Cattle Preconditioning: Does The Month, Sex, Weight & Length Of Weaning Period Make A Difference?

Producers who precondition calves or are considering doing so may find interesting the results of research into the most profitable time of year to precondition calves. Laura Cantwell Howard, UT Extension area farm management specialist, conducted the research, which looked at historical preconditioning returns from 1995 through early 2009. She studied how several factors affected preconditioning returns: starting weight; sex, steers and heifers; month of weaning; preconditioning time period; and whether certain months of the year were more profitable. UT’s buy-sell margin calculator was used to determine which months had the largest gross margin (the difference between the gross value if sold right off the cow and the gross value after preconditioning) for 45- and 60-day preconditioning periods. For calves born in the spring, the weaning months of October, November and December had the greatest gross margin. For calves born in the fall, the months of May, June and July had the largest gross margin, though a good bit smaller than for the spring born calves. The reason is that prices are usually declining from spring into the summer months.

A few assumptions were made in conducting the research. Calves preconditioned for 45 days were assumed to gain 1.75 pounds per day, while those preconditioned 60 days were assumed to gain 2 pounds per day. Preconditioned calves were assumed to shrink 2 percent less from farm to market compared to calves taken directly from the cow to a weekly auction. A 1 percent death loss was assumed for calves that were preconditioned compared to those sold right off the cow. Calves were fed a complete feed at 2 percent of body weight and the 2004 price of $160 per ton was adjusted each year using the USDA index of prices paid for complete feed by farmers. Finally, the preconditioned calves were given a $4 per hundredweight higher price assuming they were sold in a preconditioned sale.

The results revealed that in all cases the 60-day preconditioning period was more profitable than the 45-day period. Of all the alternatives considered for spring calving, heifer calves weaned at 550 pounds in December and preconditioned for 60 days were profitable every year and had net returns over feed and vaccine costs over the 1995 to 2008 period of $8.54 per head to $97.44 per head, averaging $50.48. Heifers weaned at 550 pounds in November and sold in January were profitable 93 percent of the years and averaged $47 per head, while those weaned at 450 pounds in December and sold in February averaged $44.54 per head. The next highest overall return alternative was for steers weaned at 450 pounds in December and sold 60 days later. They had returns of $6.91 to $95.82 and averaged $49.82 and were profitable every year. If those steers were weaned in November at 550 pounds for later sale in January, returns averaged $37.84 and only lost money ($4.75) one year. Steers weaned at 550 pounds in December and sold in February had average returns of $26.40, but if weaned in November and sold in January returns dropped to $22.30. Spring calves weaned in November and December and preconditioned for 60 days for sale in either January or February had higher average returns than those weaned in October and sold in December over the 14-year period.

The returns from preconditioning for fall calves were lower in all cases based on the previous assumptions. However, calves weaned in June and marketed in August had higher returns over the 14-year period than those weaned in May or July. This research is not intended to look at the profitability of fall calving versus spring calving, just the preconditioning months and length of period. It does point out the need for cow-calf producers to consider the marketing window or target. For a copy of this research, visit www.tnbeefcattleinitiative.org under “production” or call 1-800-345-0561.

Source: Emmit L. Rawls, Professor and Livestock Marketing Specialist, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

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