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steers vs. heifers...

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Curly

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I spoke with the Yard Manager down at the Three Forks (Three Forks, Mt.) auction yard, I asked him to find me a dozen feeder steers to put out on a little pasture I have right by my house. He said I could probably turn a better profit with heifers than I could with steers. I'm only planning on keeping this bunch until the grass is eaten down, probably the end of the summer.

Does anyone see any problems with this??? There's no bulls within 5 miles of that pasture and the fences are very good. I guess what I'm asking is what are the pro's and con's of steers vs.. heifers?

Curly
 
Talked to a friend of mine in NE....and he said the other day at ' the auction' he chased steers to $1.08 and dropped out. They sold for $1.12 :shock: :shock: :shock:

Said there was no way he could make any money on critters priced like that.
 
The only problem right now with heifers is the current brucellosis status of the state...Many states are requiring any females over a year old from Montana to be bled and tested before they can be imported... For a couple bucks a head you could have them spayed- and that might help with some states (each state has differing rules)...

And Kola is right- grass cattle- especially steers are really jumping in price from last fall...I think its a combo of moisture and folks seeing green grass, the high price of winter feed so there are less available, the banks freeing up some credit that was nonexistent last fall, and I'm wondering if the fact that over 100,000 head of livestock perished on the high plains this spring due to the storms and floods couldn't be playing into it since it brings cattle numbers of an already low cattle census down....

Not sure what folks are going to be doing with all those drys that lost calves- but probably many will go to the ring- which could make bred heifers worth a little more next year ...
 
Oldtimer said:
The only problem right now with heifers is the current brucellosis status of the state...Many states are requiring any females over a year old from Montana to be bled and tested before they can be imported...
Click to expand...

Mine will be bought and sold right there at Three Forks, Montana. Will this effect me?

Oldtimer said:
And Kola is right- grass cattle- especially steers are really jumping in price from last fall...
Click to expand...

What are heifers going for right now?

Will the heifers put on as much weight?
 
Curly said:
Oldtimer said:
The only problem right now with heifers is the current brucellosis status of the state...Many states are requiring any females over a year old from Montana to be bled and tested before they can be imported...
Click to expand...

Mine will be bought and sold right there at Three Forks, Montana. Will this effect me?

Oldtimer said:
And Kola is right- grass cattle- especially steers are really jumping in price from last fall...
Click to expand...

What are heifers going for right now?

Will the heifers put on as much weight?
Click to expand...

The only thing is that unless they are going locally (instate) to be fed out too- they won't bring as high of price when you sell them as some from other states are bringing....

Heifers put on weight good too- especially if they're spayed....It would depend on the heifers (replacement quality or slaughter) and what you want to sell them back for.....Vet can quickly spay them for a few bucks a head...

Heres last weeks Miles City prices on heifers: Three Forks should be fairly close to that--Usually a little lower because they are further from the feedlots....

TIM HAMILTON , MILES CITY 9 BLK-HFR 407 $115.00 /Cwt
TIM HAMILTON , MILES CITY 51 BLK-HFR 475 $112.50 /Cwt
TIM HAMILTON , MILES CITY 12 BLK-HFR 569 $111.00 /Cwt
J BRODY RANCH , CIRCLE 26 BLK-HFR 474 $109.00 /Cwt
HAROLD E. OR JENNIFER S. WALLE , CIRCLE 10 BLK-HFR 444 $109.00 /Cwt
TRUSLER INC. , ASHLAND 119 BK/BWF-HFR 568 $108.50 /Cwt
HAROLD E. OR JENNIFER S. WALLE , CIRCLE 16 BLK-HFR 604 $108.25 /Cwt
J BRODY RANCH , CIRCLE 130 BLK-HFR 567 $108.00 /Cwt
J BRODY RANCH , CIRCLE 31 BLK-HFR 545 $107.00 /Cwt
J BRODY RANCH , CIRCLE 2 BLK-HFR 408 $107.00 /Cwt
TRUSLER INC. , ASHLAND 24 RD/RWF-HFR 571 $104.00 /Cwt
LYLE OR KARLA PETERSON , HATHAWAY 13 BLK-HFR 555 $104.00 /Cwt
KEN ROGERS , BIDDLE 20 BLK-HFR 627 $103.50 /Cwt
OSCAR KINZEL , LAME DEER 10 BLK-HFR 618 $103.00 /Cwt
BERT &/OR LINDA TWITCHELL , WOLF POINT 10 BLK-HFR 648 $101.00 /Cwt
TRUSLER INC. , ASHLAND 10 BLK-HFR 667 $99.00 /Cwt
CRAIG, OR SHARON KEYES , HYSHAM 8 BLK-HFR 779 $93.00 /Cwt
J BRODY RANCH , CIRCLE 9 BLK-HFR 721 $92.50 /Cwt
SOLARIS FEEDERS LLC , MILES CITY 16 BLK-HFR 759 $84.50 /Cwt
Click to expand...
And heres the comparison steers:

