Retaining ownership in the feedyard

What is Retained Ownership?

By Klaire Howerton

Retaining ownership has pros and cons

FORT SMITH STOCKYARDS F O R T S M I T H Serving Arkansas & Oklahoma OWNERS Sam Chandler • 918-696-6029 Scottie Smith • 918-696-0793 FIELD REPRESENTATIVES Carl Quinton • 479-856-5500 Budge Herbert • 918-658-4781 Dax Tyler • 479-461-3678 S T O C K Y A R D S Sale Every Monday On Farm appraisals • Early drop off pens with 50 grass traps, water, and plenty of shade • Hauling available • Convenient Location • Family Owned & Operated US Hwy 64 Moffet, Okla. Barn 918-875-3131

Retained ownership isn’t always easily defined, but generally retained ownership is when a producer holds on to all or any portion of their cattle through to slaughter.

This can be anywhere from 25 to 100 percent of ownership rights, explained Andy McCorkill, livestock field specialist with the University of Missouri Extension.

If a producer chooses to retain ownership of their calves, they generally have two options – feed the calves out at home or partner with a feedlot.

Feeding the calves out on the farm has some pros. This strategy can add some value and purpose to excessive feedstuffs that may be produced on the farm (hay, grains, etc.), and will give the producer the chance to observe their genetic development firsthand. This option might also save some costs as the producer is essentially cutting out the middleman. On the cons side, the producer may not be as effective at developing a ration as feedlot nutrition specialists are, and if only a small pen of cattle are being retained, it can be difficult to attract a buyer when the producer is ready to sell.

Partnering with a feedlot can improve efficiency. Typically, there is a specialist on hand to formulate the appropriate rations. Retaining ownership through a feedlot partnership also gives the producer access to more buyers and can help keep feed costs low. By pooling calves from multiple farms, efficient sized pens of steers and heifers can be fed in a cost-effective manner.

Commercial feedlots can combine cattle from different owners in the same pen and can equally divide the feed bill according to the animal’s size and average daily gain using the net energy system.

Retaining ownership through the feedlot can also help producers gather precise individual data to help make future genetic decisions. Some feedlots have scales under their working chutes and can record individual weights when cattle are worked, and the organizations can also work with the packer and the National Cattlemen’s Association to gather individual

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McCorkill explained that typically the pro with loader ducer must have no less than 50 percent of ownership rights to have access to this data. Some producers in the Ozarks do not have • 14' trailer with ramp • 4' brush hog enough animals to consider retained own• 4' box blade ership through a feedlot, but if a producer would like to obtain carcass quality and feed efficiency data to help them make sustainable management decisions for future breeding and $ 17,469 00 marketing, McCorkill suggested researching the Missouri Steer Feedout Program. ParticiMIDWEST EQUIPMENT pants can pool as few as five head with other producers’ cattle to make a large enough group Sales Service & Parts to send to the feedlot for data collection. Each operation will vary, even from year Bentonville, AR Green Forest, AR Harrison, AR to year, and retaining ownership might be a 1400 W. I Street 1000 W. Main Street 505 E. Stephenson viable strategy one season but not the next. Keeping careful records and keeping commu479-367-2180 870-438-4328 870-743-1110 nication open between business partners and Call today for a no-obligation demonstration buyers will help a producer make sustainable at your home! Financing Available! decisions when it comes to retaining ownership. Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com 19