Show Cattle Prices

[mainecattlemother]

I am having a hard time understanding where all the money in the country is to pay the prices for the show steers and heifers.  We are on a limited budget and are way above market price and it is not touching anything that will be competitive.  When its all said and done these calves are still only worth sale barn price.  If you pay $20,000 for a heifer and you cant get it bred or retain any eggs from a flush guess where that heifer goes.  Im thinking to the sale barn.  Someone please help me understand how people can spend that kind of money. It is getting very frustrating.  I think it has to be the worst year ever.

 

[Auburnviewfarms]

Think outside the box. Look around locally not online, buy them green and unbroke. If you dont think your eye is good enough for looking at them in the raw bring some one with. I do agree the prices paid can get way off but everything is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Last year we bought a heifer for $1400 and this heifer did well for us this show season. We calve most our own but like to add a heifer each year. We run a budget also and limit it to $2000 so we need to be creative. Where are you located?

 

[mainecattlemother]

We are located about 80 miles east of Fargo in West Central MN but my daughter attends SDSU and we have done some searching of the Wessington Springs area and plan to go out again this weekend.  It is my daughters last year (actually two of our daughters).  We are looking for a very good Simmi steer or something that would play the part.  She has never made the banner but her sistser has been there several time and actually has Reserve Champ Foundation Simmi heifer last year in the FFA and Open Show and we want our other daughter to go out with a bang.  My daughter is very good at livestock judging so she knows how to pick them.  Probably too good because the ones we have bid on have went absolutely crazy.  We are hoping some steers and heifers at Chad Thompsons will work and go within our price.

 

[Auburnviewfarms]

This may sound silly but my job requires me to be out hitting the back roads selling agricultural seed to farmers. I have found some good ones just standing in feedlots and pastures that the grower is willing to part with for market price. Hit the backroads and drive up driveways where you see cattle. Its not a bullet proof plan but can give you some bonding time with the family. Its amazing what you may find out there. Give these guys a look/call they have some good simmie genetics http://heckselsimmentalfarm.com/index.html . Can always wait till the beef expo there always tends to be a deal or 2 there.

 

[Hodgie76]

My son has been  showing less expensive calves and doing ok. But our county  4-H and FFA show just keeps getting more professional each year. Expensive calves, more fitters than the rules allow, expensive feed , and tons of money spent on equipment and supplies. I know people have the right to spend their money as they please. We also have made many great friends through 4-H showing. Are we teaching the right thing? Is it ok to spend $25,000 to win a $25 trophy? We plan on doing the advanced feeder project (pen of three) next year , less professional. Maybe he can make some money for college!

 

[mainecattlemother]

Hodgie76:  We have been showing calves for many years now and doing okay.  My oldest daughter actually has made the banner several times at state fair.  No that is not what its about but we have a goal of getting my other daughter to the banner in her last year of 4-H.  We also have made many friends and learned so much.  I have seen some calves bring $20,000+ on sales and I think it is ridiculous.  We are actually trying to sell a few show calves next year and yes it would be awesome to have one top the marks like some of these $10,000+ calves but my hopes is to sell some affordable calves to good families that will work with them.  We do feed a little better feed and our feeding Purina Grand 4T-Fyer as we have seen the difference it has done in our cattle but we do have our own corn so it helps cut costs and do feed some supplements. If we are not able to find something within our price with the quality we are looking for we will be showing prospects calves from a group of 15 bred with the best quality genetics so I guess it will be okay it just seems unreal the amount of money people spend for calves, especially for a steer.  A heifer is a little more understandable for future breeding stock but certainly not a steer.

 

[BroncoFan]

I think that we are going to floor half our steers at 2000+ and the other half at 1800. They are a little greener and haven't been on full feed/creep feed as long.

 

[SCF]

I look at it like buying an exspensive boat. If that is what you want to do for intertainment then more power to you.

 

[shortyjock89]

IMO, if you're not out there beating the bushes trying to find a good steer for a decent price, you're doing it wrong.  Waiting for one to come along on an online sale seems a bit lazy to me.  These cattle have been fed, cut, de-horned, clipped, and at least green broke.  That demands a premium over market price, which is the highest it's ever been.  You're looking at spending AT LEAST 3k for just an alright calf doing it this way.

