When fertilizer prices approached $1,000/ton this spring, many producers realized that this would ultimately cause the price of hay to rise and be cost prohibitive for them, so they proactively started selling animals. Their thought process, which I agree with, is that not only would they not have to feed some of those older, unproductive animals through the winter, but it would also give more grass for the younger, higher producing animals that remained.
Their predictions were accurate and the price of hay is significantly higher, although some on the selling side might argue still not high enough. With all the time, labor, and expense that goes into feeding hay, it is important that we make sure we are using our hay resources wisely and not feeding unprofitable cows during the winter.
So what is an unprofitable cow? Well, depending on your input costs and the price you receive at the sale barn, it might be any cow on your place. Hopefully though, you have done a good job managing costs and have developed a marketing plan that will allow you to get a premium price for your animals. If this is the case, then hopefully most of your animals are at least somewhat profitable. However, there are always those that are less efficient than others, and these can put a drain on your operation.
So what does an inefficient cow look like? Well, the easiest to identify are those that are open or who breed back too slowly. Open beef cows offer no profit potential, only profit reduction. They consume feed, forage, and other resources without producing a marketable calf to contribute to expense payments. Cows that are open at the end of the breeding season should be at the top of the cull list. Cows that breed late and calve outside of a controlled calving season are also potential culls, particularly when feed and forage supplies are running short.
Cows that are poor performers or those that don’t wean high quality calves are also good candidates for culling. Poor calf performance is usually the result of inferior genetics, poor dam milk production, calf illness, or a combination of these factors. Cows passing on inferior genetics to their calves for economically important performance traits and cows with unacceptably low milk production are potential culls. Keeping good records will help you determine which cows produce calves with low weaning weights.
Other factors to consider when culling cows include the animal’s age, health, and disposition. As cows pass 10 years of age, their productivity and market value begin to drop. Consider selling these animals before problems begin. Cows with bad udders, bad eyes, or crippled or bad feet and legs should be sold, as long as they have not reached the “downer” phase. These cows will only go downhill in production, condition, and value. “Wild” cows or those with a poor disposition are dangerous and should be prime candidates for culling.
Brood cows are the greatest consumers of feed in cow-calf operations. A 1,000 pound beef cow will need about 20 to 25 pounds of average or better quality grass hay per head per day during the wintering period. Depending on length (days) of the wintering period, this could amount to 1.5 to 2.0 tons of hay.
With the high cost of producing hay, producers cannot afford to feed animals that won’t breed back and raise good quality calves. Selling these inefficient animals will make more grass available for
the higher performers and shorten the hay feeding window, as well as the amount of hay needed. For more information on this topic, reach out to the University of Tennessee Extension office at 615-735-2900.
