What should I pay farmer to house, feed and care for 25 cows?

[mahone82]

Hello, I am new to this forum and hope someone can help me with this issue.

My brother in law and nephews have a farm with brood cattle, and feeders to live cattle.

In April, I found 25 feeder cows ranging from 300 to 750 lbs. I thought it would be a good investment to buy them and house them at my brother - in - laws farm. They agreed and we loosely talked about the charge for feeding and finishing these cattle,

It's time to take some to market and I'll need to pay for there feeding and care.

What would be a good way to figure out what I should pay for care and feeding? We discussed the difference of the live cow when it was bought to the hanging weight to determine the number of pounds gained for any I want to consume.

Otherwise it would be current live weight - initial weight = lbs. gained
Any ideas on what I should pay for the gain? per pound or % of total price I get at market? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

[Allen W]

Half the value of the gain.

[idigbeets]

Nobody kept track of how much grain and hay went to your cows and how much time was spent feeding, hauling manure etc?

Then I'd pay him 1/2 of their gain, valued at the current market/auction prices on the hoof.

[francismilker]

To be fair contact a feedlot that does contract finishing and ask how much they charge per pound of weight gain.

Family deals don't always go smoothly when it comes to these sorts of things.

Or, alternatively you could split your profits with him. He done the work and you spent the money. Everybody's happy in the end.

[msscamp]

Originally Posted by mahone82

Otherwise it would be current live weight - initial weight = lbs. gained
Any ideas on what I should pay for the gain? per pound or % of total price I get at market? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

It's not that simple unless your cattle have simply been turned out on pasture and allowed to graze with no other feed provided. Even then your brother in law has spent time checking and probably doctoring your cattle. 10 years ago the cost for custom feeding was $1.00 per day, per animal. Given the fact that feed costs have risen, as have fuel costs, I would guess that the cost to have someone take care of your animals would be closer to $1.50, maybe even $2.00 per day, per animal. Feeding out for slaughter would probably raise that cost to $2.50, possibly even $3.00. We run a horse boarding business and, when we feed on a daily basis for the owner, the owner pays anywhere from $50.00 to $75.00(depending on whether it's an open pen or a run with a stall) per horse, per month, the cost of hay($80.00 per 800 lb bale), $2.00 per day per horse for feeding twice a day, $5.00 per bag of bedding for the stall, and $10.00 per week for cleaning the run/stall. If the horse is in an open pen, the bedding/cleaning charges don't apply. If they want the horse(s) to receive grain, they either supply it, or pay for the grain.

[opportunity]

I would charge $2-2.5 a day if feeding them hay. If they are on pasture for the summer the charge is $25-30 a month. I spent a bit to have mine watched this summer on a pasture since I was pregnant on bed rest. Worth every penny.

[Jennifer L.]

Last I knew, boarding Holstein heifers here runs about $1.75 to $2.00 per day. It's not so much the cost of the feed (unless it's grain) as it is the labor. Since it's family I wouldn't try to be too "sharp" with them. I'd say a minimum of $250 per cow for the summer. If you did the work, just using them as a place to keep them, then probably less than that.

Ask them what they expect. Say you want to be fair about it.

[Lazy J]

If your cattle were placed in a commercial feed lot you would be charged at least the following:

Daily yardage fee per head
Feed costs for feeds fed to your cattle
Vaccinations and Medicines
Chute fee for everything the calf went through the chute for treatment
Implant fee

The commercial feed lots charge for everything done to your cattle when they feed them for you.

It seems to me the easiest way for you to calculate the cost of feeding is to account for every pound of feed fed to the entire group of cattle then determine how much was consumed by each calf. That would give you the average feed consumption, then you can calculate the cost of that feed.

Then I would add a yardage fee to that to pay your family for their time, facilities, and management they invested in your cattle.

Jim

[wr]

Originally Posted by mahone82

Hello, I am new to this forum and hope someone can help me with this issue.

My brother in law and nephews have a farm with brood cattle, and feeders to live cattle.

In April, I found 25 feeder cows ranging from 300 to 750 lbs. I thought it would be a good investment to buy them and house them at my brother - in - laws farm. They agreed and we loosely talked about the charge for feeding and finishing these cattle,

It's time to take some to market and I'll need to pay for there feeding and care.

What would be a good way to figure out what I should pay for care and feeding? We discussed the difference of the live cow when it was bought to the hanging weight to determine the number of pounds gained for any I want to consume.

Otherwise it would be current live weight - initial weight = lbs. gained
Any ideas on what I should pay for the gain? per pound or % of total price I get at market? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

I think you're going to have a problem because of the open ended agreement but ideally, you could pay for rate of gain but it's live weight not carcass weight. Someone closer to you might have a better idea as to what backgrounders charge because I'm not close enough to offer a ballpark figure.