discount on colored cattle in your area?

whats feeder cattle discount for red,white and off colored cattle in your area compared to black angus?
in my area, red cattle, simm,red angus ,hereford are about a dime a pound less then black calves,
shorthorn about 15 cents a pound less, dairy calves way back ,
whats it like in your area?

im in south west indiana, several cow calf people, but row crops are the major farm income

Its basically the same all over North America. Quality is the biggest factor or course, but all things equal black will sell $10cwt over colored. This would be sale barn prices. Those that direct market their calves will do better because the buyer knows what they are getting and are willing to pay for quality and consistency.

I meant to say $10-$20 on a average, since it can vary a lot.

The price differential is more to between size/age and condition. Truth be told, all cattle are under valued.

I know the meat processing plants don't separate the meat from black cattle vs all other colored cattle then sell colored cattle meat at a discounted price. Nope especially ground meat is just ground meat & the processing plants just reap the profits.

American Angus Assn. did an excellent job promoting BLACK cattle.

I don't know. I fatten mine. I can tell you that when they're finished out, there's no difference in price in my experience. I end up with a few black white faces and two or three tan ones every year due to some genetics despite using Angus bulls.

About the Same here in TN

Its about the same here. I have a neighbor that has been raising registered Gelbvieh bulls since the 70s. They had to eventually start raising some black balancers just to be able to sell them all. The only cross breading that seems to work here is the Hereford angus cross.

(quoted from post at 08:52:00 04/03/21)
I know the meat processing plants don't separate the meat from black cattle vs all other colored cattle then sell colored cattle meat at a discounted price. Nope especially ground meat is just ground meat & the processing plants just reap the profits.

American Angus Assn. did an excellent job promoting BLACK cattle.

Click to expand...

Were talking about feeders, not fat cattle. Once theyre finished, there is only a slight difference based on yield and marbling. The big difference in feeders is because the feed lots want consistency and they know that angus based cattle on average will feed out better and provide a better carcass than others for their outfit. There is also the potential for premiums for carcasses that make the grade for CAB.

The best advertising in the world wont make feedlots pay more for feeders than they are worth. They pay more because they make more profit from them. Now, the fact that the public have been lead to believe angus cattle make better quality beef is all advertising.

(quoted from post at 08:52:00 04/03/21)
I know the meat processing plants don't separate the meat from black cattle vs all other colored cattle then sell colored cattle meat at a discounted price. Nope especially ground meat is just ground meat & the processing plants just reap the profits.

American Angus Assn. did an excellent job promoting BLACK cattle.

Click to expand...

Were talking about feeders, not fat cattle. Once theyre finished, there is only a slight difference based on yield and marbling. The big difference in feeders is because the feed lots want consistency and they know that angus based cattle on average will feed out better and provide a better carcass than others for their outfit. There is also the potential for premiums for carcasses that make the grade for CAB.

The best advertising in the world wont make feedlots pay more for feeders than they are worth. They pay more because they make more profit from them. Now, the fact that the public have been lead to believe angus cattle make better quality beef is all advertising.

In my experience, solid black and solid red angus are very comparable in pricing. Any others- whites, Hereford, shorthorn roan, tan, gray, brown, etc are all noticeably less. I sell my solids on the open markets and use any off colored calves for my own use or to sell direct from the farm to customers. They dont care what color hair the animal has, they dont see it until it is meat on their grill.

I sat at the sale barn the last 2 Monday's and watched the cattle sell. I just don't see where the profit is in buying those expensive steers with corn nearing $5. I sell everything direct and my customers actually prefer the Holstein and Holstein cross beef and pay more for it. So I'm glad the attention is on the black ones and I get the bargains. Works great for me.

Hog processors used to have a grade and yield option where split carcasses would be weighed, measured and graded before they were further cut up. There would be a fee for the service and the price paid for the animal would be adjusted for the actual grade and yield. This was a great tool for breeders to get feedback on their quality and also to get a premium for above average hogs. Does the beef industry have anything like that?

Beef cuts are graded and priced accordingly: prime often goes to premium restaurants and while choice and goes to grocery stores, etc..

I have seen a registered black angus bull and a registered black angus cow throw a red calf.
Its the reason we have registered red angus. No one knew what to do with the red calves.
While it is getting less likely with every generation they still have not bred out the red and/or diluter gene out of registered black angus.

You will also find some black angus that look almost chocolate in the right light or especially when the are young and have not loss their baby hair coat yet.

I find that Angus do better in price per pound as feeders.
If that is red or black depends on what feedlot is buying.
Usually the farther south the feedlot is the more they would want red.

For a small operator lots of things come into play in choosing stock.
First thing is are you finishing the calves or selling as feeders to a feedlot.
If you finish your own calves you have a lot more choices because lots of cattle produce a good finished product.
But if you sell to feedlots your choices narrow because a feedlot is looking for a select calf that fits the group.
They want a group of calves to grade high; finish in the same amount of days on a set feed intake.
For most feedlots that equates to Angus.

As a cow calf operator you have a lot more to consider than hair color when choosing stock.
For me Black Angus is the worse choice.
Black Angus will actually loose weight in our summer heat.
And summer is the time of the year you should be adding the most weight per day.
Even though we get docked something with big ears pays off in the long run when you figure the price per calf sold rather than the price per pound sold.
Price per pound means nothing when you put the check in the bank.
Amount on the check compared to acres and overall head count is what you need to look at.

Anything but black and black Bally take anywhere from 10$ to 25$ a hundred Holstein about 35& to 45$ slide on the black hided cattle

daddy always said.. black and fuzzy.... the feed lots up north like the fuzzy ones to handle the cold better.

To be in tune with the times shouldn't that be cattle of color?

Ya, we have three cows here that are a chocolate brown color.

Black up north and red down south!