By: Chris Poley
I call my little column the “Real World”, trying my best to stay current with commercial cattle markets and influences that affect commercial beef producers. Ultimately, they are our number one customer, for those of us involved in the seed stock business. Many refer to the commercial industry as the “real world” of beef production, but those who are long term successful in the purebred business are in tune and have a strong grasp of the “real world” The biggest thing purebred breeders need to keep at the top of their mind is …culling! Keep In today’s social society, if someone refers to quality high, each year the goal should be to have living in the “real world”, it has a negative tone a better bull pen, not a bigger one. I can see it or implication to it. The “real world” in beef now, next spring when it comes time to make production these days, seems more like fantasy bull sale catalogues, producers will want to add land! New records are being set weekly for returns ten more bulls because they barely had enough on the sale of all classes of beef production. Don’t last year. 2014 was the perfect storm for bull get me wrong, it is well deserved and long overdue, sales, first off we had record salvage prices which but now that it has come to pass, after years and meant any bull whose calves were questionable, years of anticipation, it does seem a little like the feet were questionable, semen was questionable, dream has come true. I do realize that with the attitude was questionable and so on, he was cost of production today, the levels of return that culled maybe for more than he originally cost. we are seeing are very much needed to keep The second thing was the coldest winter in producers involved in our industry. The other over twenty years, which proved devastating good news, is that the outlook into the future is for semen testing herd bulls and other folks extremely strong, high prices are being paid for cull just panicked, even without testing and added cows and feeding heifers, which will make herd extra bulls, making sure that they were covered. expansion extremely slow; keeping the supply tight and returns healthy for the next decade. I have already talked about the slow rebuild of the cow herd, we are not going to need more Again for those of us involved in the purebred seed bulls anytime soon, what will be in demand, is stock industry, we just came off an unbelievable better, more consistent bulls, backed by quality spring bull sale season, one that will be hard to customer service. Keep your numbers moderate duplicate. Personally, I was involved in spring and quality high and you will gross as much or bull sales that grossed in excess of fifteen million more than by adding another ten, which will dollars. Absolutely phenomenal, for a couple of actually reduce the value of your top group of bulls. reasons, purebred breeders needed the boost as well as commercial producers after ten plus P.S. You can cut those ten bulls and sell them for years of hard times and the other is, commercial $1500.00 each as steers, remember, not that long producers could afford to spend it on quality bulls. ago… you floored your bulls at $1500.00!
Limousin Voice Summer Issue 2014 9