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April update I would like to thank all who came out on the Thursday night of the ice storm for our beef meeting. I was quite pleased with the information & the questions that were received. A couple of producers wanted to know about the Right Now Mineral program, so I figured now is a good time to go through it. ONYX - feed 1 month before calving until cows are bred. More chelated mineral in it & overall better mineral package. You can feed year round if you wish. EMERALD - feed this mineral at grass time. (Whenever it shows up this year.) It is balanced for our May, June & July pastures. BRONZE – feed bronze when you are feeding hay. I also like feeding it if your pasture quality is going down. August might be the time to go to Bronze unless you are pasturing something like sorghum. If you want anymore information on mineral or creep feed, please feel free to call myself or any of our stores. Prices on your calves should stay strong into fall; make sure you have lots of healthy, growthy calves to sell this fall. Shawn
February update There seems to be a lot of calving issues going on this year and it seems to be all over the place on the type of problems encountered. Here are some things to check on farm - are vaccinations up to date, are you feeding enough good quality mineral, is your cow condition correct? I have heard people say that I don't need to vaccinate and you can get away with it but wait long enough and it will bite you whether it is beef or dairy. Mineral vs Blocks - Both will work, but if I had a choice of mineral vs blocks, I would choose mineral. Nothing beats a good mineral program especially in the winter time. A good mineral program is more consistent and more beneficial to the cow to get the proper nutrients that she needs. Blocks are easy to handle and there are some advantages, but taking everything into consideration mineral is my choice.
december update Well 2013 is around the corner. Hard to believe another year is behind us. Another good year for our cow calf producers. Prices have slipped a little lately, but were very strong throughout the year with some really good prices through the summertime. Feedlots worked a little harder with trying to figure out how to make stocker prices work on their operation. I appreciate the opportunity I have had to work with all my beef customers this past year—thank you.
november update In this area there is always talk about Dairy Shows and how good some of the breeders do and how we have great breeders in our area. This is true. But I am going to give some perks out to my beef breeders this month coming off a Royal that was pretty amazing. We have the pleasure and opportunity to feed some good cattlemen in purebred and commercial and we have had some commercial guys top fall sales year after year, and we are proud of that as well. This year our purebred customers pulled off 21 Class Winners, 6 Seconds and 20 Banners in total, over 5 breeds. I once had an old mentor of mine say "it cost the same to feed a good one as it does a bad one”. Obviously we had the chance this year to feed some great ones. Congratulations go out to Academy Hill Livestock, Darling Farms, Elzevir Herefords, Elm Lodge Herefords, Hiddenview Polled Herefords, Indian River Cattle Co, Trent Hills Herefords, Windy Gables Limousin, Windy View Farm, Worthmor Cattle. Elm Lodge Exceptional owned by Theo and Shirley McCracken was Grand Champion Female in the Hereford division, second time for the McCrackens. Way to go Theo. I would also like to thank all the Juniors for their hard work making it to the Royal and showing Northumberland proud. There were a lot of Juniors that placed well, but just getting there is all the success you need, way to go team.
october update On the beef side, Lean Plus 13 is still the cheapest and most effective way to feed calves and background cattle. If you use corn and a supplement, it costs more than this pellet. I was talking to a customer and was told that he could get a 13% pellet $15 cheaper per tonne. This product we are comparing to I have seen myself. I had a customer put ours in a 4 tonne bin and then went to try the other pellet and 4 tonne would not fit. Now I have heard "a tonne is a tone” comment meaning they are equal. There is a lot of ways that you can get to 13%, but density means heavier. In my mind (small as it is) if corn weighs 45 lbs/bushel compared to 58 lbs/bushel, which corn do you want? They are both still a tonne, but everyone will take the 58. So why would that not make the same sense in feed. If you feed 5 lbs per day at $15/MT difference, it costs $0.03 per day more. At a $1.40 per pound for a calf you sell, I need you to gain 0.03 lb/day more for my pellet to be better value. This may be our highest selling Purina pellet because we know it works, and I found out this week that we get the best price in the province on this product, so we can pass it on to you.
september update The cost of beef rations in general has climbed to new highs. With the shortage of hay, producers may have to limit hay to make it through. Keep an eye on the condition of your cows. Hay and a good mineral can get your cows through fall and winter if hay quality is decent and you can feed enough of it. So why bring it up now? Cows for the most part have not had the greatest of pasture. Check cow condition now. Most cows still have calves on them, and if they already have a low body score and the calves are pulling them down, now is the time to act. Creep feeding calves helps take the pressure off. The other alternative is to wean the calves now and background to your desired weight. If you wean cows thin, it will be tough to put condition back on if we get a tougher winter than last year. Prices are still good for these calves, make the most of it. july update Stockers still selling well through the start of the year, but if you are a cow-calf farmer let's think about this. The feedlot guys (the guys that buy the calves) are looking at prices being lower for their products than they have been in quite a while. Commodities are on the rise which will begin to affect feed costs in an upward direction. I have had feedlot guys ask me how calf prices are staying up. Some think it is the Risk Management Program. Their taking a chance that program will kick in. I don't know that program well enough to say yes or no, but maybe at some time something has to give. Shawn february update Shawn must be on vacation!!! - no writeup for beef this month january update We go into 2012 with fairly strong calf prices making cow calf guys smile, but let?s be cautious. Feedlots are on the edge right now. Local feeders in the area are talking about cutting back with some already shutdown. This is not a great thing to hear. When the price of corn and wet distiller?s is taken into consideration, it makes it tough to pencil a profit. Most of these feeders do not have off farm jobs so this is their livelihood. Rumor still persists about a dryer going into Havelock, if this happens on the feedlot side all bets are off where this part of the industry goes. Here is hoping all sectors can not only survive but thrive. All the Best in 2012.
