Can I still feed steers and make money with $3.00 bushel corn?

Yes, is the answer. The selling price and futures prices of fat cattle are at or near record highs, so they offset each other. By feeding whole shell corn and Holstein steers from lighter weights your feed efficiency is some of the best in the world. Will beef prices stay up? That is a loaded question but consider this. At the United States’ current consumption, we will be short of beef in couple of years without imports. And it will almost always be cheaper to produce beef here in the United States compared to other countries. Plus our quality is the best in the world. However, we still must keep in mind to buy cattle that we can money with. Don’t pay too much for feeder cattle based on your farming operation. Run projections on the profitability of cattle prior to purchase to know what you can pay to get your desired profit. The best part of this is that it is different on every farm to allow you different opportunities than your neighbor.

Is lowering your off farm purchases resulting in cheaper feed costs?

Do you know your cost per pound of gain or are you even able to estimate it? If your feed per pound of gain goes up ½ pound that adds 500# pounds more feed on a 1,000 pounds of gain or 9 bushel more corn. At $3.00 per bushel, that’s $27.00 more per steer! One ton of Tend-R-Leen finishes four steers typically, so it could be $108 more per ton.

Is saving $50 or more per ton of concentrate worth it? The feeding rate of the lesser expensive product needs to be considered to determine the actual cost. Also, was the product researched and designed for the type of feeding you are doing? Or is it cheaper on face value but costs more in the end with increased feed per pound of gain, lowered average daily gain, health and digestive problems, and poor quality finished steers resulting in lower profit because of added costs? Many also recommend after the low price per ton to feed a mineral and/or hay. Both add cost with hay from the extra labor to feed it and the wasted energy (corn) by the steer to digest it. If hay is needed to prevent digestive problems, then the ration and/or the management aren't balanced.

How does the ration you feed affect this? The ingredients used in concentrates affect the way the corn is digested. Tend-R-Leen has done over 45 years of research in this area to find the right combination of ingredients that supply a balanced ration and get the maximum digestion. Remember the rumen is

a fermentation vat, when grains are fermented they produce a lot of gas and heat and that is lost energy to the steer.

This is one of the reasons we recommend to leave the corn whole. The corn then by-passes the rumen to the small intestine to be digested similar to pigs. But for this to happen a number of things have to be in place, such as feeding proteins low in rumen degradability and high in rumen by-pass. In short, this means the proper protein make-up to aid digestion in the small intestine, mineral and vitamin balance, proper levels of Rumensin and Tylan, and sodium diacetate.

Sodium diacetate saves you about 6 bushels per steer and one ton of TRL feeds about 4 steers. That is 24 bushels per ton of Tend-R-Leen or $72. Because Tend-R-Leen has done

the research on feeding no-roughage to steers we have accurate data documenting the performance of our program. Can competitive programs give you accurate numbers or any at all? We put ours in a brochure and projection program available at www.tendrleen.com. Knowing and understanding your steers’ feed efficiency is very important all the time, but with feed costs close to 50% higher than a year ago it is a top priority.

Is your management doing everything possible to improve profitability?

Several of the key management practices include steer comfort, implants, vaccination and water. These all can affect performance and profitability in large ways. Steer comfort basically is the animal clean, having easy access to feed and water. The proper implant given at the proper time can result in an extra 99 pounds of gain. Proper vaccinations can result in improved health and we all know that healthy steers out gain poor ones. One big vaccination that is over looked is Clostridal (7-Way) with many times a proper booster not being administered. The results can be bloating, reduced feed efficiency, or worse, sudden deaths. Death loss is exactly that - a loss - something that will never be regained. A good vaccination program will cost around $7 to $15 per steer. It only has to save one steer out of 50 head to pay for it self. Water is a key element to feeding cattle, do they have plenty and what is the quality? Location of water can be overlooked. Do you ever sit down to eat and leave your water in the other room? Every time you want a drink, do you get up and go to get it. No! That may seem extreme but your total consumption would be less because of the inconvenience. That applies to steers. How close and easy is it for your steers to eat and drink?

To make a profit when feed prices are high you must learn to closely observe all parts of your operation.