gonna buy a beef calf

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I visit a dairy frequently as part of my job. I get along very well with the farmer. He is a Christian man with a lovely wife and 10 home schooled kids helping out around the 700 cow dairy.

I would like to buy a young male cow to raise for beef. When I appraoched the farmer about this during my last visit, he suggested on buying one of his calves that was about 3 or 4 months old and ready to fend for itself when thrown in with older cows in a pasture. I plan on putting my animal out at a friend's pasture to grow for about 1.5 years with his cows.

The farmer hinted that I should buy a calf that was off milk and ready to eat some hay and grain. However, he said he would sell me the calf at a rate that he is getting from a veal dealer... 65 cents a pound for male calves. So, given the age he suggests, he said it would be about $130 for one of his calves.

I'd hope to embark on this little hobby adventure of mine for much less an up front investment. Am I getting a good deal? I told my friend he could have 1/2 the meat for a boarding fee... he pays for all additional feed and routine worming etc. That end of the deal sounds good to me but the up front costs sounds too high.

Also, what would I be paying to butcher a 1000lb animal? Should my friend help pay for a bit of the butcher's fee or is his grass, grain, and feed contribution enough?

DANG... I cannot WAIT to get my own 20 acres!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Otter

-- otter (kitchen@eng.fsu.edu), January 31, 2002

Answers

Otter, Your friend is making you a very good deal giving you a "started" calf. Here in our area, 3 day old calves sell for about $100.00 each. (These are holstien bull calves) The fact that hw is willing to care for it until it has made the transition from milk to hay, grain, and grass, tells me he is surely a friend, especially based on the low price of $130.00.

The friend who will be boarding the growing feeder , in my mind should pay 1/2 the cost of butchering,cutting & wrapping, trucking etc.This sounds like a fair deal to me. Our butcher currently charges $10.00 for butchering,$0.21 per pound of "hanging weight" for cutting,wrapping and freezing. The only extra charges are for patties being made, bologna etc.

I also assume that you will be checking on your feeder throughout it"s growing season. You should help with the chores as needed,fixing fence,repairing gates etc.This atarted calf,on good pasture with rolled or cracked corn available freechoice or hand fed 2 times a day, should be "ready" by 14 months of age. Remember he is of dairy breeding, he will grow frame first then pack on the muscle (meat). Raise him quietly without a lot of stress and he will grow contentedly and quickly. These holstien calves taste good.They make lots of lean tastey meat. I would by all means castrate him at a very young age, while still on milk if possible. They take it in stride at that age.They grow up not missing what they had. This will keep him from trying to "jump" everything that is in the pasture with him. He will focus on eating instead of breeding! Thereby making much better meat.

I have raised cattle for over 20 years. I will be glad to answer your questions, write anytime. We raise herfords , but have raised a holstien calf a year for a long time. I had an arrangement to "babysit" dry cows for a farmer down the road. I got a calf a year for my efforts along with the milk as I dried the cows off. We raised calves and pigs on the milk. This worked out good for both of us until the farmer retired.

Good luck , have fun with your calf!

-- Ralph in N.E.Ohio (Roadapple@suite224.net), January 31, 2002.


Hi Otter..I believe you are wanting a steer not a male cow.. a female calf is a heifer.. a male is a bull.. once the bull is cut it becomes a steer..once the heifer is bred and given birth it is a cow..I would think that most farmers sell by the the going market rate..they do here at least..so to know if you are getting a good deal check out the the livestock prices ..price per pound per hundred weight..if you are going in halves with someone get those details before you purchase any calf.. or you could be in for a real surprise down the road.. I try to raise steers until they are about 2 year old..As far as butcher costs its different in each part of the country..you wont need to worry about that until it gets close to butcher time.. the way I understand it your friend is going be paying more than you are in the long run if he is going to buy all the feed and pay vet bills.. so he is mainly going to have the care of this animal.. I think you might want to pay his butchering part..

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch1@semo.net), January 31, 2002.

This is all great advice... keep it coming! I'm one for doing lots of research before investing our hard earned (limited) income.

Thanks!

-- otter (kitchen@eng.fsu.edu), January 31, 2002.


Another way to look at it. Say the calf is butchered at 1,000 pounds, the hanging carcass weight* is 600 pounds and you will pay the full processing fee. (*less head, hide, guts, hooves, etc.) Also say you will lose an additional 100 pounds off of the carcass for shrink, bones and excess fat (which you might want ground up with the hamburger so it isn't too lean). So say you end up with 250 pounds (your half) of various cuts and products (stew meat, burger, etc.) and your investment is $250 (purchase and processing). That's $1.00 per pound in your freezer. Your friend basically gets $662.50 worth of beef at retail value for his efforts.

The average retail price for all cuts hovers around $2.65, so you will end up paying about 40% of retail. (On this aspect, even though the price of cattle on the hoof fluctuates, retailers keep their prices fairly firm. They have found customers LOVE price drops, but HATE!!! price raises even if just back to normal retail levels. They have adopted the pricing policy of holding meat prices fairly level and offering sales on certain cuts when cattle prices drop. Although the meat department only takes up about 10% of floor space, it results in about 30% of sales profit.)

After the meat is in your freezer, update us on how the numbers worked out for you.

I thought veal calves were sold when just a couple of days old? Don't know about your area, but recently born Holstein calves are selling here for about what he would charge you for a four-month-old one.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 31, 2002.


In our area butchering fees are: $35 kill fee and $.30/lb. cut & wrap. I think $130 for a weaned calf is a bargain. If your friend is paying for all feed, etc., don't forget that the calf eats at least a ton of hay during the winter, and your friend's land(pasture) is not free to him. Besides pasture and fence maintenence there are taxes, etc. I would not ask him to pay butchering fees; or at most I feel he could pay 1/3. We have been told a beef type animal (Angus, Hereford, etc.) is ready to butcher at 18 months, but a dairy type doesn't stop growing until 24 months. We have found this to be true.

-- Dianne Wood - Woodland, WA (woodgoat@pacifier.com), January 31, 2002.


With an apology to Shelly West:

I'm gonna buy a beef calf, to decorate the barn. And he'll feel right at home here, well, on my neighbor's farm.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 31, 2002.


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