Should you keep or sell open cows?

There are many questions a cow/calf producer faces over the course of a 10 month calving cycle, but none are as important as what to do with the open cow that misses a calf. Should she be sold immediately after checking open or should she be put with a bull and try to get her bred back quickly? Is there one correct answer that covers all situations? Today we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of what to do when this situation comes up.

The obvious answer for years based on research done at most major land grant universities was to sell the open cow. No matter how the agriculture economist’s put the pencil to various scenarios the final answer always came up it didn’t pay to hold over the cow and wait 16-18 months to get any return. (This assuming she did breed back which was not guaranteed). Sell the cow, and turn around and put those dollars back into something bred was the common answer.

It was hard to argue with this advice because on paper it clearly made sense plus was economically the right decision. Granted, some genetically good cows made early trips to the packing house. But the bottom line was always, open cows don’t make you money.

So with those facts in hand, does this rule of thumb still apply on today’s high priced cattle market? Well to be quite honest, the high priced cattle market has muddied the waters a bit and in some cases it may be beneficial to keep the open cow and go against the rules. Here’s why.

In the past producers were always able to take the return dollars from the open cow and be able to buy back something already bred at a reasonable price. However, because of the shortage of females available that can’t be said of today. For example, two weeks ago at the Marion County Bred Heifer Sale, bred heifers due to calve in the fall averaged nearly $2400 with some baldies fetching nearly $2800 per head. If a 1300 lb. open weigh cow brings $1300, then it still takes another $1100-$1500 to buy back one that is bred. That is pretty much the value on today’s market of a 600 lb., eight month steer calf ($1200).

In other words, by keeping the open cow and taking a chance she will breed back during the next breeding season, you’re giving up one year’s calf income which is about $1200. This is roughly the same amount you would be adding to the open cows dollars received to buy back the bred heifer.

If the open cow you held back did breed back the next time, then three years down the road you are about even with where you would be by buying a replacement bred heifer the first year. The real problem is,m however, if the open cow you held back did not breed back the second time around, then you have lost one full year’s income from a marketable calf.

In a nutshell, whenever a cow checks open there is never a real good answer on what to do next. Super high cattle prices of replacement females has even made this decision more complicated.

Personally I would not be afraid to give a good, young cow the benefit of the doubt and give her a one year free pass if she came up open. Cows that are heavy milkers can be slow to breed back when they are 3-5 years old because not only are they trying to raise a calf but are still growing themselves. Finding these aged cows for replacements is almost impossible.

Neither answer to the open cow problem is going to pay huge dividends by making the right call, but due to the high cost of replacement heifers in today’s market, a producer can about break even on both choices.

‘Til next time, keep putting on the pounds!

Steve