The Georgia Beef Board understands the value of your herd. Here is Wyatt Doolittle of the Georgia Beef Board to share his thoughts.
“So, we spend a lot of time talking about how strong cattle prices are right now. I think there’s another side of this market that we as producers have to think about as well. So, when cattle are worth more, our management mistakes are worth more too. Like on our latest averages from USDA right now, average herd size is about 39 head here in Georgia,” commented Doolittle.
“And then looking at what five weight ML1s are bringing at about $3.67 a pound means most of our calves here in the state of Georgia are worth around $2,100. Now just losing one calf isn’t 1% of the problem. That represents roughly 2.5% of your potential calf crop and over $2,000 in revenue,” said Doolittle
Doolittle added, “We lose two calves, now we’re down $4,000. But death loss isn’t the only place where poor management costs us. A calf that gets sick starts dropping weight, we get discounted because he wasn’t castrated early enough, or even just arrives at the sale barn poorly prepared, that leaves dollars on the table too.”
“So that’s why practices we talk about through Beef Quality Assurance matter even more right now in this market. Yes, vaccines cost money, deworming costs money, good facilities and nutrition cost. And the preconditioning calves, takes a little additional time and management,” Doolittle mentioned.
“But with calves north of $2,000 a head, we probably need to change the question. And instead of asking, what is it going to cost me to vaccinate, precondition or properly manage this calf? I think maybe the better question is, what is this calf worth protecting? Because good management has always paid. And at today’s Georgia cattle prices, the cost of getting it wrong has simply gotten a whole lot higher,” said Doolittle.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.