Acting Bigger Could Benefit Ohio Beef Producers COLUMBUS, Ohio beef pro ducers who want to remain prof itable without increasing the size of their herds could try act ing bigger, said Jeff McCutcheon, agriculture and natural resources agent at the Perry County office of Ohio State University Extension. By working together and agreeing to follow similar man agement practices, beef produc ers located near each other could cut production costs by buying supplies in bulk and increase prices received by selling larger combined loads of uniform calves, McCutcheon said. Several groups of Ohio farm ers are trying to do just that, including the Ohio Pro-Beef Alliance formed in February. McCutcheon points to a group in Virginia - the Buckingham County Cattlemen’s Association - as an example of what Ohio’s groups might achieve. “The group’s average cowherd size is about 30 head, and many members are only part-time operators,” McCutcheon said. “By the early 1990’5, several members were faced with the On The 6100 Series Rigid And Vertical Fold Planters. Precision farming starts with precision seed placement. And that’s exactly what you’ll get with the White 6100 Series planters. Our pull-type planters feature an exclusive air-metering system that’s designed to singulate every seed. Its low air pressure, edge-drop seed discs and short, 18” seed drop ensure precise seed placement for maximum germination. Adaptable To Any Tillage Situation. Our 4,6,8 and 12 row planters have the flexibility to meet most tillage decision of getting bigger or get ting out of cattle. The group decided its biggest asset was vol ume buying power.” They began to co-purchase mineral supplements, vaccina tions, ultrasound pregnancy checks and a breeding package in bulk, which dropped their individual costs, he said. “For example, the group began to buy 74 tons of mineral supplements at $l2 a bag when they started several years ago, and today they’re up to 180 tons at $6 a bag,” McCutcheon said. Four years age, the Virginia group began marketing its calves in combined trailer loads of 50,000 pounds, a weight that optimizes transportation costs and is preferred by most mar kets, he said. Each load of calves fits within a 150 pound weight range, is quality assured and graded by a Virginia Department of Agriculture live stock grader, and has similar health and genetics. “Like most feeder calf produc ers, they used to haul their cat tle to the local livestock market, have them sorted by weight, The Mark, Set, Grow! practices both now and in the future. They’re built rugged with a massive 7” x 7” frame and strong, welded tongue design to handle the demands of heavy residue. Add a 6900 splitter attachment for interplant capability. This season get the planter that places each seed where it’ll grow the best and perform the best. Stop by your AGCO® White Planter dealer today. grade and color, and sell them for whatever price they could get,” McCutcheon said. “The group now commingles loads of feed calves and sells by tele-auc tion. If they had stayed indepen dent with a 30-cow herd aver age, none of them could have filled a 50,000-pound trailer load with feeder calves.” The group has reaped about $5O per head premium on 500- pound to 599-pound steers by using this marketing method, he said. “If Ohio producers can agree on similar management prac tices, breeding packages and suppliers while avoiding person ality conflicts, they could experi ence similar success by acting bigger,” McCutcheon said. Many of Ohio’s beef produc ers are in a similar situation as the Virginia producers. About 95 percent of Ohio’s 17,000 beef operations have fewer than 50 cows and, working alone, cannot buy in bulk or fill a uniform, 50,000-pound trailer load, he said. Twenty producers from Pickaway, Ross, Hocking, Scioto, QB WHITE Lftg co ) PLANTERS PRECISION PERFORMANCE Pike and Highland counties are members of the Ohio Pro-Beef Alliance, and other similar groups are forming in Wood and Carroll counties. We’re in a membership mode right now, trying to get more producers to participate,” said Mike Estadt, agriculture and natural resources agent at the Pickaway County office of Ohio State University Extension who helped create the Ohio Pro-Beef Alliance. “We’ve got about, 1000 cows, but we’d like to see 3,000 in the alliance.” The group already orga nized a mineral purchase and plans to but seed, medications and other inputs in bulk to take advantage of economies of scale, Estadt said. “The input savings are there, but the real benefit should be in the marketing of 50,000-pound lots of calves with similar, known genetics, a small weight range, and the same vaccina tions and weaning procedures,” See Your AGCO White Dealer Listed Below. Delaware Georgetown Baxter Farms Maryland Dayton J.D. Mullinix Pennsylvania Bechtelsville Miller Equipment Bethel Zimmerman’s Farm Service Elizabethtown Hernley’s Farm Equip Glen Rock Wertz Farm & Power Equip. Greencastle Meyers Implements Klingerstown Stanley’s Farm Service Lebanon Umberger’s of Fontana Oakland Mills Peoples Sales & Service Somerset Lincoln Supply Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 1, 2000-D5 he said. “We expect that calves marketed through the alliance will be worth more than calves going through the weekly sales.” It is hard to say what the financial benefits of group mar keting could be, but a similar program in lowa has earned about $l5 to $25 more per head, Estadt said. By combining their resources, the members of the Ohio Pro- Beef Alliance also hope to improve herd genetics through artificial insemination and the use of top performing bulls, and use the latest technologies for record keeping and performance and carcass data collection. For more information about the Ohio beef groups forming to explore the advantages of acting bigger, contact Estadt at (740) 474-7534, Ray Wells at the Ross County Extension office at (740) 702-3200, Dan Frobose at the Wood County Extension office at (419) 354-9050, or Mike Hogan at the Carroll County Extension office at (330) 627- 4310. BUY, SELL, TRADE OR RENT THROUGH THE CLASSIFIED ADS IN Lancaster Farming PHONE 717-626-1164 OR 717-394-3047 FAX 717-733-6058 Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri. 8 AM to 5 PM Thurs. 7 AM to 5 PM
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