efb said:Just some quick math off the top of my head. Lets say those $1,300 heifers produce you 7 calves ( no death loss) and you net $150 per calf ( have we ever made $150 net per calf for 7 straight years ?). That would be a gross profit of $1,050. We would then weigh the cows out at about $500 for a drop of $800 on the cow, leaving a net of $250 over 7 years on a $1,300 investment. Does'nt consider depreciation. Is that about it?
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:Why would you only get 7 calves out of a cow? Most of our older cows are between 12 and 15 years old before we even concider sendin em to town.(there are the odd ones that get culled for a bad bag at 10 or 12 but not many) As long as they have a calf and can raise it right, they get to stay.
We only held back 13 heifers last year for replacements. I can guarantee you it won't cost us $1300 a piece to get em to the breeding age. Between hay, mineral, and vaccines it usually costs us about $200 per cow per year. Averages out to about the same for replacement heifers. Even tho they don't eat as much hay that first year as they do the second year. If you have the ground to raise em, I can't see where anyone would wanna go out and buy replacements, unless you were just tryin to improve your genetics with some new stock. But I"m a believer that choosin your bulls for your improvements is much more economical.
We had this discussion a long time ago on another board, I was criticized real bad for claiming that our expenses on our cows was impossible. It is possible...when you don't have any notes on new equipment....no land notes, no notes on your cows.....etc bale your own hay. When expenses are at a minimum it's very doable.
Jassy said:the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:Why would you only get 7 calves out of a cow? Most of our older cows are between 12 and 15 years old before we even concider sendin em to town.(there are the odd ones that get culled for a bad bag at 10 or 12 but not many) As long as they have a calf and can raise it right, they get to stay.
We only held back 13 heifers last year for replacements. I can guarantee you it won't cost us $1300 a piece to get em to the breeding age. Between hay, mineral, and vaccines it usually costs us about $200 per cow per year. Averages out to about the same for replacement heifers. Even tho they don't eat as much hay that first year as they do the second year. If you have the ground to raise em, I can't see where anyone would wanna go out and buy replacements, unless you were just tryin to improve your genetics with some new stock. But I"m a believer that choosin your bulls for your improvements is much more economical.
We had this discussion a long time ago on another board, I was criticized real bad for claiming that our expenses on our cows was impossible. It is possible...when you don't have any notes on new equipment....no land notes, no notes on your cows.....etc bale your own hay. When expenses are at a minimum it's very doable.
For us...it's the terrain and climate that older cows can't handle...alot tuffer to survive on a daily basis...the average age of our spring herd is 9, and the fall herd is 7 as of now...sure we've got some old dire's that keep hanging on and do good, but we sure don't keep anything that is starting to go downhill...just my 2cents worth...