I'm on the other side of this than you, and it's just as unbelievable to me.  If somebody wants to pay me 25k for a heifer, I'm not going to tell them no just so some "hard working" family can buy her for $2500. 

Also, you're either a little late or a little early to be finding the bargains right now.  You either have to be buying them early and beat all the traders to the good ones, or you have to wait as long as you possibly can to see what is left over.  There's nothing wrong with a left over steer.  Bob May, Dave Guyer, Bonham- all of these guys have had their kids showing "left over" steers for years and dominating shows.

Lastly, I know you're just venting and looking for some advice, but it's coming across as a bunch of complaining.  Thousands of families are in your predicament and find a way to make it work.  I know it's frustrating to see the best calves bringing 10, 15, 20k, but that's life.  Work a little harder and look at as many cattle IN PERSON as you possibly can.  That being said, I'm sure than many of us will keep an eye out for some good, inexpensive steers and pass them along if we find any.  Good Luck.

 

[RyanChandler]

I bet there's just as many people who buying a 10k steer puts a strain on as there is people who buy a 10k steer w/ ease.

 

[rtmcc]

With a 550# vaccinated but unweaned steer calf brining $1500 - $1600 right in the sale barn it adds a new factor to the reasonably priced show calves.  There seams to be an incredible amount of just common looking calves in the online sales this fall but that could be just the picture and presentation too.  I'm sure some of them are great in person.
That being said, we all know what it costs to improve our genetics.  And not everyone you AI has a sale calf.  If we can't get a fare amount better price than market price for a halter broke, weened and vaccinated clipped show calf it hardly pencils out compared to just running commercial cows and turning a bull out.
BUt thats why our kids show bred and owned heifers usually.  We're not in that high $$ eal either.

Ron
<cowboy>

 

[CAB]

OFS very good post. IMO too many PPL are so crazy about "winning" that they somehow lose focus on so many of the other things that go along with a project. If you haven't been lucky enough to see the movie, When The Game Stands Tall, try to get out and see it or rent it when available. The lessons can be applied to a large number of things that we do. One great thing to do when starting out in the cattle showing business is learning how to evaluate a group of calves or a single calf's potential. Always pause to ask, what will this calf look like when he's/she's show ring ready. Be realistic about your calf. By that I mean don't be scare to say that, "there is no way that we can get around so & so's calf. There is no shame in saying those kind of things IMO. I don't say that you have to like saying it, but in the long run it will help you do better next time, next year. I really agree with OFS statement that right now the sales are so hot / hyped up that it would be better to wait until the climate cools down a bit. JMO

 

[Shorthorn Newbie]

Hi,  Just an FYI, I am in SE MN and we have a small herd of Shorthorns. We currently have 7 heifer calves of which one is sold and 2 we are keeping. Therefore we do have 4 available that I think are of good quality for show or as brood cows. We are asking 1600 for choice. I don't have the space for all of them so unfortunately will have to take them to the sale barn if not sold by the end of October but would love to see them go somewhere to be shown as their quality is better than just as feeders but gotta do what we gotta do.
  Their sire is out of Saskvalley Pioneer and Homedale Max Rosa. All calves are polled and were born unassisted. Let me know if you might be interested at all. Email: [email protected]
  Thanks much!!

 

[CMANGUS]

Look for smaller local producers that would let you pick from a pen of several heifers.  The ones that may not concentrate on show calves specifically, but there is usually a few that would do well in the show ring.  We have bought 1500-2000.00 heifers and done really well that way.  Unfortunately the market right now says a 600lb calf is worth 1600.00 so finding a steer or heifer for under 2000.00 is next to impossible d/t market.  We try and stay in a budget for steers of 1500-2500 & heifers at or under 4000.00 and have been fairly successful.

