Market Steer

[[cowgirl_up_47]

I have always shown heifers at our county fair, and am now getting down to my last 2 years in 4-H. I am now really considering doing a market steer, but have no clue where to start. I looked at stall cards, and it looks like I need a calf born somewhere between January and March of this year. I was also told you should start with them in October (Our fair isn't until August next year).

Can anyone help? Would appreciate any tips, advice, etc...

 

[FutureBreeder2013]

id appreciate it also

 

[farmboy]

be ready to pump some money into it. for an august fair i would shoot for a march or april calf.

 

[stangs13]

Oh where to start..LOL. Good genetics...good feed...hardwork.. Talk to your ag teachers/friends/ext agents...etc they are always a good place to start.

 

[RSC]

I have always shown heifers at our county fair, and am now getting down to my last 2 years in 4-H. I am now really considering doing a market steer, but have no clue where to start. I looked at stall cards, and it looks like I need a calf born somewhere between January and March of this year. I was also told you should start with them in October (Our fair isn't until August next year).

Can anyone help? Would appreciate any tips, advice, etc...

With only a few years left, do some homework and find a breeder that can not only find you a calf that will fit your budget but help you with service along the way to help you learn and have as much success as possible!

Good Luck!

Tony

 

[M-n-M Cattle Company]

I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, but I would stick to heifers. I have been in 4-H for 3 years and our county only has the steers so I am on my third steer. I love the heifers so  much more, in my opinion you waste so much more money on a steer than you do a heifer and then all your hard work either wins or not. The not is when all your hard work goes down the drain. I would love to not have a steer but in order to show heifers at local shows I need the steer. Just my opinion. Please don't kill me or beat me up to hard.

 

[box6rranch]

We show the same time of year. Yes, I would look for a late January-early March calf. Much later and it's hard to get weight on easily. Check with the extension office and see who has club calf sales. See if they will let you come and preview the calves. Look through semen catalogues at the club bulls so you are familiar with their breeding. Take someone with you who's experienced and has show or raised steers.
It's a lot of fun and very different from showing heifers. We show both, why not!!! If you look hard and fall into some good luck you can find an affordable one. We have an Irish Whiskey-Mossy Oak steer who is probably our best yet we bought for 900.00. Going into fair tomorrow, can't wait to hear the rumors of how many thousands of dollars we spent :O)

 

[Hofstatter Farms]

I have always shown heifers at our county fair, and am now getting down to my last 2 years in 4-H. I am now really considering doing a market steer, but have no clue where to start. I looked at stall cards, and it looks like I need a calf born somewhere between January and March of this year. I was also told you should start with them in October (Our fair isn't until August next year).

Can anyone help? Would appreciate any tips, advice, etc...

first where are you located? as said before be prepared to drop some cash. the feed alone is a lot more than what you feed heifers. If you are going to show a steer you need to buy a good one and put your heart and soul into. also as said before it is a good idea to buy from someone local or willing to travel to help you out, that knows what to feed how to feed it and so on.

 

[[cowgirl_up_47]

I have always shown heifers at our county fair, and am now getting down to my last 2 years in 4-H. I am now really considering doing a market steer, but have no clue where to start. I looked at stall cards, and it looks like I need a calf born somewhere between January and March of this year. I was also told you should start with them in October (Our fair isn't until August next year).

Can anyone help? Would appreciate any tips, advice, etc...

first where are you located? as said before be prepared to drop some cash. the feed alone is a lot more than what you feed heifers. If you are going to show a steer you need to buy a good one and put your heart and soul into. also as said before it is a good idea to buy from someone local or willing to travel to help you out, that knows what to feed how to feed it and so on.

We are in Oregon.

Also, what are good ideas for marketing a steer and getting buyers in? It seems to all be politics, one steer went for $1.10 and another went for $4.75. I don't want to put a lot of hard work and money into it and only break even in the end...

 

[GoWyo]

"Politics" are definitely involved in the sale, but not all"politics" are bad.  If your family does a high volume of business at the tractor dealer, accountant, attorney, auto dealer, lumber yard, etc. and you are a nice kid and have done your marketing homework visiting business owners and have a good reputation in the community in other endeavors, you will likely be rewarded with a better price.  Some of it you are born into, but there are many opportunities to draw positive attention to yourself and have a couple of buyers to help you out in getting a better price.

 

[Hofstatter Farms]

Don't worry you won't break even at the end, you will definitely lose money. When it comes to selling the steer at the 4-H show you need to take the top two or three people you do business through, Vet, bank, fertilizer company, any type of larger company that needs that tax wright off. Call them and let them know that your steer will be selling in the 4-H auction and ask them if they would be interested in sponsoring him.

 

[vc]

I would not call the majority of the sale political as much as being who you know and who you do business with. The political part, when the 9 steer through the sale sales for 5 dollars more a pound than the Grand and reserve, because the father thought that that calf should have won. Do I think it is political that the Indian Casinos buy all of the Indian kids animals, no it is called support. Some kids, Families, or clubs get more support from their community than others. Some kids go out and bust their bu##s to get buyers other kids do not even send out buyers letters. The person who buys my sons animals, will bid on most kids animals that he gets letters from, he wont buy them all but will take them to the minimum, $2 pigs, 2$ steers,3$ lambs. I have seen him put 6 hogs on the resale board because he took them to 2 dollars a pound an they did not get anyone else bidding on them, he did this because they sent him a letter.

