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AYour Breed of Cattle....From another thread

PPRM

Well-known member
FH, I sold my Hereford steers on Aug 11. They weighed 1018 and brought $104.50 so they dollared out to 1063/hd. Just wish I had a couple potloads of them!

At this sale they were selling the red and black cattle together. I was at another sale barn last week where they cut the red and black steers apart. The black cattle brought $4/cwt more.

Also saw a nice red Angus steer that just didn't fit in with his wf herdmates and was about 100 lbs heavier than them. He weighed 1020 and only brought $93 which was lots cheaper than my 14 head of same weight Herefords had done a couple weeks before.

BTW, I just bought a pallet of 3V2S. It cost about $3/bag more than the previous 3V4S. Comparing tags it looks to me like it should be a cheaper mineral, but I'm sure trucking and other costs have increased!

The above quote from anothr thread reminded me of something have believed for a long time....We are very fortunate in the Cattle industry in that there really is not a one size fits all product people are asking for....Let me clarify...If someone says they want a Quality Steak, it can mean a lot of things...Everything from something with no fat to Kobe grade above Prime...It can mean Corn Fed or Grass Fed depending upon a persons preference...

I think this is relevant in regards to Breed Discussions....I have several nieghbors that raise Salers. There is not a Buyer in the Pacific Northwest that I know of that wants these calves. Yet, these guys ship them to a biyer in the Midwest and get a Premium for them because the Meat tends to be lean. In the Northwest, we tend to be governed by the Tyson Grid where CAB and Grade premiums are important...

My point is, I think you can make it on whatever your Breed Preferece is, The important thing is to find out how to capture the Premium for the kind of cattle you raise.

I think it is good if the right type of cattle get marketed into appropriate programs. The one thing we all need as an industry is for the consumer to feel confident that the eating experience they desire can be replicated time after time by shopping at the same place. That is when our Meat differentiates itself and goes away from being a commodity,

PPRM
 

Doug Thorson

Well-known member
My point is, I think you can make it on whatever your Breed Preferece is, The important thing is to find out how to capture the Premium for the kind of cattle you raise.

I agree however sometimes the premium is cows that you can run 50$ a year cheaper than your neighbor. Other times the premium is calves that will bring 50$ more than your neighbor. Both guys made the same. Now if only I can figure out how to do both :lol: :wink:
 

PPRM

Well-known member
Doug Thorson said:
My point is, I think you can make it on whatever your Breed Preferece is, The important thing is to find out how to capture the Premium for the kind of cattle you raise.

I agree however sometimes the premium is cows that you can run 50$ a year cheaper than your neighbor. Other times the premium is calves that will bring 50$ more than your neighbor. Both guys made the same. Now if only I can figure out how to do both :lol: :wink:

Doug, thanks for actually steering me to the other part I usually talk about but only infered.....Runt he kind of cattle suited to your environement..That is capturing the $50 Premium in lowering your costs....

Then find the appropriate market to sell those kind of cattle. And don't fool yourslef..limosioun cattle for instance won't typically make premiums on a grid designed for high marbling cattle. Be honest and then look for that market that has Premiums for the Beef you will be making....Highly marbling Angus Calves won't fit into lauras Lean Beef Program either...

For us, we have acces to a variety of Byproducts on the cost side....On the Sales sie, direct marketing of our aged beef is bringing us about $300/ head premiums....

PPRM
 

Shortgrass

Well-known member
There is more difference within any breed than there is between breeds. Any breed has its problems. What set of problems do you want to deal with? What are your resources? What kind of program fits your management skills? I am making a program work that my neighbor wouldn't have. I couldn't make his program work. There is no program that is superior to all the other programs out there, but if your program isn't the best for you & your resources, then you need to adjust it! If it is, then don't!
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
Its interesting.. My neighbor runs Angus cows and breeds them to Maine bulls.. He has certain folks lining up to buy those calves and will tell you that around here that is the best bet to go with as far as buyer acceptance... Part of me thinks he is nuts but unless he is totally lieing to me, well... it is what it is... But the feedlot I ship to won't touch them.. Don't want limi's either as they just don't grade as well (they sell a lot on the grid to a Tyson plant).. There comment was red or black, white face or not their didn't seem to be any real problems markiting them as long as you could age verify and that they grade high on the quality..

But they also say pounds are king there so what do you do? I was disappointed in my ribeye area on my steers but I can't complain about yield or quality grades that we got... So many darn factors....Enough to keep a manic obsessive compulsive up at night..
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
ElWapo have you ever tried to buy top end horned hereford breeding heifers in Medicine Hat or Brooks in the spring. I do every March and it's not for the faint of heart lol. Diamond J' will be selling their yearling Hereford steers up here pretty quick they usually sell as high as any yearlings-any where.
 

Doug Thorson

Well-known member
I was disappointed in my ribeye area on my steers

Ribeye area and backfat are 2 numbers that are conflicting with making a good cow. If you have over 1.1 per 100# body weight on ribeye your cows become really hard doing but the packers all want more. Backfat is another thing. in the northern country you either have it or you feed more to keep the cows warm in the winter, but the packers hate it.
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
Well with all the cattle we pushed through we had one tyield grade out at 4 and that stinker had .9 inches of backfat on him.. Graded choice but we put to much feed into him... Most of them came in on average around .5.

That 1.1 you are talking about is live weight I am guessing and not carcass? I have afeeling the enxt batch taht goes through is going to be larger ribeyed, better yielding and not as high grading.. Just a hunch.. Oh, and heavier carcasses too...
 

