Tend-R-Leen: The original no-roughage feeding program

There are some key considerations to look at when you are deciding to start feeding out steers or if you are looking at expanding your current operation. By taking the following factors into account before you start, you will be able to develop a strategy and business plan that will work best for you.

The key factors to consider are:

Labor
Facilities
Manure handling
Feed sources
Cattle sources
Your desired income/profit
Cash flow

Labor

Will you be able to provide all the necessary labor or will you be hiring additional employees? Do you need full time or part time labor? If you will be hiring labor, you need to consider the availability in your area. Is labor easy to find in your locale? This may depend on the time of day you require the work to be done and how flexible you and/or your employees are. What type of labor is needed: working cattle, feeding, handling manure, or caring for baby calves? Are you looking for someone with knowledge and experience or are you willing to train someone in? Finding employees that can take initiative and are willing to learn can be a valuable asset to your operation.

Facilities

Assess the facilities that are currently available to you, whether you own or rent. Different types of facilities will have different labor requirements. Are the buildings open front sheds or enclosed with end doors? How is the ventilation in the building? Will additional ventilation (fans/curtains/etc.) need to be added? Is it a cement lot or a dirt lot? You also need to consider the climate in your area. Weather plays a major factor in the type of shelter required for cattle.

What types/ages of cattle will you be raising? Baby calves require far different facilities than feeder or fat cattle. The location of the steer operation is also another point to look at. Is it where you live or do you need to drive to a different location? Finally, you need to consider costs. What is the cost to maintain the current facility? What is the cost to build new? By evaluating your current facilities, you can determine whether to utilize what you have, build new, or look for a facility to rent.

Manure Handling

The average cost for manure handling at 85% capacity is $3.65 per steer space on a conventional roughage ration. This figure includes pen scraping, manure removal, and maintenance cost. The Tend-R-Leen no-roughage program produces 45-50% less manure, thus reducing the cost about $150 for every 100 steers per year. Other questions to ask yourself are:

Ø When and where will the manure be spread?

Ø What type and amount of storage is required?

Ø What type of bedding do you have available or what will work best with your facilities?

Ø If your steers are on slats, how will you handle the liquid manure?

Feed Source

The type of ration you plan to feed your cattle is a major consideration. How available are the feedstuffs you will need, how does cost variations figure into your ration, and how will you store the feed? Corn is an excellent choice as the basis for your feeding program because it is easy to handle and store, and if you don’t raise your own, it is readily available in most markets. You can also lock in the price of your corn for future needs.

Feeding forage presents more variables to address in your operation. What is the actual cost to store forage? Loss, shrink, and spoilage can increase the cost per ton by up to 16%. This would average about $4/ton on corn silage and $12/ton on hay. That adds another $200-300 per 100 steers of shrink loss per year. This amount could be even more depending on the amount of forages you feed.

How will you feed your steers? Will you have bunk line feeding or utilize self feeders? Obviously, the cost to run a feeder wagon or TMR every day will be higher than the cost of feeding steers out of a self feeder. Self feeders require less labor and have lower equipment costs.

What protein source should you use? While by-products may seem like a good choice, you need to weigh in these factors:

When properly balancing the ration for protein, you need to factor in the type of feeding program and the type of cattle being fed. Holstein steers have a 20% higher maintenance requirement than beef breeds. Therefore, a ration balanced for an 1,100 lb. Angus for 3.25 ADG, will only support 2.65 ADG on a 1,100 lb. Holstein. Roughage feeding also requires a different protein source than a no-roughage, whole shell corn diet. The Tend-R-Leen no-roughage program not only provides the proper amount and type of protein, it also supplies vitamins, minerals, and additives like Rumensin and Tylan.

Whether you will be starting baby calves or purchasing feeders, determine the availability and flexibility of your desired cattle type. Will you easily be able to purchase the quantity that you want, when you want them? Look for cattle that have a sound vaccination and feeding history. Also consider how far they will need to be trucked and what the freight will cost. Finally, ask yourself what is the marketability of your end product and what costs are involved?

This may be the most important factor in making a decision about your steer operation. There are three types of operations that take into consideration the types of cattle produced and the number of times a year those cattle are turned over. Following are examples:

Visit www.tendrleen.com to download the free economic projection program and calculate your profit using your own numbers.

Are you looking to increase your profit margin on corn? You can add $0.75 to $2.00 per bushel by feeding it to steers on the Tend-R-Leen program. Another way to look at the profit potential in feeding out steers is to look at the added income to a dairy farm.

A 100 cow dairy that produces 50 steers per year at $170 profit/steer, will see an additional profit of $8,500 with limited resources needed for feeding the Tend-R-Leen program.

The profit potential is definitely there, but how does this all cash flow? What impact does raising steers have on your mnthly income and expenses?

Raising Tend-R-Leen no-roughage steers offers a relatively quick return on investment. While there may be some initial capital investment, you can manage your costs and reduce your risk by focusing on three points:

Run a projection at several different prices to evaluate what it does to your break even. Check current market prices.

If you have the feed available on farm, you know your cost to produce the feed. Corn on hand offers you more flexibility because it can easily be marketed if you have more than you need to feed, or if you discontinue the feeding operation. If you need to purchase corn, you can lock in the price for future needs. Roughage (forage) is less flexible and requires more labor.

How can you take the price risk out of purchasing your protein source? Yes, you can lock in your by-product price or get discounts, but only on larger quantities, which require you to have more storage and deal with any spoilage or loss. Tend-R-Leen currently has a booking program that will allow you to lock in your price of concentrate for 6 to 12 months, and does not require a large quantity to book. This program will eliminate market fluctuations in your protein price and allow you to plan your cash flow. See the adjoining column for more details about the booking program.

By marketing your cattle on a regular basis throughout the year, you will average out the highs and lows and help to avoid receiving lower prices for your cattle.

The decision to start raising steers or expand an existing operation is a personal one as well as a business one. Taking into consideration the points discussed here, as well as your personal and business goals, can aid you in deciding which route is best for you and your operation.