You have been to the fair, if you watched the sale you would have noticed there were probably a few buyers names who come up over and over, make note of them and make  sure you contact them prior to the fair and let them know about your project and that it will be going through the sale. Go to business's that your family does business with and sell your self and your project. One kid put an add in the local paper, advertising that he would be selling his animal at the fair. Marketing yourself and your project.

Find the best steer you can that fits in your budget, feed it right, work hard, market it to potential buyers through out the year, that is all you can do.

 

[farmboy]

i have went around and did that whole "please support our steer sale" and every time no one, absolutely no one, i talked too bid on them. even the few times i won something. i quit doing that last year. and yes there are politics in the sale. there is a girl out here who brings as much money for her steer as the grand or reserve steer every year. she's got the looks if you know what i mean. also last year the auctioneer announced it was her last year in 4-h. wrong. this is her last year. i hate that.

 

[stangs13]

I have always shown heifers at our county fair, and am now getting down to my last 2 years in 4-H. I am now really considering doing a market steer, but have no clue where to start. I looked at stall cards, and it looks like I need a calf born somewhere between January and March of this year. I was also told you should start with them in October (Our fair isn't until August next year).

Can anyone help? Would appreciate any tips, advice, etc...

first where are you located? as said before be prepared to drop some cash. the feed alone is a lot more than what you feed heifers. If you are going to show a steer you need to buy a good one and put your heart and soul into. also as said before it is a good idea to buy from someone local or willing to travel to help you out, that knows what to feed how to feed it and so on.

We are in Oregon.

Also, what are good ideas for marketing a steer and getting buyers in? It seems to all be politics, one steer went for $1.10 and another went for $4.75. I don't want to put a lot of hard work and money into it and only break even in the end...

You should get into showing poultry then, thats about the only thing that you might make your money back in!! Good luck even breaking even... after buying the animal..vet visits, feed bills( can sometimes be more than the animal), entry fees, all your grooming supplies, etc... it gets very expensive..and around here having a heifer or a steer is more of a coolness factor than anything...

 

[DLD]

Depends on how good your sale is, and what you spend on a steer and feed, whether or not you can break even.  Some places, the sale's so soft you prob'ly don't have much chance, some places it's good enough that anybody ought to be able to make money.  Very few places you can make money at a county show with a $7500 steer and $18 a bag show feed, though.  Find out what the premium sale steers bring and do the math before you start.  In most places you can break even, or even make money, if you do it right

Yeah, premium sales often don't seem fair.  Call it politics if that makes you happy, but it's just life.  If I spent a couple hundred thousand at the local implement dealer over the past year, and they're a regular buyer at the county premium sale, you'd better believe that I'm going to expect them to bid on my kids calf. And if I spent that much there, I spent a pile of money at the Co-op, and the insurance agency, and ran no telling how many dollars through the bank, then I expect their support, too.  And they can't afford to let me down... We're not that family, but we spread our money around among the businesses that do support the premium sale, and they support our kids - maybe it's only a $20 add on, but that's okay, those add up.  If you want to get me started on unfair distribution of premiums,  we can get into why it is that buyers give as much for the last goat in the sale as for a breed champion steer... (too much equality???)

 

[farmboy]

idk why but the past 4 years the reserve steer has brought more than the grand. is that fair?

 

[DLD]

No, it doesn't seem very fair, but I've seen it happen, too.  At our county, we have a cartel that sets the prices on all the grands and reserves.  There are pretty much always animals down in the sale order that outsell the grands and reserves.

 

[Jace]

All I know, is that this year, I am getting as much for my hog as the Supreme did last year. Is it fair? Yes. I don't think that jsut since the judge liked the Grand best, that they should also sell for jsut as  much. I start WAYYY before I even get my animal, and then by the time fair comes, I have broke even, plus brought enough money for costs next year, PLUS money for a brand new Dolly Box Showbox from Sullivan's. Call it fair or not fair. Life ain't fair.

 

[loveRedcows]

Bless your heart for having the guts to show heifers -- we have to fight like crazy to keep the breeding heifer numbers up at our county fair cause the steer show is the ultimate championship.  It seems like people forget that without good females there wouldn't be any hot shot steers!  We aren't competitive enough or foolish enough to spend lots of money on a steer that MIGHT get into the sale.  Instead we show in a "Production Steer" class where the primary factors are ADG & ultrasound, then sell the beef for $3.50/lb on the rail.  Good luck on your project.

On the subject of politics at the sale -- we also endure the same kids in the sale every year.  Couple of years ago a particularly irritating grandpa wasn't paying attention & put $5K on a steer shown by a girl with the same name as his grandaughter who hadn't been thru the ring yet.  The crowd laughed & cheered!

 

[knabe]

why isn't it fair?  people can bid on and support who they want.  why not just give a cash prize to guarantee the sale price order?

this business of constantly eliminating free enterprise is annoying.