“Limit or program feeding allows you to extend the marketing window while protecting condition in the cattle, but many producers I deal with have decided it's not economically feasible for them.”
“I'm concerned about misapplication of certain feed by-products. We have a lot of options available. Many have tremendous feeding value, but most also come with special considerations…By their nature, feed co-products are variable. You can run into a wreck in a hurry if you don't do a nutrient analysis.”
“Labor is such a key issue that self-feeding is an attractive option. Occasionally, however, we'll get into a situation where we fill the feeders and discover the feed doesn't work physically; it's gotten bridged inside the feeder and cattle have gone without it for four or five days.”
“It's easy to make a lightweight calf gain 3.5 lbs./day. If you've averaged 1.8 lbs. historically and were always trying to get 2.0 lbs., it's hard to change your mindset to restricting gain rather than maximizing it.”
“Some people are looking at breakevens that are lower than feeder contract prices. The summer contracts are beginning to soften, but there have been opportunities to hedge them for a reasonable margin.”
