- the wet cows and calves were running on wheat pasture. Both are turning dollars at the moment, but year in and year out, the marginal land is where money's made.
Saying that, too much energy expense (milk, growth) on marginal land and they'll self cull. There's a minimum, a maximum and an optimum. Still trying to find the optimum.
