How are you managing high corn prices?
Corn prices are at record levels and a hot topic of discussion in cattle circles these days. How are some of you dealing with this increased expenese? Are you finding alternative feedstuffs to feed and get cows through the winter?
Related Topics: High Corn Prices, Small Producer Challenges
February 26th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I’m using corn gluten pellets and soybeam hull pellets to supplement my herd and grow replacement heifers. The mix is 50/50.
For growing herd bulls, I continue to provide a custom blend of cracked corn, soybean bran, soybean hulls, oats, and minerals.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I think that the current price of corn will be good for the beef industry. (it bugs me when people talk about high prices for any farm commodity, nothing compares with the cost of fuel, health care or machinery)
The first 4 to 600 lbs. of a beef animal is put on by nursing and grass, whereas pork or poultry animals use grain their whole life for their weight. With beef even after 4 to 600 a part of that gain is by roughage and not corn or grain. Poultry and pork have gained on beef because of cheap corn. So, don’t sweat the price of where corn & beans seem to be going. We have more problems with weather than other commodities. Worry about that. Maynard Whitmyre
February 28th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
To Phillip - What part of the US are you in? What do the pellets cost? Here in Maryland I’m paying $4.30 / bu for shelled corn. Great for the corn growers but terrible for livestock growers. There aren’t any ethenol plants anywhere near here.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:50 am
I have a small all natural beef program in New England. I finish black angus on a smidley steer stuffer and market direct to consumers and specialty shops. I did not see the high corn price coming when I bought it. I feed 90:10 whole shelled corn to protein pellet for a ration. We paid $208 per ton for corn this week. My biggest limitation for cost containment is I have not been able to put together a secondary ration that will flow from the self feeder as well as corn and pellets. I am looking for a suggestion to replace the whole shelled corn. As in Maryland we have no Ethanol plants and DDGS are actually more expensive still than the corn. The only way I can survive this is to continue direct to consumer sales where I can continue to increase my price to offset my procuction costs!
March 1st, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I just use strictly ear corn on my cows and calves and that is it. My cows have excellent body condition though out there pregnancy, and have healthy calves. I don’t skimp on the hay, I give them good quality hay, not ditch hay. When my calves start eating that is all they get is ground ear corn and hay. I supply them all with a lick liquid tank full of nutrients that last almost a year on my 10 cows and calves. I think we need to go back to a simpler way of finishing out steers like our grandparents did. My meat taste just as good as any one elses, and I don’t put near the corn in them that most people do. I think we rely on the corn to much to finish out our steers. Try just grass and a little corn. My spring calves are 550 to 600lbs by fall and I don’t use a lot of ear corn in there diet.
April 11th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
We felt the impact of the prices most in our beef feedlot, we countered this by picking all of our feed corn and cribbing it. We figured we about doubled the feed material per acre by picking the whole ear intead of shelling it, It definately lowered the protien and upped the fiber levels, but with an increased distillers grain supplement program we got our levels back in check, (and minimized the need for hay)We also baled all of the corn fodder we could and are using that for bedding in an effort to free up more potential corn ground and move away from wheat for next year . Just like any solution, however, these also create a new set of problems, but we have found these changes to be most beneficial for us.
June 7th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
[…] China becomes the factory of the world, and the ensuing flurry of economic development creates new demand in China for oil and gas, and this raises fuel prices, which in turn causes the U.S. to turn to corn for biofuels, which in turn causes corn prices to rise, which then raises animal feed prices, which in turn causes pork prices to rise, which causes unrest in China. […]
January 10th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Times change. Cattle will spend more time on grass which is better for those local economies anyway.
Ruminants Btw, were originally designed by God to process grass anyway.
Waste protien supp products like cotton cake ( DDS IF one can get it reasonably..big if on that ) have a use.
Heavily mechanized infrastructure systems are truly priced to crude oil now, so some cows get to ace out outfits like John Deere in the production schematic.
Since high corn will quite possibly cause a 50% reduction in the chicken and pork complexes, cattle may eventually have allot Less future protien market competition.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:39 am
We use to feed 3 dollar corn to 70 dollar fat cattle and make money! $5 dollar corn to 90 dollar cattle can work. Problem is other cost of production are a lot higher. Therefore RFI and Genetics will play a big part in Future Profitability in the Beef Business. We are going to find out in the near future the real good cattle out there. We will also find out those seedstock producers that have been blowing a lot of smoke…..Watch the RFI results from Midland Bull Test this Spring.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Why use corn for fuel?
Thanks to http://www.hempcar.org/hempfacts.shtml
FUEL:
Planting 6% of the continental U.S. with biomass crops would satisfy all America’s energy needs.
Hemp is Earth’s number-one biomass resource; it is capable of producing 10 tons per acre in four months.
Biomass can be converted to methane, methanol, or gasoline at a cost comparable to petroleum, and hemp is much better for the environment.
Hemp can produce 10 times more methanol than corn.
Hemp fuel burns clean. Petroleum causes acid rain due to sulfur pollution.
The use of hemp fuel does not contribute to global warming.
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