# No-depreciation cow-calf operation



## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

I don't know if this has been discussed here, but I found this article interesting. What are your thoughts?

https://www.farmprogress.com/marketing/consider-no-depreciation-cow-calf-operation


----------



## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

I'm intrigued, but with my small herd (26 this year), and the 'pets', makes it more difficult. Some cows are destined never to leave the farm it seems (not a profitable process, but keeps the better half happier). 

I suppose I would need to preg check and create a possible separate head/feeding system too. 

I mainly have a few cows to produce a couple of 4H calves for the grandkids and to have a 'market' for my sometimes washed hay (along with keeping the unfarmed damper areas mowed, along the creek). I just wish the cows would get an appetite for Canada thistles, Multi-flower Rose and Russian Olive. 

Larry


----------



## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

It certainly makes sense. 3 to 6 year old bred cows here seem to bring the most money at sales. Some years (like this year) the cull market isn't so good but the bred cow market is doing ok. The reason most buyers want a 3 to 6 year old cow IMO is that generally they are less work to calve out then heifers, they are also over the tough part of their lives for rebreeding.

Only downside I can see to doing something like this is that a person would be calving out double the heifers that they normally would if they kept that cow till she was open or sold due to age. Another possible downside is if your keeping your own heifers as replacements you'd never see which cows have longevity and fertility in their genes. I like to keep heifers out of cows that are over 10 and still productive.

How I manage my own cows is still probably the traditional way. Cull any opens, poor mothers, bad dispostition, and then every year I pick out a few of the oldest cows that then get run in a seperate pasture with no bull, wean the calves and sell those old cows before labor day. Might be able to run a bull with those cows and sell them as short term cows and maybe make a little more money but I don't.


----------



## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Its an interesting idea. Not sure i agree with it all. Some of it i think are location specific. The principle of it i can agree with. Keep trying to increase the value of your animals. But in my area a cow/calf pair always sells better than a bred cow. So better off to calf them out. I also thought of breeding all my heifers calf them out and keep the best ones and sell the rest. Bred heifers dont sell good here unless you have a big name behind them. But pair heifers with calf can sell excellent.


----------

