So much will be discovered at a sale barn, and South Dakota State College Extension cow-calf specialists really feel producers can be taught much more by taking note of tendencies on sale day.
In line with USDA’s Nationwide Animal Well being Monitoring System, about 60% of weaned calves are bought at sale barns or auctions. Olivia Amundson, a SDSU Extension cow-calf discipline specialist based mostly out of the Sioux Falls regional middle, says cattlemen could also be leaving cash on the desk if they aren’t taking note of administration selections at house.
“One of many massive issues that we have been taking a look at right here was actually specializing in a uniform calf crop,” Amundson says, “and the way that perhaps influenced worth acquired on the sale barn.”
Massive pattern dimension
Amundson and fellow Extension colleagues Adele Harty, Robin Salverson, Heather Gessner, Julie Walker and Kiernan Brandt collected knowledge from 5 South Dakota sale barns for 4 weeks from October by November in 2021. Information collected was from 24 gross sales, accounting for about 110,000 calves.
To decrease geographic variation, researchers attended gross sales inside the similar week on the sale barns. They stored knowledge for every particular sale barn, which included date of sale, gender of calves, variety of calves in every lot and the typical weight per head.
The Extension group additionally tracked conceal coloration, vaccine protocols — whether or not they had acquired a seven-way clostridial vaccine, or four- and five-way respiratory vaccines — whether or not calves had been implanted, whether or not they had been creep-fed, whether or not they had been weaned, in the event that they have been a part of a branded program, whether or not they had horns, and the worth per head acquired.
To keep up statistical integrity, calves under 265 kilos and people above 800 kilos have been faraway from the database, as have been plenty of one or two calves, Amundson says.
Plenty of alternative
Whereas patrons in sale barns search for high quality cattle, they could even be on the lookout for bigger numbers “to satisfy their quota or fill a pot load,” Amundson says.
Researchers broke down the lot sizes of 101 head or extra, 50-100 head, 21-50 head and 1-20 head, and located premiums of $15.85 per cwt between the biggest lot dimension and the smallest lot dimension.
“It makes a whole lot of sense as a result of these patrons, they’ve bought a pot load or a number of pot hundreds, and so they can simply load all of these animals on a truck, and so they don’t should attempt to co-mingle calves or group calves which have related varieties and sizes to make a full load,” Amundson says.
Whereas not as nice, premiums nonetheless exist between the smaller lot teams: $10-per-cwt premium for the 101-plus-head heaps over the 20- to 100-head heaps; and $6-per-cwt premium for the 21- to 50-head heaps over the one- to 20-head heaps.
Producers unable to usher in giant heaps could profit by coordinating with neighbors or different cattlemen to coordinate a grouping of uniform calves to ship a big quantity to entice patrons and presumably get a greater worth on sale day, Amundson says.
“These calves should have been born inside the similar time vary, similar season,” she says. “We’ve to suppose what sort of administration selections have been made on these calves. Have been they vaccinated on the similar time? Did they get the identical vaccines? Have been they dehorned, castrated? So a whole lot of those self same administration selections should be considered if we’re pooling our cattle with different producers’ cattle to attempt to obtain the next premium.”
A giant step to calf crop uniformity, Amundson says, is to outline the calving season. “That comes right down to perhaps simply pulling the bull sooner than we often do. In order that we’re not calving our cows for let’s say 120 days, and now we’re simply calving them out for 80 days as a substitute.”
Administration premiums
Cattlemen will be loyal to their breed or coloration of animal. SDSU analysis exhibits that black-hided cattle paid premiums of $9.75 to $34 per cwt over different colours and coloration combos.
Another premium findings embody that steers reap a $19.77-per-cwt premium over heifers, and steers additionally usher in $23 per cwt over bull calves.
Vaccination packages additionally profit sellers, as calves given a seven-way clostridial vaccine at beginning and within the fall gained at $17-per-cwt premium over the calves receiving just one dose. There was additionally an $18- to $25-per-cwt premium given for vaccinated calves over people who have been both unvaccinated, or if vaccination standing was unknown at sale time.
The SDSU Extension group additionally surveyed the identical sale barns for 4 weeks this previous spring, however this time taking a look at backgrounder cattle. Outcomes of that research are nonetheless forthcoming.
These tasks have been grant-funded by the North Central Extension Danger Administration Schooling Heart, with funding offered by USDA’s Nationwide Institute of Meals and Agriculture.
To be taught extra about this analysis, take heed to Amundson and Adele Harty, former SDSU Extension cow-calf discipline specialist, on a Cattle HQ podcast. Amundson additionally joined a College of Minnesota version of the Moos Room podcast to debate the outcomes.
Geography issues
SDSU analysis discovered that the autumn calf run seen a premium on the market barns positioned west of the Missouri River in South Dakota, versus that east of the river.
Amundson says that cattle varieties differ between the 2 areas, however perhaps extra of an element have been the upper numbers of calves, in addition to the upper variety of patrons on the west-river sale barns.
“On our west aspect, now we have a whole lot of guys that do promote feeder calves in giant heaps,” she says, “after which on the east aspect of the state, now we have a whole lot of these guys who perhaps purchase these feeder calves to then background them.”
