By Burt Rutherford Contributing Editor
According to a CattleFax survey, high-return cow-calf producers averaged around $400 more per head in calf value than low-return producers last year.
What’s their secret? Well, there isn’t one. High-return producers achieve that status because they work at it.
During a CattleFax webinar, market analyst Matt McQuagge broke down the results of the organization’s Cow-Calf Survey. The survey results came from just fewer than 1,000 respondents with an average herd sizer of 385 head.
Last year, beef producers saw a $50 increase in cash cow costs at $753 per head, jumping from $723 per head average in 2023. The Southeast saw the biggest increase, he said. “However, at $691 it’s still the lowest cash cow cost across the nation. That comes back to the increased forage availability and supply at a lower cost,” McQuagge said.
The Northern Plains stayed steady in cow cash costs, but remained the most expensive region, he added.
“Unpaid labor and management came in at $147 per head [national average] and depreciation costs were reported at $134 per head. So, if you add those up, that totals just over $1,000 per head for cow costs.”
Looking at the difference between high-return and low-return producers tells another tale, however. High-return producers had an average cash cow cost of slightly more than $600 per head. Average calf value came in at $1,800 per head and average profit adjusted for percent calf crop weaned was $1,100 per head.
In contrast, low-return producers had an average cash cow cost of almost $900 per head, average calf value of $1,400 per head and average profit adjusted for weaned calf crop percentage of $400 per head. These figures for both groups exclude non-cash expenses such as labor and depreciation as well as excluding revenue from cull cows and bulls.
Calving Season Is Key
One of the survey data points that jumped out to McQuagge is that 50 percent of high-return producers calve in 45 days. However, 34 percent have a 60-day calving season, 12 percent have a 90-day calving season and 4 percent have a calving season of more than 90 days.
Conversely, 42 percent of low-return producers have a 45-day calving window, 31 percent calve in 60 days, 18 percent calve in 90 days and 7 percent calve in more than 90 days.
Producers who calve in 45 days had an average 2024 weaning weight of 553 pounds. Those who calve in 60 days weaned an average of 539 pounds, a 90-day calving window produced a 519-pound average weaning weight and a 90-plus-day calving season resulted in a 500-pound average weaning weight.
“One of the reasons we talk about this is it’s a strong measure of efficiency, in that it creates further opportunities within the management of that herd to add value,” McQuagge said. “When you have more calves born earlier in the calving interval, you wind up with a heavier, more uniform calf crop as they just have more time to grow before weaning.”
What’s more, he said operations that have a larger portion of their calf crop born in the first 45 days of the calving period have a higher weaning percentage. “Those cows have more time to undergo uterine involution after calving and start cycling again.”
Last year, operations that had a majority of their calves born in the first 45 days had an 89 percent weaned calf crop percentage. Calves born in the first 60 days saw an 86 percent weaned rate and calves born in a calving period of more than 60 days came in at 85 percent.
A more telling number is the pounds of calf weaned per exposed female. With a higher weaning percent, high-return producers returned 505 pounds of weaning weight per exposed female while low-return producers weaned significantly fewer pounds per exposed female at 431 pounds.
That translates to calf value and the positive effects of backgrounding and preconditioning. “Just less than 25 percent of operations within this data set shipped their calves right off the cow, while a larger portion, close to 55 percent, weaned for a minimum of 45 days before selling those calves,” McQuagge said.
Show Me the Money
Looking at value, the data show that operations that shipped calves off the cow or weaned for fewer than 30 days saw no added value. Given today’s high calf prices, calf value for those operations came in around $1,490 per head.
On the other hand, operations that backgrounded and preconditioned their calves for 45 days or more saw a return in calf value of $1,694, according to survey results.
The difference, McQuagge said, is due to the higher risk with the short-term weaning interval. “You do see some increased health risk and the price reflects that.”
How producers market their calves counts for quite a bit.
It’s been consistent across time that the marketplace rewards producers for putting in the effort to wean and vaccinate for more than 45 days, he added. What’s more, how producers market their calves counts for quite a bit. While selling calves at a sale barn is a traditional and popular marketing method, survey results showed that it returned the lowest price for calves, McQuagge said. That’s likely because calves weaned for 45 days or longer are often marketed through one of the many value-added programs available to beef producers or kept in a retained ownership program.
“Across time, low-return and average return producer groups typically have fairly similar calf values,” McQuagge said. “But that high-return group really stands out in terms of what they’re doing to market their animals, how they’re adding value to the calf crop. Low-return operations stand out in terms of cow costs, high-return operations stand out in calf value.”
And that’s the difference. “High-return producers really make a lot of effort, particularly on the marketing and reproduction side,” he said. Clearly, they’re cost conscious in their management. “But they focus heavily on the health of the herd, the nutrition of the herd and the genetics, all of which leads to improved reproduction.”
Watch the CattleFax webinar at youtu.be/CbFkpNE0fT4.
