Page 25 - MWC 8-20-20s
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ADDING VALUE                       in value and cost of feeding                            The Midwest Cattleman · August 20, 2020 · P25
      continued from page 15             to determine profitability.        Expect the dry matter intake       K STATE
      cull cow feeding is being con-     If cows come off pasture in        of cows fed grain-based diets     continued from page 7
      sidered.                           good condition, no quality en-     to be approximately 2.5 to 3.0
         Approximately  half  of  the  hancement is expected, cost          percent of body weight. Nor-      many daughters from a bull,
      profit potential will be deter-    of maintenance may be high         mally, there should be at least   they will have to be careful to
      mined the day cull cows are  and revenue comes only from              60 to 80 percent concentrate in   avoid in-breeding by limiting
      bought or started on feed and  price increase.                        a grain-based diet. One can ex-   the sire-daughter matings to
      will be based on the purchase      Factor 3: Feed To Gain Cheaply     pect gains of 3 pounds or better   reduce the risk of genetic com-
      price, body condition, and            Feeding cull cows grain-        if the diet contains 80 percent   plications,” Weaber said.
      health of the cows. Cow feed-      based diets for only 30 days       grain and compensatory gain          When bulls come off the
      ing experience dictates that a     will result in the most rapid      is expected.  The feed to gain    summer pastures, Larson ad-
      neutral buy/sell margin (pur-      and efficient gains. However,      ratio will be under or near 10    vised producers to conduct a
      chase price=selling price) or a    the producer is subject to very    when shorter days on feed and     complete  breeding  soundness
      positive feeding margin (sell      short-term price changes. If       higher grain diets are utilized.  exam.
      cows for more than was paid        the price situation is unfa-         The  protein  requirement          “It is more than just a semen
      for them) is essential to show a   vorable, thin cull cows can be     of cull cows does not appear      quality check, but also an eval-
      profit from feeding purchased      fed for a longer period of time.   to be particularly high. Crude    uation  of  his  physical  char-
      thin cows.                         Feeding  for  approximately        protein levels of 9.5 to 11 per-  acteristics, including his feet,
         The ideal situation for feed-   two  months  should  also  re-     cent are probably adequate.       legs, penis and scrotum as well
      ing cull cows is if Utility cow    duce the number of Cutter          Keep in mind that the mineral     as his temperament,” Larson
      prices are relatively high and     grade carcasses and increase       supplementation  program  for     said.
      feed  prices are relatively low.   the number of Utility grade        grain-based diets and rough-         Weaber added that temper-
      This offers the potential of       carcasses. Increasing the gain     age-based diets are not the       ament is critical especially in
      costs of gain being lower than     within this 2-month time pe-       same.  Calcium  supplementa-      smaller herds where the bulls
      selling price. Normally, costs     riod will further improve car-     tion will be higher than phos-    have close contact with people.
      of  gain  are  higher  than  sell-  cass quality and reduce cost of   phorus    supplementation      if    Another factor for producers
      ing price and a positive buy/      gain. Longer feeding of grain-     feeding a high grain ration.      to consider is the cost of the
      sell margin is needed to make      based diets should further re-                                       bull relative to the years used
      a profit. If costs of gain are     duce the incidence of yellow       Factor 4: Financial Solvency      in the herd.
      less than selling price, you can   fat. There is a hypothesis that      Cow-calf  producers  might         “If a producer spends $5,000
      have a negative buy/sell mar-      feeding barley (lower caro-        consider feeding their cull cows   on a yearling bull and he is only
      gin and possibly still make a      tene content) instead of corn      through the winter to pro-        used for one breeding season, it
      profit.                            (higher carotene content) will     duce a “value added product”.     has a significant economic im-
         Other livestock costs such      further  “whiten” the carcass      A common practice is to feed      pact on the operation,” Weaber
      as veterinary and medical ex-      fat.                               roughage-based diets  through     said.
      penses, farm utilities, power         Feeding cull cows grain-        the winter and then feed grain       The experts agreed that the
      and fuel and marketing ex-         based diets much longer than       30 to 50 days in the spring.      final criteria to consider is how
      penses can be around 10 cents      2 months will significantly in-    This scheme is a viable option    the bull worked in the herd.
      per pound of gain. Interest cost   crease feed cost per pound of      if hay or grazing resources are      “As much as I would hate
      on the purchase price of the       gain. Also, marbling score and     sufficiently  cheap  and  the  ex-  to trade him out economically
      cows can add another 6 cents       quality grade may not signifi-     tended time of ownership can      speaking, if he isn’t getting the
      per pound of gain. Excluding       cantly improve after 2 months      be justified.  The alternative    job done then it is time to make
      labor, management and facili-      on feed. However, this must be     is short-term feeding of grain-   a change,” Larson said.
      ty, costs per pound of gain can    balanced against the histori-      based diets to cows after being      Here are the experts’ top 5
      run in the 45 to 50 cent range.    cal increase in cow prices that    culled from the herd.             reasons for culling a bull:
         Another method of feed-         occurs over the period from          In economic terms, short-         • He no longer fits with the
      ing  cull  cows  is  to  initially   October-November to March-       term cow feeding is a high-risk        current breeding goals
      feed high roughage rations         April. The length of time that     enterprise. A feeder is typically   • His actual genetics don’t
      through the winter. Gain per       cull cows can be efficiently fed   in and out of the market with-         align with the expectations
      day is lower than if started on    grain-based  diets  at  an  eco-   in 50-90 days. There is virtual-    • He has too many daughters
      a grain-based diet. However,       nomical cost of gain will vary     ly no way to pass the financial        in the herd
      cost  of  gain  can  be  relatively   depending upon their initial    risk to anyone else. The advice     • He has an undesirable tem-
      low if hay or grazing resources    body condition. Assuming the       to any potential cull cow feeder       perament
      do not otherwise have a ready      cows are healthy and not de-       is that if financial risk can be    • He fails the breeding sound-
      market value.                      bilitated, thin cows can be fed    absorbed, feed cull cows.              ness exam
         Slaughter  cow  prices  vary    longer than fleshier cows. In
      not only over time but also        one study, cull cows were fed
      with quality grades. The best      for  108 days  with no signif-
      prices are normally attained       icant drop in feedlot perfor-
      for Commercial grade. Since        mance. Based upon previous
      mature cows may come off           research, it would appear that
      pasture in poor condition, they    this time period may range
      may sell as Canners or Cutters     from 2 to 4 months.
      at substantial price discounts        The most profitable feed-
      to Utility grade. Cows in thin     ing management scheme is
      condition are capable of high-     affected by the cost of feed
      er gains, which can also raise     inputs. Slower gains over the
      quality grade.  The producer       winter may be profitable if
      must  calculate  the  difference   the cost of hay or grazing re-
      between any expected increase      sources are relatively cheap.
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