Barley

[furrowtickler]

It’s shocking how many options are out there now and how some companies don’t seem to realize that.

We counted terminals within 1.5 hours of here and easily made it past 15 without including specialty ones like Canada Malts. Too long companies were taking advantage of the convenience factor of being a 15 minute drive away. Now they’re being left behind as grain can be hauled quicker on a 3 hour round trip for a better price than a 15 minute drive and 4 hour line up for a lower price.

Trucking companies may be the real benefiters of this situation though.

Very much the situation here
Sooner or later the local elevators here will run out of the easy pickings and have to actually buy.

[Guest]

If barley goes too high they'll just switch to wheat or buy in corn from the States, whichever is cheaper.

Can you bypass barley altogether for cattle ?
I know nothing about cattle

[woodland]

Margins must be thin on finishing front, cattle producers how much higher before break even is eroded.

Crazy here wheat easing and barley surging

Margins are nil or negative in cattle currently. Right now our yearlings are worth $300+ less than a year ago. Not in a hurry to move them.

[woodland]

70 what?

1.5 tonnes of barley is average to get a steer finished.

Depends.......
Are we talking a 700 pounder going on feed today or a 1100 pound yearling?

[woodland]

Can you bypass barley altogether for cattle ?
I know nothing about cattle

Corn and wheat are going up too. Cattle can eat pretty much anything just can’t switch their diet around a whole bunch while finishing.

[Blaithin]

Depends.......
Are we talking a 700 pounder going on feed today or a 1100 pound yearling?

The average amount of an animal going into the feedlot, from its initial ration, built up over a month to its finishing ration, fed until it’s ready for slaughter, is 1.5 tonne.

For them to get that average it can be assumed they included yearlings coming off grass as well as high risk calves coming off cows.

Each feedlot is even going to be different as some feed DDGs which lowers grain amounts. Some may eat 1 tonne, some may eat 2. Some even more, some even less. Averages are only average.

[Blaithin]

Can you bypass barley altogether for cattle ?
I know nothing about cattle

Absolutely. Finish them on grass, wheat, corn, peas, oats... whatever strikes your fancy. Nothing says you have to feed them barley. That’s just the cheaper grain option here that’s easy to fit into rations and has a consistent supply.

Go to the eastern states and it’s corn finished because that’s what’s available in that area.

Go near crush plants or biofuel and a large portion of their ration can easily be meals or DDGs.

[wmoebis]

At least now we have a choice and can act on that choice 👍.
Having no choice is a far far worse situation and was .

I was referring to Furrow saying big guys had deals made and HRSW in area was stagnant and price was .50 lower than anywhere else. Didn't sound to me like there is a choice unless you want to take bottom $. That is all.

[Jay-mo]

If barley goes too high they'll just switch to wheat or buy in corn from the States, whichever is cheaper.

Corn crop is not great down south either. Gonna be a run on wheat and corn.

[furrowtickler]

Corn crop is not great down south either. Gonna be a run on wheat and corn.

It started in CPSR already a few weeks ago

[Blaithin]

It started in CPSR already a few weeks ago

Low pro seems to be in demand right now. Not sure it’s the feed market.

[burnt]

How much barley is required on average to finish a feeder?

Small sample size - I fed 6 steers on straight, ground barley this summer for freezer orders.

Had purchase weights in and out on them and the first 2 that we placed were butchered 2 weeks ago. Kept track of all feed and supplement.

The first 2 came in on May 14 and went to slaughter on October 14. Over those 5 months, they gained 2.78 lbs/day on a feed conversion of 7:1.

With our barley priced at $225/t, the feed and supp worked out to about $330.00/hd.

They received about 2 pounds of long, dry hay every day for rumen tickle, no bedding to speak of, so minimal, controlled roughage.

These steers were purchased as finished, cornfed Holstein veal at 730 lbs, fed to 1176, unshrunk weight. The hot dressed yield worked out to 54%.

We charge $4.25 lb/HDW and those rascals made a lot of money.

I switched them over to barley on arrival over a 1 week period with free-choice roughage for that time.

Here's a very positive part of our barley-fed "trial" the reports back from our customers are all positive - one saying that it's the best steak they ever had.

We got a few packages of ground beef from our son who got a quarter from us - it was the juiciest and most flavorful hamburger we have ever had. And I've had a few over the past 6+ decades.

So there's a rather lengthy reply to a simple question about how much barley it takes to finish a steer...

[burnt]

If anyone is wondering why the heck we would start off with a finished corn-fed Holstein veal, it's because they are the cheapest thing to buy and feed right now.

They cost about $115/lb at the time we bought them, while buying a beef stocker at that time and weight would have cost double that.

So the slightly lower yield and poorer feed conversion was easily made up for by the purchase price differential.

The limiting factor is the total amount of days on feed since they will/may develop liver abscesses if fed a straight grain diet too much longer than 200 days.

[Blaithin]

If anyone is wondering why the heck we would start off with a finished corn-fed veal, it's because they are the cheapest thing to buy and feed right now.

They cost about $115/lb at the time we bought them, while buying a beef stocker at that time and weight would have cost double that.

So the slightly lower yield and poorer feed conversion was easily made up for by the purchase price differential.

The limiting factor is the total amount of days on feed since they will/may develop liver abscesses if fed a straight grain diet too much longer than 200 days.

Get an ionophore. Tub, mineral mix or powder. Will improve their conversion and help limit liver abscesses.

Bovatec or Rumensin.

[burnt]

Get an ionophore. Tub, mineral mix or powder. Will improve their conversion and help limit liver abscesses.

Bovatec or Rumensin.

Rumensin in the supplement. Also free choice sodium bicarb in the trough. And beef mineral also.

We have a young vet who comes here for the odd call or herd health - he looks at what I'm doing and despairs - "These are ruminants you're feeding. They are just not meant to be fed that way!" - meaning the long days on a complete grain diet.

But the last time he was out, he didn't lecture me, LOL!

When you see a steer standing around covered in sweat on a cool day, you know he's growing - fast!