What is the best time of year to sell cattle?

The best time to sell calves is when the market is high. Traditionally, February and March are the best times of the year. During this time, wheat and oats are readily available for grazing and growing calves.

What month are cattle prices the highest?

Prices steadily trended upward from January to June, then remained rather constant from July to December with seeing a high point in September. Prices were highest in mid-fall and lowest in early months of the year. Prices were near the annual average throughout the entire year. Steer Calves (500-600 Ibs.)

What time of year do you sell cows?

Data from the USDA over the past 10 years suggest that the best time to market cull cows is not in the fall of the year. Prices are generally lowest during the months of November and December, while the highest prices are received during the months of March, April, and May.

What season are most cattle sold?

Based on long term average information, late March to early April provides some of the highest sale prices of the year for cull cows, but producers should not plan to feed cull animals that long, waiting for prices to peak.”

What month are cattle prices the lowest?

The seasonality patterns, however, are generally consistent over 10 years, with the highest prices occurring in March, April and May and the lowest prices occurring September through December. This pattern also seems logical because about 76 percent of the annual calf crop is born in the first 6 months of the year.

How to Make Money with Beef Cattle

What month is best to sell calves?

The best time to sell calves is when the market is high. Traditionally, February and March are the best times of the year. During this time, wheat and oats are readily available for grazing and growing calves.

What weight is best for selling calves?

Cattle are moved at between 750-850 lbs. “About 775 is probably our average weight,” Womack says. “This is the type of cattle feedyards want.” He says they ultimately market cattle based on a general rule — “what price can we make money on — and stay in business for.

How old is a 500-pound calf?

During this time their primary source of food is milk from their dam, and the grass or roughage (hay) that is available. At 6-9 months of age the calves are weaned off their dams and placed in a field or pen with other calves of a similar age and weight. Most calves will weigh 500-700 lbs at weaning.

What is a 500-pound calf worth?

The long-term average is roughly 55 cents per pound of gain. For example, if the price of a 500-pound calf is $1.40 per pound and the price of a 600-pound calf is $1.26, the value of those 100 pounds of gain is $56 or 56 cents per pound.

How long does it take to raise a calf for slaughter?

Forage-finished calves often will be slaughtered near 1,000 pounds live weight. It will take over a year (367 days) to grow a 500-pound calf to 1,000 pounds if its average daily weight gain is 1.5 pounds per day.

When should you sell a steer?

The value of gain from the base ranged from $0.90 to $1.23 per pound of gain. Again, if you can add weight gain for less than $0.90, you would sell the 700-pound feeder steer.

How long do you keep a calf before selling?

After weaning, it takes a minimum of 30 days before calves can sell as preconditioned calves. This is the term often used for calves that are weaned from the cows, vaccinated, and accustomed to feed bunks, processed feed, and water bowls.

What is the most profitable animal to farm?

Beef cattle are considered the most profitable livestock and easiest to raise for profit, but homesteaders with small acreage won't be able to raise cattle. Cattle, whether you want beef or dairy cattle, require plenty of good-quality pasture, supplemental hay, fresh water, room to roam, and veterinarian care.

Will cattle prices go up in 2022?

At first glance, 2022 cattle prices are higher than 2021. At $140, slaughter steer prices are 17.5% above 2021 prices, but even with higher prices, farmers and ranchers will travel a rocky road to profitability, paved with inflation and higher input costs in 2022.

What is the best way to make money with cattle?

How many cows make a living?

How many cows do you need to make money in 2020? As a rough guide farmers can expect to make a full-time income from a dairy herd of about 60-80 cows and a beef herd of at least 50 cows.

Is raising beef cattle profitable?

Beef cattle are generally the most profitable and easiest livestock to raise for profit. Beef cattle simply require good pasture, supplemental hay during the winter, fresh water, vaccinations and plenty of room to roam. You can buy calves from dairy farms inexpensively to start raising beef cattle.

How much is a 1200 lb steer worth?

Based on the 2019 budget, slaughter cows (1,200 pounds) are expected to average $50 per hundredweight, while 550 pounds steers and 520 heifers are expected to average $145 and $130 per hundredweight respectively.

How many cattle can you raise on 1 acre?

How many heads of cattle per acre can I keep? On average, you can have around 0.4 to 0.8 head of cattle per acre if you want to ensure the grazing at the proper rate. Keep in mind that one head of cattle (or one Animal Unit) often refers to the cow and calf pair.

What is the best weight to slaughter a steer?

Buy Standard to Good feeder grade steers weigh- ing 600 pounds and full feed a finishing ration until they yield a slaughter grade of Good. This may be 800-900 pounds, depending on gain rate and feed conversion.

Why is a steer worth more than a bull?

If you do not plan to keep the calf to that weight, it is not as much of a factor. There are advantages to keeping and castrating bull calves. More buyers have orders for steers and will pay more money per pound. Buyers like steer calves because there is a bigger risk for buyers to buy bull calves at larger weights.

Do bulls or steers grow faster?

Numerous studies have shown that under good growing conditions with regard to nutrition and other aspects of the environment, bulls grow about 10-20% faster than steers (reviewed by Field 1971 ; Seidemen et al.