Improved Marketing Channels

[Cattleman]

I have been thinking lately how I can cut some costs or add some value to my calf crop in my marketing system. The auction market is quite expensive given all the commisions and check-offs, as well as the inefficiency it adds by putting a lot of additional stress on calves. Selling direct to a feedlot or retained ownership looks more enticing. Not sure how hard this is to negotiate on though. I also wonder if I was to offer a liner load of very consistent calves directly to a feedlot if I could even save costs and get a premium for these desired calves. I would also hope this system would give me more information regarding my cattle to see how well they really preform for the feedlots. I also think that to deal directly with feedlots I would have to deliver larger calves and look at backgrouding my calves. To me backgrounding is just another level of unneeded beurocracy in the cattle feeding industry.

[jensend]

will depend on what the feedlot is looking for. You wouldn't need to background your calves if they were going into a feeder lot vs a finishing lot.
I would suggest that you develop a list of good contacts in feedlots fairly close to where you live, that way they can look at your calves on the farm and make you an offer before you worry about liners etc.
We used to sell directly to a feedlot every fall before we went into purebred cattle. It did save the commission, but trucking can be expensive if you decide to sell your calves any distance from home.
A neighbour has a backgrounder lot, and does custom feeding. He is new in this area, so folks were a bit reluctant to go with the custom feeding option until they saw what kind of operation he ran. He seems to know what he's doing, and this year his lot is full, half owned calves and have custom fed ones. He retains ownership of his own calves through to slaughter. Sends them to a lot around Strathmore for finsishing.
He has a cowherd of approx. 750 cows and feels that what he makes custom feeding for other people will go a long way toward the feed bill for backgrounding his own calves.
Lots of work but he has two sons involved in the operation.

[rkaiser]

Hey Cattleman, if you could get your head around dealing with a breed of cattle that are not exactly mainstream, we could get you into our verticle market where you not only feed your cattle at a fixed cost, but you recieve a set price for those cattle when harvested. All you need to do is buy our bulls.
We feed at Strathmore, and supply product to a growing number of specialty meat markets and high end restaurants in Calgary.
The breed thing is all part of the story that customers like to hear, and Chefs like to tell."Branded, traceable Welsh Black and Galloway beef.
Personally I don't believe our beef is much better than the rest, but I do believe the cattle are just as good as any breed.

[rkaiser]

all in the marketing Randy. Beef is beef is beef but if a person thinks that ANGUS beef or Hereford beef etc. is the best because they have read it somewhere or seen it in an ad, they will ask for it when they are in a higher end restaurant.

[wd40]

An old boy told me years ago "Take the hide off their all the same color".

Another old boy told me "the longer you hang onto the cows tail, the better she is to you.

Research that I've collected shows that in 12 out of 15 years you'll make more money keeping your calves to finish.

I'd suggest that you take some digital pictures of the calves and the cows and the bulls, go into the Picture Butte area and knock on some doors spend a day or two getting to know some of the feeders. There are some good feeders there.

If you want I'd point you in the right direction.

[cswilson]

Tell them you'll sell them with a 300 mile haul and a 5 percent shrink off truck-most feedlots aren't willing to pay for genetics yet but if they think they can hook you on the shrink-watch out then. I used to order buy and that seemed to be all that mattered to most of them. You'll find out if you sell on a quality grid just how much difference in value from the top to bottom on a set of calves.

[cswilson]

Randy e-mail me the particulars of your deal-braevallivestock@msn.com

[Cattleman]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I see 2 general options, improving the traditional system, or creating new opportunities such as Randy. I guess I was sort of throwing this one out there to get some thoughts about where you feel industry is going. (maybe the large more progressive players) Is the supply chain going to allow auction marts and all the middle men continue to take some value out of hte supply chain as well as stress cattle, or will we start to see more producers skip these middle men. For the traditional large scale production systems that deal with volume (often export markets) how are they going to make beef production more efficient. We always try to improve production, but how about marketing and information flows.

[intr3est]

Is there not some type of "producer" internet auction that is about, or could be set up, for producers wishing to sell their calves? this could be set to make the feedlots/packers pay for their membership to view the calves. Just an idea

[intr3est]

Just thinking, maybe I should have kept that patentable idea to myself. "SELF" quit those verbal scours!