Page 14 - MWC 8-10-2023s

The Midwest Cattleman · August 10, 2023 · P14

Top 10 Ways to Make Cow Herds More Profitable

By Robert Wells, Ph.D.
The ranching business working more with nature 1. Don’t buy average or premium pricing for your
has always been subject to and less against it through inferior bulls. cattle, since you can leverage
the variability and extremes implementation of regenera- Spending as little as $750 the strength of numbers an
of external factors, such as tive ranching principles. to $1,000 more on the pur- alliance can provide. Market
market volatility and weath- The following is a Top 10 chase price of a better bull your cattle in a venue that
er extremes. Neither of these list of management practic- with known genetics could will maximize your return
seem to be letting up any es and concepts to consider net you an additional ap- on the investment of raising
time soon. that can help keep you from proximately $1,500 more per and selling a quality calf. If
So for ranchers to econom- paying to be in the ranching bull, annually. If breeding for you are the only producer at
ically survive market down- business and losing money a terminal market, this is ac- the sale on a given day who is
turns as well as capitalize for the next few years. Re- complished by purchasing a offering cattle that have been
on good times, it helps to get member, the difference be- bull that will excel in growth preconditioned and vaccinat-
back to the basics, fine-tune tween someone who is a hob- traits that allow the ranch- ed, do not expect to receive a
their operations and plan for byist or professional is if they er to sell the maximum total premium price, because the
the long-term. An extreme- pay to do it or they are paid pounds of weaned calves off order buyers will just blend
ly viable strategy is to start for what they do. the ranch while still having your cattle into the load
INSECT-A-SOCK... a moderately sized cow in with other general cattle he
REDUCE FLIES, LICE, TICKS, MOSQUITOES the herd. If you are breed- bought on the same day. Alli-
ing for replacement females, ances can help you coordinate
USA PATENT #8,353,260 then consider using genetics the best times and locations
from a sire (live bull or arti- to optimize your profits when
ficial insemination) that will you sell. They also can help
create a female that will fit you to determine desirable
the environment and man- genetic traits to select for, es-
agement that you expect her pecially with herd bulls.
to work in. Consider traits
such as milking ability, ma-
ture weight, mature height,
carcass and growth charac-
teristics that are the optimal
combination to be successful
within the context of your op-
eration.
2. Join a cattle marketing
alliance and consider
where to market. 3. Keep cow size moderate.
• 2” diameter sock attaches to outside of flap Larger cows require more
• With EPA approved insecticide, recharge every 7 to 10 days during fly season Using a marketing alliance forage to sustain themselves
• Durable and effective, allows for self-treatment can help increase the proba- on a daily basis. This can
bility of receiving top or even
To Find a Dealer, contact.... affect pasture
stocking rates. A
Zeitlow Distributing SoMo Agri Supply
SoMo Agri
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McPherson, KS 800-364-1605
Supply
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Boonville, MO 800-530-5158
Springfield, MO
800-725-1880
Central Missouri Feed & Supply 17% larger than a
6775 W. Bruce Ln., Harrisburg, MO 65256
573-881-1798
OR SEE AN MFA DEALER 1,200-pound cow,
threebarl@hotmail.com and she is going
OR SEE AN MFA DEALER
to be taking in
RETROFITS MOST COMPETING 11% more forage.
MINERAL FEEDERS. That’s why stock-
Available only with Pride of the Farm ® ing rate must be
considered if you
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change your av-