HERD HEALTH CHECK

WHEN DROUGHT PERSISTS SHOULD YOU FEED THEM OR SELL? AND WHEN?

by Josh Davy, Ph.D., Jeff Stackhouse, Ph.D., and Larry Forero, Ph.D., farm and natural resource advisors; and Jim Oltjen; Ph.D., beef specialist, University of California Cooperative Extension

Many ranches have a general plan that can be implemented when drought occurs. In the last two years some of these plans have not been an option. Rice straw and other low-cost feed supplements become unavailable or cost prohibitive as drought continues, and growing forage is a lost option. The severe drought decision always boils down to: “Feed them or sell them?” Feeding cows preserves the genetic base and maintains body condition score (BCS), but can you afford to keep them? Any cattle kept must be fed amply to maintain body condition, as this is the most important factor in reproductive success (Figure 1). To put this in perspective remember that reproductive success is 10 times more economically important than carcass quality and 5 times more important than growth.

Figure 1 clearly demonstrates the importance of body condition score needing to be maintained at the level of five to ensure reproductive success. Photo guides designed to determine BCS, although attempting to be helpful, can be hard to interpret and lead to confusion. The easiest way to check for adequate body condition is to look at the ribs. If the two back ribs are exposed, lacking cover, that cow falls into the bottom of a BCS of 5 and measures need to be considered to maintain that weight. If more than the last two ribs are visible, conception losses are likely.

The next step is to assess what feeds are available, what the costs of those feeds are, and what logistics are required to get that feed to the cows (troughs, storage, and delivery to feed grain, etc.). Assuming that the form of feed and logistics are not a problem, they can be plugged into ration calculators to formulate a balanced diet at the least cost. Current commodity prices were accessed and least cost rations were calculated in a ration balancing program for both a dry and lactating cow. These figures are only valid for the day they are calculated but do provide some kind of current context. The lactating cow ration cost $8.55 a day to maintain her current weight. The dry cow ration cost $2.61 a day, again just for a maintenance ration.

A calf on a lactating cow will gain roughly 2 lbs./ day. Even at a value exceeding $2/lb. the cost to feed a lactating cow is difficult to justify. Additionally, in the current market, 400 lb. steers are bringing $800950/ea. (less commission, yardage, freight, etc). The first logical step is to send the calves, but when does it make the most sense to ship them off the cow?

The question is, does it pay to keep the calf on the cull cows to capture that $2/lb. calf gain while losing a few pounds off the cull cow at a $0.70 to $1.05/lbs. cull cow price? Be mindful, however, the biggest trick to this question is what feed the cull cows will be on, at what cost, and how much weight they will lose; all left out of this hypothetical math. When applying the math, figuring it out in the context of local feed/forage sources is critical.

For the sake of this exercise, consider this hypothetical example: Low yield culls and high yield culls were separated into two groups. These two groups are normally separated in price received, with the higher yielding (fatter) cows receiving a higher price. The low yield cows were figured to be a Body condition score (BCS) of 3 and 4 and the high yielding cow was considered a BCS of 5. Each BCS

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FIGURE 1. Cow body condition scores and correlated pregnancy rates FIGURE 2. Gross per head received for cull cows at varying body condition scores using average categorical prices

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score change is generally a 100 lb. weight difference. For the sake of this exercise, consider the cow at a a BCS of 5 to be 1400 lbs. in weight and subtract 100 lbs from each score below a 5. Price was figured as the average price of each high and low yielding cows at the Orland Livestock Commission Yard from July 15 to Aug. 4.

Figure 2 aligns cow weight (based on BCS3, BCS4 and BCS5) with the associated gross sale receipt of each animal in their respective weight category and price received. Note the significant value difference between cull cows at variable weights and BCS (or yield).

The next step is to consider the combined income associated with the sale of the weaned calf added to the market value of the cull cow. Figure 4 shows the TOTAL value of the split pair based upon the weaning weight of the calf and the body condition score of the cow.

The take-home message is that overall income from sales decreases with the loss of cull cow weight. That is, her total value as a high yielding cull is greater than the gains seen by her calf when feed is limited and too costly to purchase. With the current market, if the cow even slightly starts to lose weight, it’s time to sell.

One other option is to ship calves and then hold the low yielding cows until they have gained 100 lbs., which would make them high yielding cull cows (BCS4-5). If these cows were held for 60 days they would need to gain 1.7 lbs./day to reach this mark. As stated earlier, the dry cow at maintenance cost $2.61 a day to feed a least-cost ration. The ration cost at maintenance (less expensive than would be necessary) is already higher than any weight gains would yield in return. The only way for this to work would be to have low cost, or already paid for, pasture that had enough quality forage to result in 1.7 lb./day gain. Again, it is just too expensive to feed even dry cull cows.

There are a multitude of reasons to want to retain ownership of your current cows. These include genetics, cattle that know and match the ranch, disease resistance and even an understanding of how the corrals flow. In the current market, the value of the cow should not be a reason to delay culling. Although markets may fluctuate between years, the math of decision making stays the same, thus this information could be useful in the future even with a different cattle market. If you decide to cull many cows this year, be sure to reach out to your tax accountant early, and pay close attention to appropriate IRS code sections.

FIGURE 3. The per head value of a steer calf based upon its weight and average market prices

FIGURE 4. Total value of the split pair based upon the weaning weight of the calf and the body condition score of the cow