Buying and reselling holstien bull calves

[WBar Farms]

Any one on here do that? Is there any money in buying the calves for like 50 bucks then reselling them however much time later?  Ive been considering doing this to make a little money but was wondering if it was really worth it.  Any info would be great.  Such as whats the best kind of feed? How long should i feed them milk?  How long should I keep them?  How much work is it gonna take.  Whatever info you could give me would be great.
Thanks
Steve

 

[kfacres]

we have a dairy and feed out a couple to 400ish.....  not worth it...  sometimes one can make a little if it's a purebred hol, but if its got any color, or other breed in it.. forget it!!! 

We have started breeding our heifers to a Red Angus bull- getting all solid black, or solid red calves.  I'm going to try feeding these heifer calves out and marketing them for eventual recips...  If your interested, I might help..

but in terms of feeding those steer calves out, wouldn't suggest it...  don't know why,  but you take it in the shorts when you sell them. 

 

[hamburgman]

I saw 500 pound holstein steers bring 70 cents after the first of the year, I doubt there was any money in that.  Those things just don't have the conversion and packers are not thrilled about 9.5'' eyes.

 

[JohnDeere]

Ive did it for many years and have made some good money...thats where i got started on them stupid things..Id say if you can get some at about 30 bucks do it..sell at around 400 pounds...any other questions ask.

 

[Cowfarmer65]

I have neighbouring dairy farms that are now putting down any holstein bull calves. It has got to the point up here that it was costing them money to ship them. It's come full circle. When I was a child dairy farmers did the same thing.

 

[russfarm]

We have a mixture of holsteins, jerseys and angus cross here that we raise.  We mostly raise to sell for freezer beef when they're finished out.
My husband, God love him, got about 25 head of jerseys about 1.5 yrs ago for $5 a piece and is feeding them out.  They are the biggest pain in the butt I'd have to say.  Messy, chew on everything and aren't afraid of anything.  I can't wait until they're big enough to butcher.

 

[kfacres]

I would suggest butchering them as veal- but with my experences in eating veal- I really can't justify that as a recommendation.  (lol)

I've always wondered why those dairy steers take such a hit- I guess they just take longer to feed, and are lighter muscled--- even though 90% of them grade and dairy beef animals make up 30-40% of the beef industry!

 

[SlickTxMaine]

Last summer during the drought I heard about people leaving a sale barn and coming out to find someone had dumped some dairy calves in their empty trailers.  Happened more than once.  So, basically......you couldn't even give them away, you had to sneak em in!!

 

[justme]

When we lived in Ohio we did it quiet a bit and fed the hostein bulls out.  Had great success at it.  Most was sold as freezer beef others were shipped to sale barn.  We were lower than beef steers but 11 years ago it was still enough to make money at it.  Probably depends on the region you live in.  I know if I took a load of fat holsteins to Lamoni, Iowa they may think I'm crazy. (they probably think that anyways lol) .  Holstein meat is very good.  You'd never tell the difference but the key is feeding them right.

 

[kanshow]

We have done it to, but it's been a long time.    I think corn was about $1.98 and that is probably the biggest difference between feeding them then and now and making any money doing it.     They HAVE to be full fed corn as soon as soon as you can get them on it.  Our mix was shell corn and a premix pellet.   Fill the feeder and let them have at it.  

ETA.  You really have to be prepared to take them all the way to finish and then sell them directly to the packer or as butchers.

 

[kfacres]

back when the prices were so so so bad for bucket calves- we shipped 2 to the local sale barn.. after selling, and receiving "our check"- we actually got a bill.. the calves didn't bring enough to cover commission, dockage, check-off, etc.. Obviously, we didn't pay it.. but it was interesting thing to get!!

 

[CM Cattle]

It seems like a holstine calves are born to die at times, i cant keep one living for nothing.

