r.n.reed said:
I think the feeding industry is sending different signals.I also find it hard to believe with todays feed costs someone is still touting maximum performance.
??? Of course this is a great time to be touting maximum performance . Let's do some math.
First some parameters need to be set. First, calves that are 100-205 days old generally convert a high concentrate feed in the range of say 3.5 - 4 pounds of feed per pound of gain. Say yearling bulls or feedlot steers 5 - 5.5. (rates per MARC)
Lets use some expensive feed and say its .14 a pound.
For this example we will use 500 pounds as our marketing point and assume a 1.98 per pound sales price per a report from NE sale barn last week off cattle.com.
Cost of gain would equal .14 (cost of feed per pound ) X 4 (pounds of feed needed to gain one pound) = .56 per pound of gain on those young calves. Using a 1.98 per pound sales price you can assume that for every dollar of feed that calf eats, he returns you $3.50. It doesn't matter if he eats 10 pounds a day or two pounds. The more he eats the more he gains and the more dollars he converts into $3.50. It's like a money printing machine. The faster it runs, the more it makes.
Some will say that the calf would gain SOMETHING on its own without benefit of supplementation so lets be very liberal with that notion and say the calf would gain 40% of the total weight in this scenario with no supplementation. That means for every $1.00 you spent on feed you only get a $2.10 return. And the more pounds he gains, the greater his performance, the more $2.10 he puts in your pocket. Input costs are inconsequential because the more that goes in the more comes out.
Lets look at it from a different perspective. Lets say you're a cow-calf guy. Many here calve in the fall. There isn't much grazing going on after Thanksgiving. Cows are generally fed hay only from then through end March or middle of April. If your calves weigh 500 pounds at 4 months instead of 500 pounds at 6 months you can carry more cows per acre because you saved two extra months of calf grazing. The calves are gone before there is any grass to graze Ad to that the lower nutritional needs for cows that are not nursing big calves, easier breeding back and the all around advantages of early weaning and you see another reason why maximum performance is important.
I have friends in NE who retain ownership on 900-1000 head per year all the way through slaughter. Each year they have tried to take a group and negotiate some sort of "magic grid" that pays them premiums for quality grade. In trying to hit this grid they don't implant that set of calves. NEVER, EVER, not ONE TIME has the difference in price for the difference in carcass weight that implant would have made. Maximum performance is important.
When they weigh more they pay more, period. And when they weigh more sooner they pay more. The vast majority of producers still sell their cattle at auction markets. They don't get much of a discount or a premium for the shape of their bodies. They get paid by the pound and the more pounds the more they get paid.
Feed efficiency comes more into play when sale prices are not in line with input prices. And although inputs are high today, so are sale prices. The problem with feed efficiency as it relates to gain is that it is only a moderately heritable trait and the difference between the best and the worst is only about 10%. That would make the difference between the best and the average only about 5%. That's why maximum performance is important. There are differences in performance of animals and even more so with performance between breeds. That's why is was so stupid for Simmental cattle to "dumb down" to the level of Angus cattle. There are plenty of Simmental cattle that won't gain any more than the average Angus and many more these days that won't milk any better.
The problem with efficiency from the basis of cow standpoint is that the maintenance requirements as it relates to mature size is not linear. In other words a 1600 pound cow does not require 33% more feed than a 1200 pound cow, even though it is 33% larger (heavier and probably larger framed). There are lots 1600 pound cows that are heavy milkers that keep their flesh and wean a 600 pound calf at 5 1/2 months. There are 1200 pound cows that wean half their weight on a little less less feed, but it takes 7 1/2 months. Which is more efficient? Cow efficiency has to be determined on an individual basis and depends on the inputs YOU have available.
I used the jet fuel analogy on my post on page 1. Reality IS like Chandler mentioned. To use JTM's analogy a 4 cylinder with nitrous will never ever run with a jet on jet fuel. And if all you have is jet fuel, is there a reason you would put it in a 4 cylinder? Yet if you don't have jet fuel you don't need a jet, do you?
Like I said on page one, I can't understand why people argue about what kind of cow is the "best." There are so many different production scenarios and management practices that there has to be different animals that work best for each of them. You might have the best animal for your particular situation, but you DO NOT have the best one for all situations.
But the emphasis of this whole thread isn't actually about performance or efficiency, MOST of these posts are REALLY about trying to denigrate the outfit the OP mentioned. The problem with many of your thought processes is that you believe success, profit, what ever you want to call it, just has to be tied to all these statistics or some pie in the sky ideal. In reality it is based only on what you can sell. If you can't sell what you produce, obviously you won't be as successful as someone who can sell what they produce. And if you both can sell what you produce then the measure of who is most successful is who sells their produce for the most. Who is producing what their customers are willing to pay the most for? The bank doesn't give you extra dollars in your account because your cattle were made for the "real world", or "fit the box" or more commercially acceptable, or who the momma was or what show they won. They just give you money based on the numbers on the check you brought in. The bottom line is money and how much of it have you made. If you people were so smart about cattle breeding it seems to me it would be you who are bringing in the larger bank deposit slips instead of the people you so enjoy whining about.
