MARKETING

Marketing generally ranks near the bottom of the priority list when we discuss the seven areas of the Total Beef Herd Health Program. This area of focus was not even on our original list of six back in 1991, but frequent questions from our members prompted me to add it to our list. If your feeder calf marketing plan is centered around the day the kids are home from school and the neighbor’s truck and trailer is free, that’s not much of a plan. If you go to all the trouble of producing healthy calves that will grow efficiently and produce a superior carcass, you need to get a value added price for the calves. We have financial data on one herd for the past nine years and his added revenue for preconditioning his calves (better health, improved genetics and nutrition) and marketing these calves as such is over $75,000. This additional profit of $85/calf/year has made a huge impact on the success of this herd.

Other clients market replacement heifers for other herds. The largest profit is realized when selling bred heifers or young, pregnant cows but others receive a premium for their open replacement quality heifer calves.

Look for opportunities in your area and explore the cost-benefit of these options. If you have a state sponsored feedout program, that is an excellent way to know what your calves do after they leave your farm. Do your calves stay healthy? Is their growth rate acceptable? Do they produce a choice, yield grade 1 or 2 carcass? What is their performance and profitability compared to calves from other herds? We have a program here in Indiana (IBEEF) and it has been a tremendously successful program for our producers. (http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/ibeef). There are programs in many states across the U.S. Check with your state cattlemen’s association to see if a similar program exists in your area.