Weaning Calves: To Sell or Feed? Weighing Pros and Cons
go.ncsu.edu/readext?936063
en Español / em Português
El inglés es el idioma de control de esta página. En la medida en que haya algún conflicto entre la traducción al inglés y la traducción, el inglés prevalece.
Al hacer clic en el enlace de traducción se activa un servicio de traducción gratuito para convertir la página al español. Al igual que con cualquier traducción por Internet, la conversión no es sensible al contexto y puede que no traduzca el texto en su significado original. NC State Extension no garantiza la exactitud del texto traducido. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones y/o servicios pueden no funcionar como se espera cuando se traducen.
Português
Inglês é o idioma de controle desta página. Na medida que haja algum conflito entre o texto original em Inglês e a tradução, o Inglês prevalece.
Ao clicar no link de tradução, um serviço gratuito de tradução será ativado para converter a página para o Português. Como em qualquer tradução pela internet, a conversão não é sensivel ao contexto e pode não ocorrer a tradução para o significado orginal. O serviço de Extensão da Carolina do Norte (NC State Extension) não garante a exatidão do texto traduzido. Por favor, observe que algumas funções ou serviços podem não funcionar como esperado após a tradução.
English
English is the controlling language of this page. To the extent there is any conflict between the English text and the translation, English controls.
Clicking on the translation link activates a free translation service to convert the page to Spanish. As with any Internet translation, the conversion is not context-sensitive and may not translate the text to its original meaning. NC State Extension does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Please note that some applications and/or services may not function as expected when translated.
Collapse ▲With calf prices starting to rise, and weaning time coming up, what will you do? Are you going to wean and feed your cattle out to gain more profit? Or, are you considering cutting your losses and sending them on, even though they are light weights? With the market prices where they are today, that has never been more debatable.
For example, if you take a 300 pound calf to the sale barn and it brings $2.00 per pound then you have gained $600 from weaning that calf, and taking it straight to the sale. There are some downsides to this method. You are going to have more shrinkage in the calf due to being weaned directly, which will cause it to be more stressed, which could also cause less appeal to buyers.
If you decided to hang on to the calf a little longer and get them to the little more desirable 500 pound range with feed and the calf brings $2.10 per pound, then you have made $1,050. In this scenario, you are still going to have shrinkage, and some stress but not as much as if they were directly weaned and sold.
With these two scenarios in mind, let’s sit down and think about this in terms of money. While we could both agree the 500 pound calf brings more, how much money have you put into it? Is it grass fed or did you give it some grain to help it gain? If so, how much did the cost of feed set you back? While the 300 pound calf brought $600, you had less of an investment in it versus the 500 pound calf. Before we make a decision on anything, lets keep an open mind and look at another option.
Back to the 500 pound calf scenario, it takes roughly 6 pounds of feed to gain 1 lb on cattle. So if you fed the calf 18 pounds a day that would be 3 pounds of gain a day. To go from 300 to a 500 pound calf would roughly take 67 days on feed. If the calves have access to quality grass and hay as well as minerals, that will help take less days on feed to reach the desirable rate.
Now, I am not saying you should take them straight to the sale as your method of weaning. Weaning at the sale barn is not very desirable to buyers, due to stress on the calf. But these are some things to think about when it comes to selling your cattle. While you will have a lower return on the younger calves, there’s a chance you could have an even bigger return on the heavier calves, if the prices continue to increase. While every operation is different, choose what works best for your operation. After all, the cattle business is a gamble, but strategy is the key to success.