Backgrounding Or Stocker Budget
ELDON COLE
MT. VERNON, MO.
There are quite a few cow-calf folks who have sold their cows and gone to a stocker program which isn’t as confining as the cow.
The assumption used are to buy a 590 lb. steer and sell them at 815 lbs. Most of the stockers start at a lighter weight. Most carry the steers to 800 to 900 lbs. Using the MU budget they figure an average daily gain of 1.76 lbs. which sounds about right if part of the time they’re on “hot” fescue. Most stocker operators feed some supplement in order to get decent gains. I figure the energy supplement is surely needed if they target gaining 2 pounds or better. Steer gains normally are better the first 6 months of the year than in the last 6 months. Use a growth promoting implant and an ionophore in the supplement.
The labor figure used is 1.5 hours per steer. Once again, we value your labor as management too so it’s set at $14.97 per hour. That may seem too high on labor but if you buy the stockers yourself think of the hours you ring up at auctions just waiting for a nice package to come through the ring. ∆
ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri