# Could someone explain cattle prices?



## Stretch

I want to eventually get into cattle farming and have been doing a lot of research lately.

One thing I can't figure out is when I hear or read about "live cattle" prices that are $70, I know they aren't selling the whole cow for $70.

Just how much exactly is the cattle farmer getting for a 1200 pound cow?

Any help would be much appreciated, I'm stumped.


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## swmnhay

$70 per 100 lbs.

So a 1200 lb animal would be $840

or .70 per lb.


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## Stretch

Thanks swmnhay!


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## Stretch

It seems like hay is a much more lucrative business than cattle


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## swmnhay

Stretch said:


> It seems like hay is a much more lucrative business than cattle


I do both.I don't like all my eggs in 1 basket.Cattle are a good way to get rid of oops bales.I might feed 10% of my hay and sell the rest.


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## mlappin

swmnhay said:


> I do both.I don't like all my eggs in 1 basket.Cattle are a good way to get rid of oops bales.I might feed 10% of my hay and sell the rest.


This^^, I have a good reputation for always hauling very nice hay to the auctions. The reason for that is I have at any one time 60-75 garbage disposals wandering around. Also hate store bought meat, just not the same as raising it yourself. If folks never see your oops bales, then from my experience they seem to pay more as they think you never have any oops.


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## baddog201

i do the same i have 50 brood garbage disposals thats a good term from them and usually around 100 with steers and everything around here and they get my junk hay or my silage bales which is actually really high quailtiy but it is hard to find a market for those. I also mix some cornstalk bales into their diet sometimes to. I got a buddy who lets me use thier tmr mixer that grinds up rounds and i will mix up a bale of cornstalks and bale of silage hay and its really cheap feed for them


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## downtownjr

Have to agree with not having all the eggs in one basket...lots of cheap hay around here...so I bought some more cattle last Friday. I bought some real nice 5x6 bales alfalfa and OG for just $25 a bale. I sold the best second and third cut we small squared...not a lot this year to some horse folks, which is a lot smaller market than it was a few years back. Pretty happy with what I bought, not worth making my own for that big of bale with good feed value in my opinion. Cattle have been good to me this year, although I do not have a lot. Hay so-so. First cut took a bath. Good luck and I would recommend you don't overdo it. I did overdo it last year with all I have going and about did again this year. Was to much...dropped it a little over a third of mine and custom for this year...dropping a bit more next year...putting out some more beans and increasing the cattle. Found out I am not as young as I used to be.


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## swmnhay

Yep cheap hay here too.Especially for med to poor hay.So what do we do?









Redoing my feedlot and putting up cattle shed.Make things easier especially in the winter.Few more head of cattle to eat a little more hay.

Went in with a "group" and filling a 800 hd feedyard.I'll be suppling all the hay for that.









So hopefully I will make more putting it threw cattle.


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