Livestock Notes
The Cost Of Raising
Replacement Beef Heifers
A common question that has
come up recently involves how to
determine the most cost effective
means to increase the size of the
beef herd. The options are: raise
your own within herd replacement
heifers, purchase bred heifers or
purchase cows (either open or
bred with a calf at side or bred
with no calf). The question of
which is the most economical
alternative is difficult to answer
and many aspects of each option
must be evaluated. Let’s eximine
them.
First, raising home-bred
females into productive herd
replacements involves a strong
commitment to nutrition and herd
health beginning at the time the
heifer calf is chosen as a potential
replacement, usually at weaning
time. The decision to keep a
weaned heifer calf for develop
ment into a herd replacement is
complicated by the relatively high
price being paid today for weaned
feeder heifers, in the range of
$B6-$94/cwt. For comparison pur
poses, we will assign an average
value of $90.00/cwt to feeder heif
ers averaging 525 lbs at weaning.
This translates into an opportunity
cost of $472.50 per head if the
calves were sold at weaning. Next,
we must add to this opportunity
Table 1. Home-Raised Replacement Hcife'
Cost Item
a) Heifer value at weaning
(assuming 525 lb heifer worth 9Oolb.
b) Feed-interest-labor
weaning through breeding (year 2)
c) Feed-interest-labor
breeding thru weaning of Ist calf (year 3)
Total Cost
Returns
Ist calf weaned (year 3)
475 lb at 9001 b
Net cost of raising a home-bred replace
ment through weaning of her first calf
($1,109.80 - $427.50) =
Next, let’s examine the option
of purchasing a bred heifer from
outside the farm. The basic costs
will remain the same for each pro
duction period but the difference
will be the time frame required to
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cost, the cost of raising the heifer
until she calves as a 2 year old and
produces the first return to your
investment (her first weaned calf).
Two critical periods in the
development of replacement heif
ers include the time from weaning
to breeding (usually over the first
winter) and the period from breed
ing to calving. Nutrition is the crit
ical component in the heifer man
agement program during these
periods of rapid development As
a result the feed and management
costs associated with raising a
replacement heifer through calv
ing are relatively high. The time
period to consider would involve
breeding heifers at 15 months of
age to calve as 2 year olds and
wean their first calf 210 days later
in total, close to a 3-year commit
ment
For this estimate, we will use
$lO3/ton com grain and $9O/ton
grass legume hay, along with the
appropriate minerals, as part of a
diet to achieve 1.25 lbs gain/day
from weaning to breeding. Dietary
adjustments will then be made to
carry the heifer through calving
and up until the time she weans
her first calf. Labor and interest on
investment are also considered.
Table 1 outlines the costs asso
ciated with raising a retained heif
er calf through the time she weans
her first calf.
receive the first return from the
investment. If we consider the
same 3 year time frame, as out
lined in Table 2, there will be 2
calves weaned from the purchased
bred heifer over the same invest
ment period.
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Table 2. Purchase of a Yearling Bred Heifer
Cost Item
a) Original purchase of bred yearling heifer
(845 lbs)
b) Feed-labor-interest from purchase to weaning of
first calf (2nd year)
c) Feed-labor-interesl until weaning of 2nd calf
(3rd year)
Retumi
a) Ist calf 475 lbs at 900
b) 2nd calf 500 lbs at 900
A third option for consideration fated for growing heifers and
is purchasing a mature (4-5 year weaned calf weight will be slight
old) bred cow. Feed costs will be ty (5%) greater. Table 3 outlines
estimated at 80% of those calcu- the mature cow situation.
Table 3. Purchasing Bred Mature (4-5 year old) Cows,
Cost Item
a) Original purchase
b) Feed-labor-interest
c) Feed-labor-interest
Return!
a) Calf weaned year 1, 525 lb at 850
b) Calf weaned year 2, 525 lb at 850
$ Invested
472.50 (opportunity cost)
290.70
346.00
$1,109.80
$ Returned
427.50
$ 682.30
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Total invested
Net cost of purchased bred heifer at
end of 3rd year =
Year 1
Year 2
Total cost
Total Net Cost =
346.60
$1,593.20
$ Returned
427.50
450.00
$ 877.50
$ Returned
446.25
As you can see from these com
parisons, there is very little eco
nomic difference between the
three situations. The bred mature
cow option had the highest net
cost but the original purchase cost
may be slightly high. This figure
could easily be adjusted to reflect
any offered purchase price in a
given situation. Also, all three
situations make the assumption
that weaned calf prices will
remain relatively high over the
next 3 years. Feed and production
costs will vary from farm to farm
but on the average, these estimates
will be quite accurate. Generally,
raising replacement females is
more expensive than first realized
by cow-calf producers.
Yearling bred heifers that can
be purchased for $B5O or less
would appear to be an attractive
option. Also, depending on the
genetic quality of the existing herd
compared to that which is avail
able on the outside, the beef pro
ducer may wish to credit some of
the cost of purchasing a bred heif
er to genetic improvement and
herd progress.
Finally, there is no easy answer
to the raise them or buy them
question. Here are some addition
al thoughts to help with the
decision-making process.
• Push a pencil and determine
the maximum amount you can
afford to pay for purchased
replacements based on your own
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feed, production and interest
costs.
$ Invested
• Examine your existing genetic
base and any need to expand or
improve it
900.00
• If purchasing mature cows,
remember that productivity will
be greatest from 4 to 8 years of
age.
346.60
• Choose your sources of pur
chased heifers and cows carefully.
The stockyard is not a good choice
for the purchase of breeding cattle.
One exception would be any spe
cial sales designed exclusively for
breeding/replacement stock.
• Herd dispersals or small local
breeders are usually a reliable
source of both purebred and com
mercial cattle.
$ 715.70
• If you buy bred females, get a
guarantee of pregnancy as part of
the purchase agreement.
• Ask about the herd health
practices being used within the
source herd and plan any vaccina
tions, boosters, etc., that will be
necessary to integrate the pur
chased animals into your own
herd.
$ Invested
1,100.00
277.25
Proper planning and sound eco
nomic analysis will help make
herd expansion a productive and
profitable process. Consider all
available alternatives along with
available genetics, time, labor and
management capabilities when
deciding how and when to best
expand your beef cow herd.
277.25
$1,654.50
446.25
$ 892.50
$ 762.00
Clinical Mastitis Records
Summarization of somatic cell
counts (SCC) on DHI records has
been useful to measure the extent
of subclinical mastitis in the herd.
Furthermore, tables have been
developed on the DHI reports to
evaluate the effect of stage of lac
tation, age and season. Review of
these tables lends insight into the
potential sources and management
causes of subclinical mastitis and
the cows that are involved. Once
the trends and cows are identified,
management decisions may be
made to improve the control of
mastitis in the herd.
While it is an excellent practice
to monitor subclinical mastitis in
the herd with DHi SCC, producers
may have reduced the subclinical
mastitis and somatic cell counts to
goal levels. In these herds, man
agement of clinical mastitis may
be the major concern. The ques
tion is “How does one objec
tively evaluate the extent of clini
cal mastitis in the herd?” Dr.
Deanne Morse, dairy Extension
specialist at North Dakota State
University presented a paper at
the 1991 annual meeting of the
National Mastitis Council in
Reno, Nevada, to address this
issue.
The first task was to define clin
ical mastitis from an economic
standpoint. On that basis, the
definition is: an episode of clinical
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