Dr. Ron Gill, Joe Don Pogue, and Dr. Ellen Jordan, served as the panelists for Friday's seminar on how to
add value to your cull cows, as they came to market.

 

"Here's the Beef!!!"

Local Cattlemen Learn About How To
Add Value to Their Cull Cows

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Local cattlemen gathered at Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission Company on Friday for a day of learning all about the ways to add value to their cull cows, when it came time to market them as beef. "Everyone wants to think of a cow as out in the pasture raising a calf or in the dairy parlor giving milk, but ultimately, if she lives long enough, she's going to be marketed here at the sale barn as a cull cow," reminded Don Smith, local cattlemen and beef and dairy producer, as he introduced the speakers for Friday's "Value Added Market Cow" Seminar. "We need to know how to maximize the profits of our cull cows, to make educated business decisions!"

Friday morning's "packed" crowd at Sulphur Springs Livestock were given a live demonstration, courtesy of Joe Don Pogue, Co-Owner of the livestock company, as he had purchased a number of cows on Monday, at the sale, to demonstrate the different conditions and types of cull cows. Pogue, along with Dr. Ellen Jordan and Dr. Ron Gill, Dairy and Livestock Specialists from Texas A&M University Extension Service, took each cow and described the scores given to them for quality and cutability, so that livestock producers could know how the cull cows were evaluated, when they came to market.

 

A "packed" crowd of local livestock and dairy producers were at Sulphur Springs Livestock and Dairy Auction,
on Friday, to learn about how to maximize profits, when they marketed their cull cows.

 

 

"There are business decisions to be made," expressed Dr. Jordan. "If a cow is continuing to make money in the milking parlor, you might want to keep her for a longer period of time, when she will not breed back. However, when she begins to gain weight and consume more feed than she is producing milk, it's time to make a decision to sell her, when she will bring the maximum profit, at the sale barn. Your profits depend on marketing her at the right time!"

"The same is true for beef cattle," expressed Dr. Ron Gill. "The ol' stocker cow that is out in the pasture raising a calf, needs to be either adding weight to her baby or adding profitable weight to herself, to make a profit, or you are losing money. With some cull cows bringing in excess of 60 cents per pound, you as a producer need to be astute enough to know when to market her for maximum profit!"

Gill then outlined that the three number one reasons for marketing cull beef cows were: age, pregnancy status, and needing the money to purchase a new washing machine, a new living room suit, or to make a down payment on a new vehicle. "We cull cows based on these factors and we need to know when it is best to market them," continued Gill. "Listen, to what Joe Don Pogue is telling you, as he auctions your cull cows every Monday, right here at the market, and he knows what his buyers are looking for!"

 

Live cattle were brought into the ring and "broken down" according to weight, class, and scores to help the
local cattle producers learn what to look for, when marketing their cull beef and dairy animals, to make
them bring the most money.

 

"A cow is the only class of livestock that brings more per pound, as she gains weight," expressed Joe Don Pogue. "Up to a point, it pays you to let the ol' cull cow gain weight and add to her weight, where she will be more profitable on the rail!"

"Beef cattle are scored on a system of scores from 1-9," exclaimed Gill.

"And, cull dairy cattle are scored on a basis of 0-5," explained Dr. Ellen Jordan, Dairy Specialist, with the Texas Agriculture Extension Service.

"When you have a beef cow, that is scored '4' or less, it pays you to let her gain weight on pasture, or even with some supplementation, to make her market at a higher price," explained Pogue. "You can add to her value, and make money, putting a little bit of weight on her, before bringing her to the market!"

 

 

 

With live demonstrations of animals that met the various criteria for the market classes, the three members of the panel, explained how to add value to cull cows. Then, they were cautioned on how to handle the cull cows to maximize profits in their operation and how to add value to the animals.

 

When this red cow, showing good fleshing entered the ring, Joe Don Pogue, co-owner of Sulphur Springs Livestock
stated, "I could sell animals like this all day, because when she enters the ring, there will be nine out of ten
buyers wanting to take her home with them, as she has adequate fleshing to look good on the rail. Folks, this
is what you are looking for in a cull cow, to bring maximum dollars!"

 

A beef lunch was served and then cattlemen were given a demonstration on how the carcasses of their animals were evaluated and sold, at the packinghouse. Question and answer sessions were offered throughout the presentations, where local cattlemen could ask questions and receive pertinent information, useful to their own operations.

"This was a very informative seminar!" expressed one local cattlemen. "You were able to ask questions and learn about what you could do to improve the profitability of your own operation. I liked that and being able to ask questions!"

The seminar ended at 3:00 p.m., with many local cattlemen standing and continuing to ask questions of those on the panel, for Friday's informative seminar.

 

Cull dairy animals, leaving the milking herd, were also discussed at Friday's seminar and tips were given as
to when was the best time to market them, for maximum profit. "You need to market them long before you see
knots in their udder and flank, that indicates that they have cancerous tissue, and lower their carcass value,"
cautioned Joe Don Pogue, local auctioneer.

 

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