Ways to Optimize the Upcoming Market and Ensure You’re Setting Yourself up for Max Benefit
Let’s go back to 2013….
We had the lowest cow herd numbers in 2013. For the next two years, cattle continued to climb and the market was out of control. It was a great time for ranchers. We saw amazing demand.
Fast forward to 2023, herd numbers are expected to hit at the same low this year as they did in 2013. So we have the lowest cattle numbers, which will naturally increase demand because people are needing to rebuild and restock their herds.
From a 100-foot view, if you follow the future and live market like I do, you will notice that every 10 years looks almost identical from a high level view. We reach a peak and then we start to come down. It is all a bell curve. We are currently climbing, and we can see that in calves. Calves are holding their prices, and we are headed towards good times in our industry.
There is an opportunity to prepare yourself and take advantage of the upcoming market.
Some things to consider:
Keep more heifer calves. Keep your pick and also what someone else’s pick would be. This doesn’t mean keeping every heifer. This means keeping the best of the best. We do not need everyone’s heifers in the breeding pool, we need the good heifers with strong integrity.
Consider buying some later calving bred heifers, calve them out and be ready to sell some pairs.
Also, consider rebreeding your open cows versus taking them to the sale barn.