The cattle that will be entering your herd, whether that is the replacements you raise or the ones that you buy will steer what direction your herd goes in the future. It is during times like these are where a producer must make their decisions based on sound business judgment. This is not the time to let emotions get the better of you.
When it comes to cattle buying there is no shortage of sellers. All you have to do is take a quick look around social media to find that out. There are a lot of sellers. But that does not mean that all of them are the right ones to go with. It will be up to you to wade through all of the noise. The key is to find the one that will be right for you. Here are 4 things that you can follow to make the right choice.
What is the breeder selling?
Now with this, you may be thinking “well, dud cattle!“. In the general term you will be right. But for the sake of this post that is not exactly what I am talking about. What I am talking about here is what is the segment of the industry that the seller is serving. Are they catering to the purebred, show ring, or simply commercial? Each of these segments has different goals and they do not always align with the others.
This is where knowing what your goals for your operation will come into play. Are you just looking for some crossbred cows or are you wanting to go the purebred route? Perhaps you are wanting to inject some genetics from a particular breed into your herd. Before you start looking you should plan out what your plan is for say the next 5 years. Doing this will prevent you from getting as lost in the weeds as it is while you are shopping.
Know the value
Before you start looking around at new cows or bulls to buy do 1 thing. You must figure out what your budget is going to be. It is important to know how much you can spend. This is so you do not get sidetracked on something you cannot afford. A good rule of thumb is that say a good bull is worth the value of 5 calves that he sires. So, if you know that calves have a value of $1,015 per head then the bull should cost at most $5.075. I go into more detail in how to determine the value of a bull in a previous post “Simple guidance for you in bull value”.
Whether you are looking at a bull or cows it is always a good idea to look at their EPDS. This will tel you how that particular animal performs as compared to the particular breed’s average. You will not find one that has high marks in all of the areas so you will need to decide which are important to you and go from them. If you have either 1st calf heifers of smaller cows then calving dificluty and birth weight might be a good place to start.
Visit with the potential breeder
Before you purchase any animals from this person it is a good idea to visit their operation. I mean you wouldn’t buy a new truck without visiting the car lot would you? This will give you an idea of the quality of their animals and how they will likely perform A pretty accurate rule is to not purchase animals that are more than 200 miles awayf from you. By keeping in this circle the cattle will be more acclimated to the environment where your ranch is located.
One thing that you can look at is how do they select which animals they keep and which animals they will get rid of or sell. This will tell you the business mind of the person that you will be buying from. If they have a strict selection process then you will know that the cattle they have will be of good quality. On the same hand, if they cannot bring themselves to let certain animals go then buying from them may not be the best idea.
Check out the pasture
If you will be buying cattle for the pasture or commercial operation it is a good idea to see them moving around the sellers pastures. This will reveal if there are any structural problems with the cattle. You want animals that can move around the pasture and, in the case of bulls, service the cows. Observe them as closely as possible to notice any lameness of feet probllems. Nothing could be worse for you than spending a lot of money on a new cow to just find out they have soft feet or something..
A way that you can check on the breeder themselves is by checking out htere previous customers. Do they have many repeat customers or not? This will give you an idea on the reputation of the person that you will be dealing with. One reference you could use to locate a potential breeder is by visiting a breed associations website or by going to the Cattle Exchange website here.
Look at their pedigrees and awards
The animals bloodline is a pretty good indicator of their future performance. How well the dam and sire do will tell you how the calf and their future calves will do. This is usally not too hard to find out because ranchers generally like to brag about how well their cattle do.
Awards and stuff can be nice but unless you are buring show cattle they should not be the only criteria. For commercial operations you want to see how they do out in the field and the weather. This is where knowing what exactly you want will come into play.
Anothre thing to be careful about is focusing too much on feed trials. Many breeders put their bull calves on intensive feed trials that are designed to show how many pounds of gain they are able to produce per day. This can show some impressive numbers but it is not guaranteed his offspring will gain the same way.
Do they stand by their products
This is where the breeders reputaion will come into play. Reputation is just as important as anything when it comes to buying cattle. Even though this industry is very much “our word is our bond” that does not mean there aren’t people with less than upstanding character.
The key thing here is that you should not rush into any purchases that you aren’t ready for. Buying cattle is a fairly expensive investment so it is ideal to get the best return possible. Intuition can be a good thing so if something does not feel right then might hold off on spending the money. If you are not fully confident in your abilities to pick cattle you should probably think about bringing someone you trust to help you out.