 

[justintime]

Many years ago, I had a bright idea I was going to build a farrow to finish hog barn. I was fresh out of college and wanting to get started farming. I drew up some plans and showed them to my dad. For a few minutes he did not say anything. Then he said " Have you ever thought of picking bottles out of the ditch?"  He said " You will make more money and you wouldn't stink when you come home at night" Probably the best advice I was ever given, and I have thought of this many times throughout my life.

I think this advice if also fitting for a venture in feeding Holstein calves. When we used to feed cattle, I would occasionally buy a set of 950- 1050 lb Holstein steers that someone had purchased as baby calves and fed. I could oftentimes buy the for $.25- $.30 / lb. I would feed them to about 1600 lbs and ship them for slaughter to a plant in Minnesota that would accept these oxen. I remember always feeling sorry for the poor guy who raised them, as he obviously lost his shirt feeding them but 9 times out of 10, these people had no idea what their costs were and did it over and over again.

It is unfortunate, but erase this idea from your head. I doubt if you can make anything if someone gives them to you.

 

[kfacres]

I doubt if you can make anything EVEN if someone gives them to you.

FORGOT ONE WORD IN THAT VERY TRUE STATEMENT

 

[R1Livestock]

I know a guy who does fairly well feeding out Brown Swiss calves.  I use "fairly" as a term for not losing money in this case.  He sells quarters and halves off of the farm, and gets pretty good prices for them.  If you can feed them economically and market them in this fashion you might have a prayer, if you just want to buy them started at 150 lbs and sell them back into the market at any weight, even finished, I don't think it is feasible.  They are easy to feed though: corn, corn, some more corn, and finish it off with corn.

 

[justintime]

I know a guy who does fairly well feeding out Brown Swiss calves.  I use "fairly" as a term for not losing money in this case.  He sells quarters and halves off of the farm, and gets pretty good prices for them.  If you can feed them economically and market them in this fashion you might have a prayer, if you just want to buy them started at 150 lbs and sell them back into the market at any weight, even finished, I don't think it is feasible.  They are easy to feed though: corn, corn, some more corn, and finish it off with corn.

There may be a decent dollar to be made if you feed these Holstein calves out and market them as freezer meat to friends and neighbors. We also had a neighbor who did this as well. He raised these Holsteins to about 750-800 lbs and then put them in our feedlot until they had some fat on them. He would come and butcher them all here, and take the carcasses to a meat cutter who cut and wrapped the meat. He claimed that he sold this meat at a premium price and that he made money doing it. Most of his clients were repeat customers. This may work, but just feeding them and selling them as feeder cattle is destined for disaster most of the time, IMO

 

[knabe]

He would come and butcher them all here, and take the carcasses to a meat cutter who cut and wrapped the meat. He claimed that he sold this meat at a premium price and that he made money doing it. Most of his clients were repeat customers. This may work, but just feeding them and selling them as feeder cattle is destined for disaster most of the time, IMO

can't do that in the US as the USDA has a monopoly on meat inspection.  you know, the system that poisons more people than all independent producers combined through consolidation.

 

[CAB]

  In today's current market, if the dairy gave you the calves and you fed them up to 400/700lbs you would lose money. The milk replacer/feed is too high for what they will bring. The last 2 sales that I have attended, the holstein steers bring between$40 & $50 dolllars per 100lbs.

 

[justintime]

It is supposedly not legal to butcher on the farm and take the meat to a meat shop to get cut and wrapped if you are going to sell the meat. There are ways around this, such as listing the beef in a customers name when it goes to the meat shop. I used to chuckle, that for several years, I supplied beef to many of the Regina City Police force. Not only is it supposed to be against the law to sell meat from an uninspected and licensed facility, but it is against the law for anyone to privately sell meat within the city limits. Obviously the cops were too busy chasing other crooks to bother enforcing this law!

 

[Cowfarmer65]

lol........JIT........My dad did it for years while working for Corrections Canada. He used to sell to alot of his coworkers in the head office in Ottawa and friends in the RCMP. That was years ago, but it was still illegal to sell uninspected meat.