20 month cattle?

[grassfarmer]

cswilson, I think the bulk of my cattle are headed the same route as yours this year - the natural program at Highland, apart from keeping enough to supply our retailing operation of grass finished. Were these cattle really going to Europe last year or is there a high price outlet in N.America that is buying hormone free?

[cswilson]

Not sure where they sold them last year but we got about a $10 cwt live premium for ones we sold last fall. RP I don't get what you mean lol.

[cswilson]

cswilson. You said, "all I'm out is cost of tag"
I realise that you were probably talking about the eartag.
I twisted it around to shit tag on the steers hide.
It used to be one of many excuses that buyers could use to bid down a good haired Galloway or Welsh or Highland calf.
Sorry cs, just saw an opportunity to have some fun.

[cowman]

Different management practices can make a world of difference! But I suppose most people gravitate to what works for them? Maybe works into their system more than what might be considered the"optimum system of the week"?
So you have the farmer calving in Feb/March so he isn't messing with a bunch of calving cows when it's time to be planting the crop? Nothing more frustrating than having to shut down the seed drill, to help some heifer?
Perhaps that farmer isn't all that keen on spending his winter feeding a bunch of calves either? This is where that big early born exotic cross calf is nice? He weighs up there and he brings a good price...enough to make a good profit on(pre-BSE!)? By November he's gone and is someone elses problem?
Unfortunately this type of system usually requires you to keep the heifers...unless you like getting screwed by the feedlots...as well as the tail enders! Feed them tough and sell them into a hot spring grass market and you will make some money! It is amazing how a heifer loses a good portion of that discount after the winter? I haven't sold a heifer off the cow for years and I've always made money....well maybe not this year!

[cowman]

Oh and grassfarmer: I kept my heifers and bred anything I thought might make a cow(dumb thing to do, but I rolled the dice) I would suspect they are averaging in that 1100 lb. range and have never seen grain in their life. The rest are probably sneaking up into that 950 range and were fed hard last winter-grass hay and straw-I doubt they gained much of anything over the winter(and didn't cost a lot to keep).
These are all cross bred cattle with a makeup of about 65% British(Red Angus/hereford) and 35% exotic(Sim/Char). Heifers bred red Angus.

[cswilson]

RP had a brain fart there lol-I had a buddy had some white galloway heifers out on grass with some Chars about a month or so before he shipped his kids sorted them off and clipped them-they sold right in the package-talk about a laugh.

[cswilson]

We used to do that a bit too cs, before we decided to avoid the scapegoat syndrome.
Shave the head, and blow some gaurds off with a propane torch, wait a month, and presto..... damn good Angus calves.