Pricing Heifers

mesa123 · #1 05/31/10, 02:44 PM

We're considering buying four Angus heifer yearlings, unregistered. Thinking we might buy the four, sell one or two in the fall to get some money back and breed the others late next spring or early summer. They are about 400 lbs each right now and the quality of our pasture and hay field this year means we'll be able to keep costs pretty low this summer and fall.

So, how do you find the current market price for cattle? I've tried in vain to find this info on the Internet.

tinknal · #2 05/31/10, 02:48 PM

If they are 400 pounds they are either lowlines, starving to death, or not yearlings.

tinknal · #3 05/31/10, 02:54 PM

Right now 400 lb feeder heifers are going for about $120 cwt. If the weight estimate is accurate that would put them about $480. each.

ksfarmer · #4 05/31/10, 04:54 PM

Tinknal is right on. In my area 400 lb heiffers are bringing from $120 to $125 per hundred lbs. Tinknal is also correct in that yearlings should weigh considerable more than 400 lbs. Weaning age 6 or 7 month heiffers should weigh around the 400 lb figure if in decent condition.

RosewoodfarmVA · #5 05/31/10, 05:42 PM

Look on craigslist. You don't mention location but around here (Raleigh/Durham cl) you'll often see year old calves or feeder calves in the 300-450lb range for less than a dollar a lb, often 400lb calves are $300-350.

mesa123 · #6 05/31/10, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

If they are 400 pounds they are either lowlines, starving to death, or not yearlings.

I think their condition is pretty fair. I must either be mistaken about their weight or their age. Its possible they are weanlings then instead of yearlings.

Here is a picture I took yesterday. Its not the best, but maybe it'll help.

Pricing Heifers - Cattle

mesa123 · #7 05/31/10, 09:01 PM

I'm in Ohio. Craigslist's prices are kinda crazy. Listings from $1 - $525.00. I was hoping there would be some sort of stock market-type daily listing of prices for cattle sold each day.

agmantoo · #8 05/31/10, 09:10 PM

If I owned the heifer in the center of the pic I would expect not less than $400 for her.

ksfarmer · #9 05/31/10, 09:22 PM

If you go to : http://www.hpj.com/journal/markets/index_markets.cfm, scroll down past the grain markets and you will find several regional cattle markets and prices received. , Those heiffers are a little thin but not bad and I would guess their weight at more than 400. (although I am notoriously bad at guessing weights). They also look older than weanlings, maybe short yearlings. I agree with agmantoo, if I was buying them I would expect to pay more than $400

RosewoodfarmVA · #10 05/31/10, 09:35 PM

Those are good looking calves. They would be worth atleast $400 each. Another thing to consider though is buying bred cows. We purchased a number of bred black angus cows last year at $600 each, most calved within 2-3 months, almost replacing the purchase price of the cows, if we were to sell all the calves this year. I would certainly recommend you consider this, as with the calves you are waiting 2 years before any calves will be born, with bred cows the initial cost may be higher but you will get one extra calf, maybe 2, in those 2 years, so your end result will be worth more for your investment.

tinknal · #11 06/01/10, 06:46 AM

Those are nice looking girls. Hard to tell size without a reference of scale, but they look bigger than 400 lbs. 600 pounders (Which would be my guess on these) are going from 105 to 116 per cwt.

mesa123 · #12 06/01/10, 09:34 AM

UPDATE:

These girls were born in the fall of 2009...does that make them weanlings or short-yearlings? The terminology has me a little stumped.

Farmer says the weigh about 480.

He wants $0.90/lb for them...so $432.00/each. From what you all have said, that seems like the right range.

He says they'll be ready to breed this fall. Is it safe to breed a heifer at that age? I'm not sure I want to time my calving that way...but it is an option.

ksfarmer · #13 06/01/10, 11:40 AM

The price sounds good although I'm not familiar with your area. I still think they are a little light for their age, but you can put on the pounds cheaper than buying it. As for breeding, I like to have them a little older than yearling. I aim for a heifer to calve at 24 to 26 months old, thus being bred at 16 months old or so.. Breeding too young will risk calving problems and cause them to be undersized as cows. Your original intent was to sell a couple this fall and breed the others next spring. I like that idea better.

mesa123 · #14 06/01/10, 12:08 PM

OK, thanks everyone for your advice!

Everything I've been reading has been on the same lines...your heifer should be around 24 months old when calving. I think I'm going to stick to my original intention and wait till next year to breed.

That'll give me plenty of time to decide which I want to keep around for breeding and which ones I want to part with.

dpaynter · #15 06/08/10, 07:04 AM

For future reference here are current prices in Ohio

http://www.farmanddairy.com/markets/ohio. They also list West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

mesa123 · #16 06/08/10, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpaynter

for future reference here are current prices in ohio

http://www.farmanddairy.com/markets/ohio. They also list west virginia, pennsylvania and new york.

Thank you dpaynter!!!!!!!

dpaynter · #17 06/08/10, 09:28 AM

Its a excellent weekly paper and covers the whole state of Ohio and beyond. Right now they have a try it for free 4 week special. I don't work for the paper but have subscribed to it in the past and just signed up for the 4 free weeks. I plan on buying it again once my 4 weeks are up. Its thick enough it takes me almost all week to read it.