november update
As we move into December, the feedlot producers are fighting finishing prices that have stalled out on them - hanging around at $1.85 when packers were telling them that it would be $1.92 to $1.95 by now. Now everyone likes to blame the packer in the game but they all are the same. The other problem is that they have cattle bought for the whole month of November. It is the first time I can remember feedlots looking to send their cattle south to be processed. It has become time to look outside the box whenever you can. At this time, Ontario is the lowest price compared to everywhere else. The consensus is stocker prices are going to stay strong, but this can only carry on if the feedlot price moves up the hill. Lean Plus sales are still strong. It is a great feeding program to pre-condition your calves, to keep your calves green and to continue to put weight on them as well. It is a great year to take those calves to a heavier weight than ever before. october updateOn the beef side, Lean Plus is still working for many producers on their stocker calves. Prices look like they will stay strong this fall. On the replacement side we have many options to grow them out to provide early breeding and easy calving for next spring. Talk to us on a mill ration or Purina product to get the job done. Fall is upon us and stocker sales are approaching. Cow-calf producers try for top dollar and feedlots try to stay in the game. Cow calf producers need to condition their calves the proper way to enable feedlot producers to make money. There are many different options. Choosing the right one for you is the key.
As for feedlots, if you are not utilizing the wet corn distillers to its potential, it will be hard to get past this time of high commodities. I have heard producers say they are struggling with issues on a higher percentage of WDDGS. I believe it can be done with a properly balanced ration. Our ROC product is the real deal, and we have producers that are thriving on it. After the Purina meeting this month we may have even more solutions than what we provide now.
On the purebred side, we have about 3 different show rations and our customers tell me they are very pleased with the results. They have been winning a lot of red ribbons. Without Genetics you can?t get very far, but we appreciate those breeders who allow us to be their partners from the feed side to achieve success.
august update As we creep closer to fall and stocker sales, it is important to pre-condition your calves if you want top dollar. Last year proved that a 900 lb calf brought more than a 600 lb calf. Your cheapest gain is the first six months of a calves life when it is on the cow. Don't miss out?it only happens once in a calf's life. july updateWith pastures drying off and the outlook of having to feed hay, a creep feed program will pay this year. It will help cows with condition as well as keep gains up on your calves. From Lean Plus to a top end creep we can help you find the answer. Speaking of hay, with so many people spraying hay ground off in the last year, hay shortage may become a problem. I have already talked to lots of producers that have expressed they are going to be short on hay. With the way the summer is shaping up, keeping your hay ground might work to your advantage.
As everybody is aware, commodity prices are high resulting in the cost of feeding cattle rising a lot since last year. Show people are looking at prices compared to last year and finding them higher by as much as $100 per MT. We can provide options for our customers. Please feel free to call me. The one thing you have to remember is that all 14% show rations are not created equal. If there is $100 between the rations you are pricing there is a reason for that spread. Dairyman?s Choice is a product that we have used and are using on the dairy side. It is a yeast product that does a whole lot more. For those that are selling their meat or trying to stay natural this product can help health and intake in your animals, especially if you are not using implants. It can be used in your custom calf or cow mixes. Added cost is around $0.20 per day.
I was once told by an elderly farmer that it is impossible for all farmers to make good money at the same time?some are up that forces others down. Wouldn?t it be nice if 2011 could prove him wrong. We will see. With the Royal coming closer all the time, I have been very impressed with our Purina 14% show complete feed. I believe it gets them in the condition needed to compete against the top quality cattle. Here is hoping that breeders or 4-H ers can bring home some red ribbons and prove my theory. Good luck to all. Stocker prices are still strong. There is a good advantage to get your calves ready early to take advantage of the early market. Our beef meeting in Madoc will launch some new Purina products that will help you be successful on your operation. Pasture is at the point that grass is still there but the quality will be diminishing. Just be aware of your mineral intakes not only on cows but your heavier calves as well. Grass is still going strong, surprising considering what we were thinking in May. Emerald mineral is still the product of choice right now (no pun intended). With the price of stocker calves, the option of creep feeding is well worth considering to get your calves out the door earlier and heavier. Lean Plus pricing is looking good to make those calves leaner and greener and to get the big bucks that are out there. If you feed cattle, next time you are in one of the stores, buy a bag of Purina Show Ration, great quality and a even better price. It would be great for creep feeding, heifers and even thin cows. Perfect time to welcome all the Madoc customers into our customer/partner base not just beef but dairy and crop as well. We are sure they will discover we have the feed either Purina or from our mill, as well as our sales staff to help you with every need. Prolean Pasture Supp is still a good fit for your on farm grain that needs to be balanced. Our lean Plus 13 is still the go to in the complete feed program and as always our Custom mix from the mill is a good option.
Our feedlot supplement the "Roc is gaining more popularity all the time. This product can also work in the back grounding area. |
