Ridgway, IL | Patriot81 - 3/11/2019 19:57
Even with calves at these prices and corn just north of $3.50, margins are looking a little thin.
600 lb steer@$1.50/lb $900
Feed/mineral $300-350
Vet/misc. $10-15
Death loss. $25
Labor. $20
Equipment/facility $45
Bedding. $25
Total. $1325-$1390
1200lb steer@$1.16/lb $1392
Profit. $2-$67/head
If your doing the work yourself, obviously you have that to keep but if you have to hire any help or your death loss is higher than 2-3%, it’s looking like a break even venture at best.
Tell me where I’m wrong?
600lb steer at 1.50 -- what type of calf do you get for this money in MO?
feed mineral at 325$ to put on 600lb of gain is 54c for feed only cost of gain. I believe you should be able to get this done for cheaper. I think you could run a 6wt to 12 and convert at 7:1, if you push the cattle. I believe aggressive operators could beat that conversion. So at 7:1, your feed cost must be at or below 154/dm ton to meet your projection. For the warmer months of the year, you should be able to beat that feed cost. As i am projecting cattle for the coming quarter, my feed cost of gain is running in the mid 40's per lb of gain.
vet/med -- I think you are light here. An implant strategy is going to eat up 5-6$ here. The most basic worm/vac program is going to cost you 6-7$. That doesnt leave much in your budget for retreats, etc. For the price point you are putting the cattle in, i would push teh vet budget up to 25/hd
Death loss - 2.7% is achievable, but agressive. Experienced operator territory for sure on calf fed. Calf quality big impact.
Labor/Facilities/Bedding -- 90$, if the cattle gained 3lb adg straight through, 200 day feeding period, this would make your yardage 45c per day. This is what i charge myself, and it feels light, however i think would feel good with higher volume of animals. It comes down to how efficient a guy can make it. If you are sharing equipment and labor with other farm enterprises, it helps. Hard to avoid bedding cost, and fuel though... well, there are fixes for those 2 depending on how far you want to go.
If you shave 5c/lb of gain off your feed cost, thats an extra 30$ to your bottom line. If you shave that feed cost, and feed the cattle to 1300, thats an extra 67$ to your bottom line. Dont forget trucking the fats out, that could take 25-30$ away from your bottom line. Interest cost is a growing concern. You can talk yourself in or out on a pen of cattle.
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Cattle feeding margins
