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Cole: Making Sense from Feedout Data
Missouri Ag Connection - 01/21/2019

The latest results from the 2018 Missouri Steer Feedout are in, and now it is up to the 16 participants to analyze the data to sort out their herd's strengths and weaknesses.

"Showing a profit is nice, but most cow-calf raisers find the feedout helps make breeding stock decisions that ultimately aids their reputation as quality producers of beef cattle," said Eldon Cole, field specialist in livestock with University of Missouri Extension.

The recent feedout concluded in late December and it began in early June. The steers were born in the fall of 2017. The 129 head were from southwest, northeast and northwest Missouri. From their origin, they ended up at Kennedy Cattle Company near Atlantic, Iowa.

Cooperating with data collection and feeding was Iowa's Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity. The cooperative group works with Iowa State University and southwest Iowa feedlots to provide performance and economic results for cow-calf raisers across the United States.

During this feedout, the average return per head was a negative $158.94. The range in returns went from -$41.85 to $470.66.

"The feedout program does not dole out high-dollar prizes, just data that participants can use. Unfortunately, no group of steers showed a profit his feedout," said Cole.

The top three groups with the least money lost during the finishing phase were: Keuper Farms, LLC, Ionia, (-$41.85); Weaver Forest, Verona (-$47.13) and L and L Cattle Inc., Gower (-$49.48).

Twenty-two steers did show a profit. One steer stood out with a profit of $156.80; his owner was Steve Jones, Mt. Vernon. Features that helped the Angus-sired steer achieve that profit was an overall average daily gain of 4.40 pounds, his carcass grades were Choice, Certified Angus Beef, Yield Grade 3.4.

Right behind him with a profit of $153.22 was another Angus-sired steer from Charles Rosenkrans, Paris. His daily gain was 4.46 pounds and his carcass grade was Choice plus and Certified Angus Beef. His Yield Grade was 3.73.

One calculation that participants value is Retail Value per Day of Age. The number one steer in RVDOA came from Matt Dumm, Jasper on an Angus x Simmental crossbred. His RVDOA was $3.96. The average daily gain was 3.62 lbs, Choice minus, Yield Grade 1.82.

"He apparently never had a bad day in his life from birth to harvest," said Cole.

The feedout is not always a profitable venture from a dollar and cents standpoint.

"However, it does always provide information that is useful in determining if your program is on the right track. The more steers you feed, the sooner you'll know," said Cole.

One-bull herds - which are very common in southwest Missouri -- may not benefit as much from the feedout.

"But producers may be able to pool their calves or commingle them with other farms that have similar breed, weight and feedout results. Research clearly shows that larger numbers of cattle in the ring together receive more bidding activity," said Cole.

The next Missouri Steer Feedout for late-summer/fall-born calves will begin on June 4 with entries due by May 10. Details are available at http://extension.missouri.edu/lawrence/livestock.aspx

For more information, contact any of the MU Extension livestock field specialists in southwest Missouri: Eldon Cole in Lawrence County, (417) 466-3102; Andy McCorkill in Dallas County at (417) 345-7551; Dr. Randy Wiedmeier, in Ozark County at (417) 679-3525; or Dr. Patrick Davis in Cedar County at (417) 276-3313.


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