Replacement Dilemma
Should beef producers buy or raise replacements?
As cattlemen try to build back or expand their herds, some are keeping more heifer calves and some are purchasing additional replacements. There are many factors to consider when deciding whether raising or buying heifers is best. These include feed costs, labor availability and costs, environmental factors, genetics, prices, tax implications, etc.
It’s not always easy to figure out what might be best for your ranch — and it may change from year to year. Patrick Gunn, cow-calf specialist at Iowa State University, says management issues help drive this decision.
“It often comes down to infrastructure and how much control you want of your genetics,” he says. “You want to make sure you’ll be able to feed heifers separate from the mature cow herd. Even within a group of developing heifers, we often don’t have the uniformity we’d like to see in terms of age and weight. In some cases it’s best to manage heifers in more than one development group.”
For small herds, the number of animals may not justify the additional space required to adequately develop females, Gunn says. He suggests considering whether the amount of time and labor required to develop those females is justified, especially when daily rations are necessary.
If you only need a handful of replacements each year, it might be easier to buy them — if you can find the genetics you are looking for.
“If you really want to control every aspect of the genetics you are working with, developing your own females has some advantages,” he says.
This is especially true if you’ve worked for many years to develop the type of animal that works really well in your particular environment and ranch situation. If you have a rugged range operation rather than irrigated pasture, for instance, cattle that grow up on your ranch usually do a better job than anything you can buy. All too often the heifers you buy tend to fall out of the program. If you buy heifers, buy some that come from a similar background.
“Sometimes you can form a relationship with a breeder who produces the kind of cattle you know will work in your environment. Depending on the price of feed in any given year, you can often justify outsourcing your replacement females easier than you can develop your own, particularly in a high-input year,” Gunn says. “Custom developers with larger herds can probably get them fed cheaper than you can for just a few heifers.”
It depends on your own situation and resources.
“Here in row-crop country, some producers may not have a choice whether they get to buy or raise their own on any given year,” Gunn observes. “If they have large notes coming due on their row-crop situation when crop prices are not as good, they have to sell all their calves at weaning time, and then buy back some replacement heifers.”
Larger cattle operations can sometimes justify two groups of cows — one to raise females and another to raise terminal-cross calves for market.
“Depending on your goal and marketing program, if you are a smaller producer wanting to have a terminal cross, it may not be feasible to try to develop your own heifers,” he says. “There are plenty of sources to find replacement females economically, which enables you to minimize the number of bulls you’d need, and number of management groups to work with, so the size of your operation plays a role.”
You can glean good advice from professionals in the industry, but every rancher still needs to tweak it to fit their own situation, or determine whether or not the advice actually applies to them.
“No one recommendation fits all when it comes to replacement heifers,” Gunn says. “There are so many sizes, management practices and end goals for various operations. The decision may change from year to year for some producers based purely on economics.”
Editor’s Note: Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer and cattlewoman from Salmon, Idaho.