SALE REPORTS

Annual Production Sale

Top Sellers Lot 22 – Rafter Q Growth Fund 2281 – Price: $12,000 DOB: 3/24/22

Sire: Deer Valley Growth Fund Dam’s Sire: Mogck Sure Shot EPDs: BW: +1.8, WW: +77, YW: +136 and Milk: +28 Buyer: Darc Duprel, Vale, S.D. Lot 1 – JSA Cracker- cally have good Mg content. Symptoms and treatment

When grass tetany does occur, symptoms can appear rapidly.

Often, cattle are simply found dead, possibly with evidence of struggle, such as pawed-up ground. It can be easy to mistake for nitrate poisoning or other causes.

If a producer suspects a cow has tetany, it is possible to treat with an intravenous Mg-Ca dextrose solution. This must be done soon after symptoms arise, so it is best to have this on hand for quick use.

If a cow does recover, she will be more likely to develop tetany again, so be sure to move her to better pasture if possible and provide Mg supplement.

Though tough to treat, grass tetany can be relatively straightforward to prevent in a herd by understanding the cause, knowing when and where cattle are most vulnerable and taking the right steps before and during placement on fresh spring pasture.

Those interested can check out University of Wyoming (UW) Extension’s “Grass Tetany: UW Taming Toxic Plants” on YouTube by visiting youtu.be/EsNGNwXvMHs son Three Rivers 8062

Dagan Montgomery is a University of Wyoming Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension educator. He can be reached at dmontgo8@uwyo.edu.

Dam’s Sire: SUA Advance

5547 EPDs: BW: +3.8, WW: +81, YW: +145 and Milk: +24 Buyer: Don

Fish, Oral, S.D. Lot 9 – JSA Resilient 2122 – Price: $10,000

DOB: 3/31/22 Sire: Sitz Resilient 10208 Dam’s

Sire: S A V Prosperity jack 2021 – Price: $11,000

DOB: 2/4/22 Sire: Musgrave Crackerjack Dam’s Sire: Jindra Acclaim

EPDs: BW: +0.4, WW:

+60, YW: +115 and Milk: +30 Buyer: Schelske Angus, Virgil, S.D. Lot 2 – JSA Three Rivers 2082 – Price: $10,500

DOB: 3/27/22 Sire: Elling-

9131 EPDs: BW: +1.8, WW: +69, YW: +122 and Milk: +25 Buyer: Don

Fish, Oral, S.D.

Lot 10 – JSA Resilient 2100 – Price: $9,500

DOB: 3/29/22 Sire: Sitz

Resilient 10208 Dam’s Sire: HA Cowboy Up 5405

EPDs: BW: +1.5, WW: +72, YW: +126 and Milk: +20 Buyer: Don Fish, Oral, S.D.

Quality does not always equal profitability in ranching operations

When the conversation of profitability comes up in ranching circles, many will cite production measures such as calving rates as their markers of profitability when this is not always the case.

According to Dallas Mount, owner of Ranch Management Consultants and the highly regarded Ranching for Profit School, many times the most productive ranches on paper are the least profitable.

Mount notes a lot of ranchers don’t take time to figure out if what they are doing is going to work, and the simplest thing a rancher can do is ask fairly simple questions of their business plan and decide how they will meet objectives.

“Ranchers have to look at their objectives, how to service their overheads and how each cow contributes to paying this overhead,” he says. Profit and quality not related

“There is no relationship between ranch productivity and profitability,”

Mount states. “Some of the least productive ranches are the most profitable because they have the lowest overhead cost. There is not much of a relationship between these two things, but we can explain profitability in other ways.”

Mount notes the most correlated number between cattle and their profitability is the amount of fedfeed per cow. This number will carry the most explanation for a variety in profit between different operations.

“If a person drives to a ranch which runs 1,000 cows but grazes 12 months out of the year, it is going to look a lot different than one running 400 cows but feeding hay for five months out of the year,” he explains.

According to Mount, if an operation is feeding hay four to five months per year, their cattle may be in better condition to express high-quality measures such as calving and pregnancy rates, but often the cost far outweighs any

“When we focus on good grazing and building soil health, we can increase carrying capacity and therefore, profit. Grass is essentially the crop of ranchers and can really help move the needle towards profitability.” – Dallas Mount, Ranch Management Consultants owner

RMC and Ranching for Profit help ranchers become businessmen

Ranching for Profit is a sevenday business management school geared toward farmers and ranchers looking to increase the profitability of their operations.

Ranch Management Consultants (RMC) Owner Dallas Mount notes knowing how to raise crops potential profits.

Another measure Mount notes is worth considering is the overhead cost associated with feeding hay, such as more employees and machinery, which requires maintenance. These costs would not be necessary if the operation found a way to ranch with less hay.

“A more palatable way to word this is not all productive cattle are profitable because there is a threshold for cost,” he says. “But, profitable cattle have a base level of productivity which has to be met.”

Simplicity is key

Mount notes he always encourages producers going through the Ranching for Profit program to look at ways they can simplify their operations and reduce overheads.

“A good way to look at this is how a producer can get as close to running cattle with just themself and a stock trailer,” he says. “If and livestock is a lot different than managing the business side of ranching. Many people are good at getting calves on the ground and doing the hands-on work, but they struggle with applying business principles to their operations.

The mission of Ranching for the operation is requiring three tractors, six pick-ups and all of the other associated overhead and maintenance, it’s a lot harder to be profitable.”

Mount notes hay tends to get picked on a lot in these conversations. However, the costs associated with growing hay can be problematic for profit margins.

“The biggest issue I see is people who are good at raising animals and terrible at farming hay and vice versa,” he says. “This is, of course, not always the case, but ranchers tend to fall into the trap of doing everything and getting involved in too many little side operations.”

With simplicity comes finding a niche in the industry and sticking with it.

With the rise of directto-consumer beef, many producers have made attempts to vertically integrate. Mount notes this can work in some scenarios, but it is often not the best option.

Profit is to empower ag business owners to transform their ranches into successful businesses.

Schools are held across the country, and the program also offers two graduate support programs to ensure graduates can continue their momentum.

“When we look at people’s books, we often find there are a couple things on the ranch moving the needle for the business,” Mount says. “Our first priority is to identify what those things are and figure out how to do more of it.”

“Someone might look at the guy who buys his calves and decide they should retain their calves a little longer. Or, they might see the guy who finishes them out and sells beef directly to consumers and decide they should get into this business as well. Before they know it, they are vertically integrated from conception to consumption, and this isn’t necessarily always a good thing,” he adds.

For example, if a producer is choosing to focus on direct-to-consumer beef, they may want to challenge the idea of owning cattle from birth.

“If we enterprise a ranch and find all of the profit is being made by taking a 900-pound animal and marketing it to a customer, then there isn’t a lot of sense in raising cattle for 18 months to get them to 900 pounds,” he says.

“It would make more sense in this scenario to purchase the 900 pounders and finish them out. Producers need to stop trying to be everything to everybody.”

One aspect many producers tend to lay to the wayside is the art of good grazing.

“When we focus on good grazing and building soil health, we can increase carrying capacity and therefore, profit,” he says.

“Grass is essentially the crop of ranchers and can really help move the needle towards profitability.”

Callie Hanson is a corresponding writer for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.