STEER

BERT &/OR LINDA TWITCHELL , WOLF POINT 39 BK/BWF-STR 555 $118.00 /Cwt
HAROLD E. OR JENNIFER S. WALLE , CIRCLE 40 BLK-STR 612 $116.00 /Cwt
BERT &/OR LINDA TWITCHELL , WOLF POINT 15 RD/BK-STR 580 $114.00 /Cwt
CLAYTON OR CARSON JONES , FORSYTH 6 BK/BWF-STR 636 $111.00 /Cwt
DON OR HEATHER POLICH , FORSYTH 13 BLK-STR 642 $110.00 /Cwt
KEN ROGERS , BIDDLE 17 BK/BWF-STR 677 $107.75 /Cwt
KEN ROGERS , BIDDLE 4 BK/BWF-STR 714 $105.75 /Cwt
DON OR HEATHER POLICH , FORSYTH 9 BLK-STR 733 $103.50 /Cwt
BERT &/OR LINDA TWITCHELL , WOLF POINT 8 RD/BK-STR 709 $100.00 /Cwt
SILHOUETTE ANGUS RANCH, I , JORDAN 5 BLK-STR 768 $96.50 /Cwt
Click to expand...
 
Curly this probably wouldn't work for you- but something I've found that really works well to help yearlings gain, keep them from walking fencelines, and stampeding thru fences is to put a few old cows and calves out with them...

Some of the neighbors run several thousand head of yearlings in pastures as big as 10,000+ acres-- and the ones that have a few pairs scattered in with them always seem more content- will go down and eat/bed down with the cows which equals more gain-- where in the staight yearling pastures they're constantly walking the fencelines- tearing down fence ...
 
Oldtimer said:
Curly this probably wouldn't work for you- but something I've found that really works well to help yearlings gain, keep them from walking fencelines, and stampeding thru fences is to put a few old cows and calves out with them.
Click to expand...

Its information like this that makes me keep coming to this site for help, thats something that might have taken me years to figure out. Thank you.
 
I attended an auction today and took up a trailer load of odds and ends selling cows. While there, I stayed around to watch a dispersion of cow/calf pairs. The liquidation also included 20 head of replacement yearling heifers. In retrospect, I should have bid at least once on this twenty head. Thirteen were black and seven were red. They were all bangs vaccinated, ready to turn out on grass and ready to have a bull put with them. They were lean and green, but nice quality cattle. The 20 head averaged weighing 667 pounds and they brought $95.50 per cwt. This totaled up to $637 per head. For comparison's sake, the heifers that were a year older with calves at their sides weighed 1050# per pair and brought $1150. With a margin of over $500 per head for the year, there should have been potential for some profit. The black three-year-old cows with calves at side weighed 1155# per pair and brought $1300, and the red pairs of that age weighed 1146# per pair and brought $1135.

In the same dispersion, black four-year-olds weighed 1247# per pair and brought $1300, and the reds of that age weighed 1170# and brought $1160. Black five-year-olds weighed 1294# @ $1350, and the reds weighed 1380# and brought $1150. Solid mouth blacks were 1339# @ $1180, and the solid mouthed reds weighed 1341# and brought $1130. Short solid blacks were 1333# @ $1170, and the reds were 1375# @ $1140. Broken mouthed blacks were 1257# @ $900, and the broken mouthed reds were 1392# @ $880.

Anyway, it looked like those ready-to-go replacement yearling heifers weighing 667# @ $95.50 per cwt would have been a good buy. I strongly considered waving my arm, but decided it would just be buying myself another job. :? Hopefully someone will make some money on the deal.
 
I always liked buying and running heifers on grass better than steers-if the s...t hits the fan you can always throw them in the cowherd and ride out the storm. Yearling steers off grass only have a short time to make you some money. Heifers do alot better on feed and on the rail then their auction mart discount dictates.
 
Why not feed those calves all the way out and market them yourself? I sold 27 head of finished steers and heifers last year. People want custom beef and will pay to get it! Heifers finish lighter but sure make great beef!
 
Curly said:
Solid mouthed and broken mouthed? What is that???
Click to expand...

Cows- solid mouth (also called Full mouth) means they have all their teeth- and are usually younger...Broken mouth means they are missing a tooth- and usually older-- altho that doesn't always hold true in this shortgrass gravelly and sandy country where they wear off and break teeth quite young sometimes...
 
Means they need to go to the dentist. What did you think it meant???? :shock: :wink: :p :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously, what it means is when a cow is middle aged, but still
sound they are called solid mouthed. Sale rings check their mouth
when the sell them as bred females or pairs so the buyer has some
idea of their age. We are talking front teeth.

Broken mouth cows are older and their teeth are gone. When some of the teeth are gone, they are termed 'broken mouthed' so you know you are
looking at an older cow. Some cows have broken mouths at an earlier age than others.

Some and I would say 'most' ranchers would rather have an old smooth mouthed cow (meaning her front teeth are gone) than a broken mouthed one.

Now when they have no teeth on top of their mouth, you've really got trouble. :wink: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:
 
Several hundred times a year-the best breed ups I've seen are from lighter heifers gaining weight-young-lean and horny. seen some dismal wrecks from 'name' cattle-I honestly think that a heifers first few ovulations are her most fertile-if they get the snot fed out of them and start cycling months early they can be pigs to get bred. A 650 weight heifer will still be 900 pounds or so at calving-they really don't need to be any bigger.
 

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