Anyone sold a cull lately?

On Monday I sold a 1600 lbs Swiss heifer that would not breed. Today I got a check for $643.00. I was stunned. Is 43/cwt the normal price for culls now? I don't send many to the sale barn, I am raising heifers to start milking again. I can remember many cows that were sent to the sale barn a few years back that would bring 8 or 900. I am surprised a heifer in good shape would bring less than an old cow with udder flopping around.
Is this what you guys are seeing too? After buying a $600 calf and feeding it for 2 years, not counting the 5 straws of semen, this is a heck of a loosing deal. I guess the next one will just go for hamburg and sell it to the neighbors.

How old was she? That is cow price.
I have been out of the cow thing for several years, but that sound way to low..I would have thought 50 or 60.
You should have butchered here for youself...would have been great beef.
KennyP

I am going to sell 5 or 6 big black and black baldy cows Tuesday , was hoping for $.40, was told they are in the 30's lately, I'd be very happy with .43

Guess it depends on your local market but that would be above average here. I sent three big Holsteins last week, netted $1195 on the three of them.

I sold a 24 month old non-breeding holstein heifer last week . Weighed 1310 lbs., brought $46.50 / cwt. (net check = $590.30 ). Livestock market reports for North Carolina showed this to be only $1.00 off of top price for slaughter cows. Thin cows ranged downward to $33.00/ cwt. I would say that " an old cow with udder flopping around " would have sold for less than your heifer in good shape did. I agree, there is not any profit in raising dairy heifers for beef. (Incidentally, baby calves ( holsteins ) were $5-20 .) No money there either.

Sold one older beef cow back in Oct with a prolapsed uterus(started hanging out), got .53/lb. Was surprised she brought that but good health otherwise.

Welcome To Auction Barns. You would probably make more money picking oats out of Horse Sh#t than raising cattle.

About what we are seeing here in texas

It depends a lot on the animal, blacks bring a higher price than reds and white you might as well just toss over the edge and bury them for what you get.

I got 48 cents on a 1300 lb bull and 80 cents on 600 lb bull at the same auction. When they go over 800 lbs you loose a lot in value. I try to sell them between 600 and 700 lbs to get the best price.

Cows are funny just depends on the buyers and if two people want it.

Walt

It can be pushed back in.

I see bred cows selling for $550 right now. I sold 4 red holstien steers with an average weight of 1025 a couple weeks ago and got $.65/# off the farm. Sales barn told me I'd get $.50-$.55/# if brought them in to them. Hind sight I should have butchered a couple and sold the meat but they were the kids calves and figured best to let some one else do the deed. If I had known corn would fall like it has I would have finished them out.

Sounds like you received a pretty good price. After all hard fed holstein steers are pushed hard to get $.80 today with quality beef in the mid 80's.
Many dairy calve are being given away here or just being shot. Last Saturday we were buying pre-conditioned feeders for $.70-.85. Those selling bulls or weaned on the truck without shots were in the $.60-$.65 range. A lot of money lost by those who do not properly condition their cattle. Not saying there aren't some good ones but when you have to put cattle together and make money you need to go with those with the least risk. Consider yourself fortunate for what you received.

I think it was last week in ND Dad sold a few and got $0.32 per pound for some open cows... During the summer we sold off several old cows for a little more than double that!

HA HA HA HA HA,i believe you would lol

You shouldn't complain. 'Here', and for the past 5-6 years most of them have been bringing 200 for a good one and there's been enough guys got BILLS from the sale barn to cover commission and trucking for the poor ones. The BSE 'crisis' was responsible for that up here... but in short, yes, that's what culls are bringing right now, and a lot less for a poor one.

Rod

Yep, the vet tacked it back, then it started falling out again.

Hi guys just some friendly advice sell those cows and invest in the big three auto companies.Stock now is real cheap you will make a fortune in the next couple of weeks.

Hi guys just some friendly advice sell those cows and invest in the big three auto companies.Stock now is real cheap you will make a fortune in the next couple of weeks.

A friend of mine sent two calfs to the sale barn.All he ended up with after trucking was a bill for $14.00.

Sold 5 cull cows saturday. They weighed around 1300. $.29/pound. That's $29/cwt. This was in NW MN at Winger Livestock in Winger, MN. Kinda sorry.

Haven't sold any at all.

But, I did divorce one over five years ago. Cost me me over $10,000 to get rid of that cow...not to mention the wasted semen! It was worth every penny to put her down the road and the farm has been much better off since she left! So....you got off cheap...hehe! Next time, choose your heifer more carefully.

I just sold 10 cows direct to the processor in Plainview, MN. Averaged $370 per animal. I sold some similar cows back in June and got about $800 each. It's kind of sickening really.

Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
2 250-285 268 80.00-94.00 87.46
4 355-390 369 86.00-93.00 88.53
3 437-437 437 86.50 86.50
1 485-485 485 84.50 84.50
4 528-540 532 82.50-87.00 85.48
2 563-563 563 77.50 77.50
13 610-645 631 72.00-77.00 75.69
5 675-691 688 70.50-74.00 73.31
2 725-745 735 70.00-73.00 71.48
2 750-755 753 66.00-75.00 70.51
3 882-882 882 69.50 69.50
Small 1 - 2
2 365-395 380 59.00-70.00 64.28
1 645-645 645 60.00 60.00
Medium and Large 3
1 245-245 245 67.00 67.00
1 270-270 270 80.00 80.00
7 365-395 376 79.00-83.50 80.94
3 450-490 468 70.00-78.00 72.56
2 525-530 528 66.00-71.00 68.51
7 555-585 572 67.00-70.00 68.91
1 625-625 625 66.00 66.00
1 650-650 650 63.00 63.00
1 730-730 730 58.00 58.00
1 845-845 845 65.00 65.00

Feeder Heifers Medium and Large 1 - 2
Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
1 220-220 220 87.00 87.00
2 255-270 263 86.00-90.00 87.94
1 360-360 360 79.00 79.00
5 413-445 422 67.00-75.00 70.47
9 455-495 475 70.50-76.50 73.60
22 500-545 524 69.00-74.50 72.41
24 550-590 577 64.00-72.00 67.57
9 600-638 614 62.00-67.00 64.98
11 650-695 670 64.00-71.00 66.49
4 710-740 731 62.00-66.50 63.85
3 800-840 813 60.00-62.00 61.31
Small 1 - 2
2 375-390 383 61.00-69.00 64.92
2 425-425 425 64.00 64.00
3 475-495 488 57.00-59.00 58.35
3 515-520 517 61.00-65.00 62.34
3 575-595 587 60.00-63.00 61.01
2 610-610 610 64.00 64.00
Medium and Large 3
2 215-245 230 66.50-67.00 66.77
2 325-330 328 69.00-70.00 69.50
1 375-375 375 66.00 66.00
5 425-440 435 58.00-64.00 62.00
9 450-495 471 65.00-70.00 66.74
8 560-590 578 57.00-65.00 62.40
4 605-635 621 55.00-62.50 59.38
1 675-675 675 61.00 61.00
2 750-775 763 58.00-60.50 59.23

Feeder Bulls Medium and Large 1 - 2
Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
18 400-445 421 85.00-94.00 88.30
7 450-495 468 80.00-84.00 82.29
12 500-540 526 77.00-85.50 83.09
5 519-519 519 87.50 87.50 Fancy
14 550-588 568 73.00-80.00 75.95
12 603-633 618 68.00-74.00 69.67
6 650-695 671 63.00-68.00 65.68
1 700-700 700 71.00 71.00
1 760-760 760 60.00 60.00
Small 1 - 2
1 445-445 445 65.00 65.00
2 465-475 470 61.00-70.00 65.45
1 505-505 505 60.00 60.00
3 560-590 573 60.00-63.00 61.32
1 620-620 620 54.00 54.00
Medium and Large 3
4 425-445 433 69.00-76.00 71.78
2 455-480 468 70.00-76.00 72.92
6 510-545 523 65.50-75.00 70.75
5 580-595 586 62.00-70.50 66.30
10 600-640 613 60.00-66.00 63.73
5 650-680 666 57.00-65.00 61.39
7 708-735 718 60.00-63.00 61.27
1 765-765 765 60.00 60.00
1 805-805 805 54.00 54.00

Slaughter Cows Breaker 70-80% Lean
Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
1 1075-1075 1075 35.50 35.50 Low Dressing
2 1545-1625 1585 40.50-43.00 41.78
Boner 80-85% Lean
6 1035-1380 1178 38.00-42.00 39.69
1 1580-1580 1580 40.50 40.50
Lean 85-90% Lean
1 775-775 775 23.00 23.00 Low Dressing
10 985-1345 1159 32.00-38.50 35.55
9 830-1100 989 23.00-31.00 26.21 Low Dressing

Slaughter Bulls Yield Grade 1-2
Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg Price
2 1270-1410 1340 44.50-48.50 46.40 Low Dressing
4 1825-2160 1983 50.00-54.00 50.92
1 1860-1860 1860 60.00 60.00 High Dressing
1 1810-1810 1810 45.50 45.50 Low Dressing

Source: TN Dept of Ag-USDA Market News Service, Nashville, TN





this is weeks sale at one of the local sale barns