 

[mainecattlemother]

Thanks everyone for the comments.  I agree with some of what everyone is saying.  Sale barn prices are great for the commercial producers.  There was actually a group of feeders sold in a Nebraska sale barn for $2.95 lb this weak so I certainly understand the prices.  I also understand that if you cant get a little more for halter broke, clipped, and fed calves than its not worth doing it.  We are actually trying to sell a few ourselves but this past year was not a great year for us.  I know there are some good cattle out in the Wessington Springs area and we are on our second week tommorow of searching the area and have a bid in on one already.  I am hoping that they may be a little cheaper because they have not been worked with much.  I am not afraid of a green calf and certainly not afraid to break one as we have done many just want to find something decent in our price range.  The only thing I do not want is a popper.  We can life with a little short strided if it has good spring of rib and depth of body.  I am hopeful that this weekend we will find what we are looking for.  For a heifer we are looking at about $4,000 and may go $4500 depending on looks and breeding.  We really like the simmi.  For a steer we are thinking about $3,500 and possibly $4000 if real good.  Looking something preferably that would fit the simmi steer class.

 

[Dyer Show cattle]

I have some 1/2 to 3/4 blood simm steers and heifers that are green and in the pasture, no creep. Calves all out my my purbred and 3/4 blood simm bulls out of HC Hummer and Nichols legacy cows. The top calves cows go back to meyer and I have some out of my turn and sunseeker that look really good, I am not going to have the time to mess with them this year. I usually keep most my heifers but I would say almost anything could be bought for 3K or under this year. Located 30 min south of Des Moines IA. I should be weaning them in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[Hodgie76]

Maincattlemother, Thanks for the info on Purina 4T-Fyer. Our feed supplier has added Purina to his line up. We will give it a try. Good luck showing in the future.--- Hodgie76

 

[Pleasant Grove Farms]

Wessington Springs is known as the club calf capital in the nation; might help if you get off the beaten path and find calves west river South Dakota; road less traveled.....

we have always maintained that you can go out into a large herd that is strictly commercial that buys maine bulls like from good producers and runs a good bunch of cows and just by the numbers, you can find a good show steer.  Greg Kroupa sells bulls to commercial guys, so does Miles DeJong; this is what someone made reference to in a previous post, that you can go into a commercial herd and find a really good one for sale barn price; I totally believe this can be done.

 

[shortyjock89]

All I can say is, them's the breaks.  When the public determines the value of the animal, our valuations mean very little unless we're willing to pay more than anyone else for that calf.  Which means that we're either smarter than everyone else, or we just paid too much.  As I've said before, the middle of September is not the time to buy a calf unless you've got very deep pockets or you get extremely lucky. 

One piece of advice, and I cannot overstate the value they've been to me....go to Dunlap, and at least LOOK at what there is to see.  I've never spent a ton of money with Sullivan's, but I've been a consistent customer for almost a decade and always find a good one at a price I can live with.  It's mostly by virtue of them having so many that not all of them can bring 5 figures.  I've bought from their Pasture Sale, Maternal Legends, and No Bull..even some of their spring online sales. Seriously a quality outfit to deal with no matter your price point, and some of my best friends in the business.

 

[Tallcool1]

All I can say is, them's the breaks.  When the public determines the value of the animal, our valuations mean very little unless we're willing to pay more than anyone else for that calf.  Which means that we're either smarter than everyone else, or we just paid too much.  As I've said before, the middle of September is not the time to buy a calf unless you've got very deep pockets or you get extremely lucky. 

One piece of advice, and I cannot overstate the value they've been to me....go to Dunlap, and at least LOOK at what there is to see.  I've never spent a ton of money with Sullivan's, but I've been a consistent customer for almost a decade and always find a good one at a price I can live with.  It's mostly by virtue of them having so many that not all of them can bring 5 figures.  I've bought from their Pasture Sale, Maternal Legends, and No Bull..even some of their spring online sales. Seriously a quality outfit to deal with no matter your price point, and some of my best friends in the business.

I think this is pretty good advice. We are fighting the same thing right now, although we aren't trying real hard yet.

We are just gonna lay low and let all the idiots get it out of their system. We will show whatever is left. Usually they are better steers anyway. The good ones aren't supposed to look like fat steers right now anyway.

I've had a couple producers and traders call wanting us to come look.  I just tell them that unless they have one that's in our price range I will pass...I really don't need the exercise.

I know it's tough to wait it out, but at the end of the day there are WAY more good calves out there than there are good homes.  A club calf is very much a perishable commodity. They will go on sale!!!