Skip to main content. Content ID By Gene Johnston. Test your hay. Read more about Cattle. More Cattle. Don't sell calves. Market them. Get BQA certified. All Cattle. For related content and insights from industry experts, sign up for Successful Farming newsletters. Sign up. Talk in Marketing All talk. My brother is considering looking for feed dealers because he's thinking about buying some beef cattle to raise and make some money off of. I think it's a good idea to consider shopping from the best dealers to provide the animals with the best feed so they can be big and healthy.
Depends on your location. My advice is to ask your neighborhood feed store or surrounding ranches in your area. Close Search Arrowquip. Skip to content arrowquip. Currently, the most common and healthiest options include: 1 Grain Supplement Grain can get cattle growing quickly and can help cattle get fat.
Comments Join the Discussion Leave this field blank. My Name:. My Comments:. Add My Comment. Reply 0 comments. Leave this field blank. A seven- or nine-wire high-tensile fence is one of the most economical barriers. Another effective fence is a combination of high-tensile wire which can be electrified with three or four 2-by- 6-inch planks spaced between the wires.
Housing for feeder cattle does not have to be extensive or weather tight--open-sided sheds and more completely enclosed structures are equally effective. Younger cattle require more shelter than older cattle, especially for protection from winter winds. All facilities should be designed for the number of cattle fed and include a good manure management program. Most feedlots use concrete feed bunks that allow cattle to feed from one or both sides, although feed bunks of treated lumber also can be used.
Feed can be delivered through a mixer wagon, conveyor with a belt or chain, or a bucket loader. To reduce mud, use concrete pads for areas around waterers and feed bunks. Mounds that are 3 to 5 feet high offer cattle relatively dry ground to rest on.
The feedlot area should be well drained with topsoil removed to expose clay or other fairly impervious surface. Regardless of the type of feedlot surface, it must be cleaned periodically. The facilities should be designed to prevent manure runoff into steams or other waterways. Retention lagoons and diversion ditches should be planned with the advice and approval of regulatory agencies. Some cattle feeders purchase lightweight feeder calves to pounds , graze them during the spring and summer, and then finish them in the feedlot starting in late summer or fall.
Backgrounding is a special type of program that usually combines pasture systems and lightweight cattle. These cattle require extremely good nutrition, management, and health programs, but backgrounding can be profitable. Well-managed, high-quality pastures can be used effectively with these type of cattle. More information on grazing and backgrounding can be found in Beef Backgrounding Production. Anyone purchasing feeder cattle must keep up-to-date on market conditions.
Graded feeder-calf sales are held in both fall and spring; some feedlot operators use cattle brokers and tele-auctions to obtain their feeder cattle. Feeder-cattle prices can fluctuate considerably in almost every season of the year. Higher-grade feeder cattle sell for a higher price per pound than lower grades. Lighter-weight cattle of the same grade cost more per pound than heavier feeder cattle. Although feeder grade is not supposed to be influenced by the amount of fat on an animal or its overall condition, cattle in better shape are usually assigned a higher grade and sell for a higher price per pound.
The difference between the purchase and the sales price the cattle margin or price spread of feedlot cattle is often greater for healthy, but thinner, lower-grade feeder calves or yearlings because these animals are more likely to increase in quality between purchase and sale time. Additional costs for thinner, lower-grading cattle include higher medical treatment costs, lower sales prices, and higher death-loss rates.
Even with these disadvantages, lower-grading feeder cattle can be profitable; operators should consider the entire market for finished cattle. Market prices are better for higher-grading, uniformly finished cattle than for less uniform, lower-grading cattle. Feeder-cattle purchases represent a large part of costs for feeding cattle.
Many feeder-cattle producers offer cattle that have been weaned and vaccinated and received booster vaccines for respiratory disease, the primary health problem encountered in feeder cattle. The objectives for purchasing feeder cattle are to buy calves that have the genetic ability to grow and add sale weight, efficiently convert feed to weight gain, have a high potential for reaching "Choice" quality grade after feeding, and stay healthy during feeding.
Feeder cattle are usually sorted by breed, sex, weight, color, and feeder grade when being offered for sale, which increases the uniformity of marketing the finished cattle. Because preconditioned and heavier feeder cattle tend to have fewer health problems, purchasing preconditioned calves can be a good investment for the cattle feeder.
Preconditioning includes weaning 21 to 45 days before shipping, vaccinating for diseases prevalent in the area, dehorning, castrating, implanting, treating for external and internal parasites, and starting the cattle on grain-based feed from a feed bunk. If heavier cattle are used pounds or more , preconditioning is not as important.
Because respiratory and enteric digestive diseases can affect cattle of all ages, they should be properly vaccinated, preferably before they are moved to the feedlot. If there is any doubt about an internal parasite infection, fecal samples should be taken to a veterinarian to determine the severity of infection.
Control of external parasites such as lice and flies is also important; inexpensive, effective treatments are available. Feeders can reduce potential health problems by carefully planning a health maintenance and disease prevention program with the assistance of a veterinarian. Cattle weighing pounds or more should be fed a ration containing 11 percent crude protein in a ration composed of grain usually corn, but barley and wheat are often also used , protein sources, and roughage.
Larger-framed cattle tend to require a ration with a higher percentage of grain to achieve the same carcass quality grade as cattle with smaller frame sizes.
Therefore, the ration that is fed depends on the type of cattle and the desired market grade. The weight and grade required by the market receiving the cattle also must be considered when selecting a ration. Cattle weighing pounds or less initially can be fed a growing ration rather than a finishing ration. Growing rations supply additional hay or other forage in place of grain.
To achieve the desired carcass grade, the ration can be modified to include less forage and more grain as the cattle grow. The feeding system for a cattle-feeding enterprise should remain flexible.
For farmer-feeders, corn silage and occasionally hay crop silages can be incorporated into the feeding program. The extent that forages contribute to a ration is determined by the price of feed grains or food processing by-products with equivalent feed value.
Increasing forages in the diet of feedlot cattle will generally increase the cost of weight gain due to slower weight gain and higher carrying costs when grain prices are reasonably low.
Specific ration composition is determined by the combination of available feedstuffs that will minimize the cost of weight gain, provide a balanced diet, and reach desired endpoints for the market. This feed combination will vary as grain prices change. Performance enhancers such as growth-stimulating implants can also be used. Research has shown that they provide the greatest return of almost any feedlot practice with complete safety to consumers. The final market for your beef and consumer acceptance, however, will dictate whether you should use performance enhancers.
In the normal course of operations, farmers handle pesticides and other chemicals, may have manure to collect and spread, and use equipment to prepare fields and harvest crops. Any of these routine on-farm activities can be a potential source of surface water or groundwater pollution. Because of this possibility, you must understand the regulations to follow concerning the proper handling and application of chemicals and the disposal and transport of waste.
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