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| Just wanted to hear want guys had to say on this site about selling feeder calves in the fall. We use to wean, work the calves, and feed for several months before selling but sitting in the sale barn it seemed that calves coming right off the cows bring as much as backgrounded calves so we decided to try it the last two years and it seems to work well in our area, NC Iowa. I always felt I would get paid for the extra expense and effort in backgrounding the calves but it doesn't seem to be working as we get the same price in the sale barn for the calves right off the cow. In my reasoning I'm making more because I have less money invested by not castrating, shots, and feed. I'm curious how it is in other parts of the country - am I just in a poor area to catch a premium for backgrounding or is it because they are running through a sale barn and not sold privately. I only say this because I've heard some guys say they prefer unworked calves because they never know if they were actually backgrounded the way they are sold and they end up running the calves through the chute once they get them home anyway. Also, I sell pretty small lots of cattle which probably hurts me when selling but it seems to be the same for the large lots. Just thought this would be an interesting topic. | |
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Feeder calf sales - do you background or sell of the cow
