Newborn Calf - Welcome or Not?

Kelly in tx · Jul 9, 2022

Tractor-related: I put out another round bale with my tractor this morning. Whoever heard of having to feed hay in June & July? It is so terribly dry here (south texas, between Austin & SAn Antonio) that it is awful. Anyway yesterday one of the cows had a newborn. Again it was a bull calf. That's the fourth in a row. With no pasture, I almost question if it is welcome. Not really, but we sure need rain. NO hay this summer! kelly

Brown Dirt Cowboy · Jul 9, 2022

i have a sister and her family that live in Moulton and she told me that they have been over 100* now for 30 days in a row. Makes me glad that I am here on the South East coast of Mo where we have only been in the 90s. And it is getting dry here also.

fastfarmall · Jul 9, 2022

Have you ever watched you tube, Our Wyoming life,he is a young rancher that took over his Father in Laws ranch, he bought hay for 3 years, but putting up hay now, this year,they never said it was easy !!

Tx Jim · Jul 9, 2022

Feeding hay to beef cows at the beginning of July is a good way to loose $$$$$$ owning beef cattle. It's going to be 9 or 10 months until grass greens up next year & that depends on if we get sufficient rainfall. I sold 2/3 of my cows 3 weeks ago & the remainder will probably be sold when my calves reach weaning age

JMOR · Jul 9, 2022

Cattle trailers lined up for miles at the sale barn this morning!

Traditional Farmer · Jul 9, 2022

Too bad trucking is now so high, here in Central Virginia lots of hay saw some good looking 4X5 rounds for $20 each yesterday most is priced at $30 to $40 but the ads stay up so must be selling slow.Very seasonable great pasture.

Tx Jim · Jul 9, 2022

I've seen rd bales of grass hay recently priced locally in N Texas between $100-$175 per bale

Keith Molden · Jul 9, 2022

We've had a little too much rain here in S.E. Ohio. Hay grew really well but the rain makes it hard to get it put up before it's too old. I finally got my 1st cutting done, now it will probably get dry so 2nd cutting won't be too much. It's already been hot with most days being high 80s or mid 90s and high humidity. High 80s and low 90s is normal for late July and August but not May, June and early July.

roy prins · Jul 9, 2022

Kelly I feel for You and Your neighbors -- Back in the day when just about every farmer around raised alfalfa for their cows -- north of us in Minnesota there was a drought and the dairy farms had no feed unless they bought it from out of state -- so our church people had lots of extra hay-- We rounded up three semis and trailers and set in the church parking lot --- the flatbeds with hay kept comming till the trucks were overloaded-- next morning off we went to deliver the hay == the minn. DOT looked the other way when we told them what We were doing -- A fun day for us truckers and some relief for some dairy people ! THAT is what America is about !! Roy from northwest Iowa

john in la · Jul 9, 2022

Consumers may like it short term as it may drop beef prices but I really feel for you guys. It was just a few years ago you guys were in the same situation. I can remember load after load of hay passing my house on I 12 headed for Texas from the gulf coast area.

GermantownGreen · Jul 9, 2022

Feeling for you all too. We have some hay to do, but have one herd we're feeding in rings. Getting drier here in West Central Missouri GG

SETX · Jul 10, 2022

I feel your pain. I started feeding round bales yesterday.

Red

ss55 · Jul 10, 2022

Crunch the numbers to see if it will pay to feed the less desirable cows through another drought year. Usually several years out of ten it pays to cull the heard at a loss on the cattle and more than make up for it selling their feed at a high price. If you have other uses for your labor, include the cost of your labor in your figures.

A lot depends on your operation, if your business is selling breeding stock, are a dairy, or are farming for entertainment, then the temporary losses won't matter. If you are feeding cattle as a means to add extra value to what your ground can produce the equation could be upside down in drought years, I.E. better to sell the feed rather than feed it to livestock.

Newborn Calf - Welcome or Not?

Kelly in tx

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Brown Dirt Cowboy

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fastfarmall

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Tx Jim

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JMOR

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Traditional Farmer

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Tx Jim

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Keith Molden

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roy prins

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john in la

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GermantownGreen

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SETX

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ss55

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