“These are the times that try men's souls.” | You right Garvo a lot of people have lost money on cull cows over the years. I've seen guys say they couldn't lose money on feeding them. They put in feedlot changed fat color on them to white and the markets tanked on them. Plus they had to be trucked out of the area to kill them. Idaho ride to Az. they even had their own trucks to haul. Yup I don't see them doing it any more. They lost their butts, the only person to make money on them was the feedlot and the end user.
It's all relativity to your cost of feed, availability to pasture, can you calve these bred cows out, etc. If a person is getting in the cow business yes you can pick out small lots of broken mouth cows and feed them good calve them out on their own in spring. But you have to feed the heck out of them in summer, wean calves early sell cows for slaughter before fall run of culls. Keep heifer calves for start on your own herd because those cows were at one time the best of the best of my cows, bred to the right bulls. But the kicker is lot of these cows coming of desert country have a severe attitude problem if they are locked up and confined in feedlots, small pastures, etc. They are what you call OUTSIDE COWS, buyer beware no way in hell would I let my little kids, wife try and handle these cows in confined operations, they will hurt somebody. There is a reason we work them a horseback, and they calve in the open. You do not try to tag these cows out in the open by yourself unless you have a death wish. These are cows that only see a corral once a year to wean the calf and preg check them. You really need to be picky on them.
No way would I want to keep and hand feed broken mouth cows when I can sell them for $1525 bred here. Then take my new heifer calf worth at least $1,400, and put $400 dollars feeding her and breeding her for next season. If I'm going to chance anything it will be on the young up coming cow, if she doesn't pan out first calving cycle, will feed her and sell a heiferette.
And I'm sorry Mark, there is no free feed you can't run them for nothing. If you are taking feed away from a operation to feed culls well in my opinion you are taking away from your running age cows potential. There is only so many AUM's out there to graze or stalks to run on, which cows are you going to run on them. Let alone the trucking, death loss on these type of cows.
I have to smile when I think of all the producers over the years that have laughed at me and others for feeding our own replacement heifers. They told us there is no way we can come out on raising out own. Far better to buy them so they get deprecation on the cow on taxes. Well hello, these guys today can't afford to buy cows they have gotten to expensive and they kept selling culls next thing you know they only have half a cow herd left in these high times. Now they are desperately trying to rebuild their herds. Will they get it done before the market tanks, that will be fun watching.
Edited by Russ In Idaho 11/26/2014 09:37
|
anyone ever lost money on cull cows?
