Page 19 - MWC 2-24-2022s
P. 19

thing  and  not  enough  of  an-      On the farming side, the ef-                       The Midwest Cattleman · February 24, 2022 · P19
      other.  Since introducing  spe- ficiency goal begins with min-
      cific rations, I feel we are more  imizing erosion.  The Berans       ing to address
      efficient.  And the cattle are  let crop remnants lie between         the    growing
      gaining better than they ever  milo to wheat rotations and            c hallenges
                                                                            beef producers
      have.”                             they let the ground rest a little
         The Berans raise all of their  bit and try to get by with a lit-   face is at least
      own feed, including a lot of  tle less fertilizer.                    as important
      milo and three times as much          “Right now, with corn hit-      as  the produc-
                                                                            tion side any-
      wheat.  They grow their own  ting $6.20, or maybe a little
      corn and alfalfa too. In 2022,  higher and the cattle market          more.
      the overhead for such endeav- pretty decent, it works,” Craig           “We want to
      ors has skyrocketed. Fertilizer  said.  “Our big risk is being        have     knowl-
      alone is two and a half times  completely  dry land  farmers.         edge  on  how
      what it was a year ago and  You can’t do a lot of contracting         our cattle are
      keeping equipment running  of grains that could possibly              doing,” he said.                  out how good they hang on the
      eats up a lot of the budget  fail due to drought. And we’re           “Some calves are pricey to put    rail. We rarely have anything
      when  covering  pastures  and  pretty dry right now. Crop in-         in the feedlot, but they are still   that isn’t upper Choice and
      fields across two counties.        surance is just a bandaid fix if   going to make more from the       Prime. That’s another piece of
                                                                            knowledge we gain on what
         “We are spread out and  it’s a disastrous year.”                                                     knowledge we gain to make
      burn a lot of fuel feeding cows,”     Craig    continued,    “Even    the rate is on feeding to cost of   sure we are raising the kind
                                                                            gain.”
      Craig said.                        when the markets are good, as                                        of bulls that will do that for
         The primary remedy to  they are right now, we all know               B & D feeds out between         our customers. And we’re feed-
      whittling overhead is efficien- that can change, sometimes 30         100 and 150 head at HRC Feed      ing out the bottom end of our
      cy, according to Craig.            to 40 cents a day. When my dad     Yards in Scott City, Ks. with     registered bulls and heifers. If
                                                                            the American Hereford Associ-
         “By us being one entity, in- was doing this, all you had to                                          they’ll go to the lot and do that
      stead of four separately, we  do was raise it. The price didn't       ation’s Hereford Feedout Pro-     well, the better ones will knock
      have greater efficiency,” he  change 30 cents in a year on all        gram.  They also place cattle     it out of the park!”
      said. “It’s no fun to work cat- of the crops! Today, a $3 swing       with Barton County Feeders,          Two B & D Hereford and
      tle by yourself. It’s hard. Being  times 30,000 bushels, and you      a little closer to home. Craig    Angus sales a year showcase
      part of a team is part of the ef- are knocking on $100,000 you        said they are seeing ample ev-    the genetics behind the perfor-
      ficiency. It helps with the cost  could have made or lost.”           idence of efficiency.             mance. The “Season  Opener”
                                                                              “Our cattle are efficient
      of everything by dividing labor       As for operating changes on     and doing it cheaper than av-     Sale is in March and the Fall
      and overhead, instead of mul- the  beef  cattle  end  of  things,
      tiplying it.”                      Craig contended that market-       erage,” he said. “Plus, we find                 continued on page 34



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