Adding Value to Market Cows
Dennis L. DeWitt, livestock field specialist
Situation
Iowa cow-calf producers rely on the sale of market cows for as much as 20 percent
of their gross income. Typically the bulge in market cow marketing is in the
fall months, and, of course, this coincides with the lowest market prices. The
double- edged sword is: can adding cost to these beef animals also add value?
Response
The Iowa Beef Center, in conjunction with CHIPS Northwest, Iowa Lakes Community
College, and Iowa State University Extension, conducted a feeding demonstration
program to examine whether a high-energy feeding program would achieve white
fat status in market beef cows. Twenty-seven market beef cows from seven producers
were delivered to Iowa Lakes Community College Teaching Farm in Emmetsburg for
feeding and marketing.
Impact
The market beef cows performance after 94 days on feed was a 2.78 average daily
gain, 12.03 pounds of dry matter per hundredweight of gain, $56.82 feed cost/cwt
shrunk weight, and $87.81 total cost per hundredweight. Seventy-four percent
of the carcasses were converted to premium white fat with .51 percent average
backfat. The added value average profit per head was $74.06 per head.
It is imperative that producers be selective in the type of market cows that
are fed for this type of market. One cow actually lost $63 while one made over
$200. The market beef cows must have the potential for muscle thickness and
good depth of body. They must be structurally sound, healthy, and thrifty. Before
deciding to feed market cows, producers need to ask themselves what is the potential
buy-sell margin, use good feedlot management practices, and make sure to have
an end marketplace decided in advance. The success of this program has developed
additional value added market cow feeding programs in Iowa.
Page last updated:
July 8, 2006
Page maintained by Linda Schultz, lschultz@iastate.edu
