Mart Price Tracker

blue5000 wrote: »

I don't be in the mart too often but I hear larry is giving up to 1.90 a kg for these sorts.

Bass I hear what you're saying on the AA quality, but it's hard to blame breeders who sell 90% of their bulls to dairymen who want an easy calving bull, for not taking a chance on better quality cattle.

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Yeah, the calf is a byproduct to get the cow milking. It's very easy to say use beefier cattle but, for heifers especially, an easier calving will get more heifers back in calf earlier than a heifer with a dead bull calf and not able to stand.

Saying that though, KYA and AA2025 would be ticking most of those boxes.

I do not blame the dairyman, what i am saying is that I as a trader am reluctant to buy AA bred cattle for finish. While Larry may be buying them for his feedlots, there may be a couple of reasons, he may be finding it harder to get finishers to finish them however he is using these feedlots to control the price of beef. It is accepted that he loses money on the beef finishing operations but that these losses are dwarfed by the price control that they allow him during the Christmas slaughter period.

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Ah, you will have to explain that one!

First off all labour is hired and all stock buying is contracted out. Both of these are large costs that most finishers do themselves. Most of there buyers are known and are pushed a bit at the ring.

While they would have the ability to buy in feed cheaper than even some of the larger finishers this would not offset the other costs. There foray into HEX calf buying 3-4 years ago was not repeated due to calf losses and costs involved they sold these calves to finishers who contracted to sell them at finish to ABP.

They have leased out some finishing units where they supply the feed and the stock and the owner feeds. In these cases more than one feedlot owner has commented that the cost of production leaves no margin. You have to remember that winter finishing is a low margin game with even the most efficient and some of the shrewdest operators struggling at the best of times.

But LG dose not need to make money out of these cattle they are used to support the kill at certain times and to keep a lid on prices. If Larry can control the price at these times it is easier to drop prices when the supply changes.

Bass Reeves wrote: »

First off all labour is hired and all stock buying is contracted out. Both of these are large costs that most finishers do themselves. Most of there buyers are known and are pushed a bit at the ring.

While they would have the ability to buy in feed cheaper than even some of the larger finishers this would not offset the other costs. There foray into HEX calf buying 3-4 years ago was not repeated due to calf losses and costs involved they sold these calves to finishers who contracted to sell them at finish to ABP.

They have leased out some finishing units where they supply the feed and the stock and the owner feeds. In these cases more than one feedlot owner has commented that the cost of production leaves no margin. You have to remember that winter finishing is a low margin game with even the most efficient and some of the shrewdest operators struggling at the best of times.

But LG dose not need to make money out of these cattle they are used to support the kill at certain times and to keep a lid on prices. If Larry can control the price at these times it is easier to drop prices when the supply changes.

I heard a figure of 4e per head per day to the lucky owner of the unit.