As I pointed out last Saturday in the Cow Cow Ranch Happening post on July 30, 2016, it’s cheaper to buy hay than to make it this year. I had figured that out back in April, when I was spending 8-12 hours a day just on the west field at Winchester’s. “If we didn’t need the pasture, we’d buy hay!”… Read more »
So we got dinged. One calf–a fullblood–was super-small, expected out of a first calf heifer that was bred for extra-extra calving ease for her first calf, the bull she was bred to shrinks everything. Because the super-small calf came in with the other calves–which in past years have topped the sale–the buyers made the connection and we wound up getting $1.50/lb ($150… Read more »
There has been much ado over frame scores over the last few years. Lots of opinions over what a proper frame score is for a cow. However, it needs to be noted that giving the frame score is not complete information. It’s not the whole story. And comparing cows based on frame score alone is not comparing apples to apples…. Read more »
Still on cow size. It’s a big deal when speaking of profitability and sustainability. It is also a highly debated topic. I always find it interesting that sometimes when I’m thinking of a certain topic that I want to do a post on and share information about, information starts just landing in my lap that reinforces information or brings up… Read more »
With all the posts I’ve done on cow size, I wanted to address the individual performance vs. per acre calculations. For the past few decades–maybe longer, since the 50s?–individual animal performance has been the basis for how to calculate and determine profit, loss, success, or failure. This resulted in dismal failures! This is not the correct way to measure… Read more »
“We wean off 600-pound calves.” It is said with pride, listeners should be impressed. Or should they? Weaning 600-pounds can be impressive, but it is commonly mistaken as a measure for success. An operation that weans off 600-pound calves is presumed to be better than an operation that weans off 500-pound calves. 600-pound calves bring in more total money, right?… Read more »
