Benefits Of The Steer Feedout
Could this steer be a Feedout winner next year? His herdmates consistently rank in the top 3 or 4 groups in the Missouri Feedouts.
Photo supplied
ELDON COLE
MT. VERNON, MO.
Entries are now accepted for the next Missouri Steer Feedout. The entry deadline is October 10 with November 2 the actual weighin date.
An entry consists of at least five head or more of steers born after January 1, 2021. We prefer they have been weaned 45 days. They must be dehorned, castrated and healed by delivery. As for other immunizations, two rounds of modified live vaccines are required.
Steer should weigh over 500 lbs. at delivery.
The usual pickup locations will be in northeast Missouri at the Paris Veterinary Clinic, Paris and in southwest Missouri at Joplin Regional Stockyards near Carthage. Following weighin, the calves will be evaluated by graders from the Missouri Department of Agriculture and a price will be put on them. The pricing helps at the conclusion of the feedout when profitability will be calculated.
Once again, the steers will be fed in a feedlot in southwest Iowa as part of the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity. Complete carcass data will be gathered at Tyson’s, Dakota City, Nebraska.
The TCSCF folks combine the set-in price, feedlot performance and carcass value to arrive at which steers were the most profitable during the finishing phase. This information helps participants make breeding stock decisions and decide whether they should retain ownership in the future.
Since the first Missouri Feedout in 1981, 369 different herds have entered a total of 7908 steers. A high percentage of consignors have participated numerous times while many only make one entry. As one regular participant said, “you get hooked on seeing if your next crop of calves are better than the last.”
Consignors who load at JRS also have the opportunity to see what market folks, order buyers and others from the beef industry think of their feeders. A part of that is a feeder panel grading and audience participation of each group of calves. This is part of the Southwest Missouri Cattlemen’s monthly educational series. So, even though they don’t send steers themselves to be looked at attendees they can hear what the panel thinks of different breeds, body condition, frame sizes and general appearance. All in all there’s plenty of good natured ribbing that gets done along with education.
The Feedout does offer participant other attractive perks. The only up- front money is a $20 per head entry fee payable by October 10. There will be no periodic feed bills as all expenses will be deducted from your final check. If you send 10 or more steers, you may request a cash advance once the steers arrive in Iowa. The advance cannot exceed 50 percent of the initial market value of the cattle.
If you wish for more details, contact your nearest University of Missouri Extension field specialist in livestock. You may also check
out: https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/CountyPages/Lawrence/Docs/feedout-brochure.pdf for the brochure or for a copy of the entry form go to: https://extension.missouri.edu/media/wysiwyg/Extensiondata/CountyPages/Lawrence/Docs/feedout-entry-form.pdf ∆
ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri