A few minutes spent with the calculator at the office desk can save cattle producers many dollars in the fields, says beef economist Sandy Russell.
Speaking at a seminar at the Saskatoon Fall Fair Nov. 17, she advised participants to take a business approach to managing forages.
“Understand your costs, make your grass work for you and take care of it over the long term.
“You have to look at things we can control,” said Russell, who works in livestock development with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Saskatoon.
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She said to begin by scrutinizing forages used for grazing, hay and winter feed, noting these represent two-thirds of the costs in a cow-calf operation.
“Try to do all you can to minimize these costs,” Russell said.
Average grazing costs in a 2003 cost-of-production analysis were 79-85 cents per cow per day. Average grazing days were 146-196 days.
The winter feeding period was 146-189 days, at a cost of $1.66-$1.99 per cow per day.
With winter feeding accounting for most of the feed costs, Russell said it is important to make sustainable use of summer pastures.
“You don’t want to go out and pound your pastures as next year it will be really expensive.”
Russell noted options like swath grazing can reduce wintering costs by half or reduce the feed bill by as much as 75 cents per cow per day.
In conventional feeding programs, the total cost of production on a 500-pound calf is $465. Stretching out the summer grazing season by 100 days cuts $60 off that cost.
Fielding questions about alternative feed crops like turnips and corn, Russell said producers should calculate the cost per cow per day, crop tonnage and inputs needed to grow these crops and consider the risk involved.
“A lot can work very well for some and can be an expensive mistake for others,” she said.
For worksheets and a cost of production analysis, visit www.producer.com and type “cost analysis” in the go box.