PPRM

Well-known member
Doug Thorson said:
I was disappointed in my ribeye area on my steers

Ribeye area and backfat are 2 numbers that are conflicting with making a good cow. If you have over 1.1 per 100# body weight on ribeye your cows become really hard doing but the packers all want more. Backfat is another thing. in the northern country you either have it or you feed more to keep the cows warm in the winter, but the packers hate it.

Interesting here in the Northwest US...We have several Producer run direct marketing groups. Oregon Natural Beef and Painted Hilss comes to mind......They actually have found a moderate sized Ribeye to be in demand by thier customers (Many are restaurants) Reason is that most Rib Steaks they want to serve a 16 ounce or so.....If the rib eye area is too large, they would have to cut thin to do so....

I have a friend that raises bulls for many in these organizations and he has tailored his breeding to a more moderate Rib Eye....

I think the concept that Packers want Huge Rib Eyes is because Premiums are paid for YG 1 and 2 on the grid. Most likely, the premium is for less backfat, but a larger Ribeye will do the same thing....I expect that premium to somehow be refined in the future,

PPRM
 

elwapo

Well-known member
NR
No doubt the top end heifers have demand from the died in the wool hereford people in the area. However ussually the straight bred feather neck hereford steers and the long horns are in the running for bottom price at the fall calf sales.
 

Denny

Well-known member
Best thing to do with the cull type steers is feed them out nothing wrong with them and it's the only way to get a fair price.And there are cull type steers in every breed they just assume ALL herefords are and price them accordingly.

Here you can but the best bred hereford heifers for a couple hundred less than a marginal black heifer.

Last spring a friend of mine wanted to buy 10 bred heifers was willing to pay $1200 a head I talked him into buying 10 hereford 2nd calvers I had found bred black he got them bought for$810 each this was in March he has the calves sold for $1.20 @ 600#s that should about pay for them 1st year.Seems those black baldies were an easy sell.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Denny said:
Best thing to do with the cull type steers is feed them out nothing wrong with them and it's the only way to get a fair price.And there are cull type steers in every breed they just assume ALL herefords are and price them accordingly.

I know a local fellow that buys up all the rattails/greys/off-colors/frozen ears that get cut back and then discounted at the ring...Feeds them out- sells them to his customers as wholes or halfs-and does great with it.....

Problem is he's done so well that some others have caught on-started doing the same thing-- and he doesn't get as cheap a deal on these cull types anymore...
 

Andy

Well-known member
PPRM said:
Doug Thorson said:
I was disappointed in my ribeye area on my steers

Ribeye area and backfat are 2 numbers that are conflicting with making a good cow. If you have over 1.1 per 100# body weight on ribeye your cows become really hard doing but the packers all want more. Backfat is another thing. in the northern country you either have it or you feed more to keep the cows warm in the winter, but the packers hate it.

Interesting here in the Northwest US...We have several Producer run direct marketing groups. Oregon Natural Beef and Painted Hilss comes to mind......They actually have found a moderate sized Ribeye to be in demand by thier customers (Many are restaurants) Reason is that most Rib Steaks they want to serve a 16 ounce or so.....If the rib eye area is too large, they would have to cut thin to do so....

I have a friend that raises bulls for many in these organizations and he has tailored his breeding to a more moderate Rib Eye....

I think the concept that Packers want Huge Rib Eyes is because Premiums are paid for YG 1 and 2 on the grid. Most likely, the premium is for less backfat, but a larger Ribeye will do the same thing....I expect that premium to somehow be refined in the future,

PPRM
The reason that packers want the large ribeyes isn't that they want the large ribeyes but that the ribeye size has a large impact on redmeat yeild. The higher the redmeat yeild the more meet they have to sell.
 

randiliana

Well-known member
elwapo said:
NR
No doubt the top end heifers have demand from the died in the wool hereford people in the area. However ussually the straight bred feather neck hereford steers and the long horns are in the running for bottom price at the fall calf sales.

That is the truth here too. We have gone away from breeding for straight herefords here. I would like to have some hereford heifers to keep for replacements, but when you take a 5-10 cent dock on the steers and cull heifers, it doesn't make much sense to breed for the replacements. Especially if you figure you are getting docked on 75% of those calves. You are better off to buy bred heifers and breed them something else.
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Guess I try to buy Hereford heifers the ONLY week their worth anything lol. I don't sell calves so I don't worry much about the slings and arrows of the perceived auction mart flavour of the month. No one breed is best but Hereford and Angus cattle give you as good a base as any to crossbreed from.
 

randiliana

Well-known member
Northern Rancher said:
Guess I try to buy Hereford heifers the ONLY week their worth anything lol. I don't sell calves so I don't worry much about the slings and arrows of the perceived auction mart flavour of the month. No one breed is best but Hereford and Angus cattle give you as good a base as any to crossbreed from.

Oh, I agree with you, Hereford or Angus are a great base to a herd. Just that right now the buyers dock the straight looking hereford calves. At least here, they do. And since we market at the sale barn it only makes sense to stay away from the bottom priced cattle. But, you could give it another 10 years and Hereford could be at the top again....

Good Hereford heifers are usually worth a bit because there are a lot of people interested in using them for mama cows. Just the culls and steers that really see a dock. And no matter how you do it you will have some culls and some steers. Seems like the heifers are always worth a premium when we are in the market for them here too.
 

SHAWN

Well-known member
Northern Rancher said:
Guess I try to buy Hereford heifers the ONLY week their worth anything lol. I don't sell calves so I don't worry much about the slings and arrows of the perceived auction mart flavour of the month. No one breed is best but Hereford and Angus cattle give you as good a base as any to crossbreed from.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :wink: Shawn
 
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