First of all, I would like to thank our friends, neighbors, customers, family, and service providers for taking an interest in the sale and for all your support. Without you, there would be no need or motivation to do what we do. Speaking of motivation, I am writing this on February 5, and like many of you, the last two weeks have taken a lot of energy and motivation to care for the livestock during those two polar vortex cold snaps. We went five days straight during the first one without taking our clothes off, just power napping. We patrol the pastures every three hours when the temperature drops below 15°F. For the most part, if the cows stay on the bedding next to the shelter belts, the calves are pretty resilient. However, it’s those cows that want to walk away and lay down on top of the snow to calve that create issues. In those cases, we have to intervene on the calf’s behalf, then spend a day getting them paired back up. Right now, we are two-thirds done calving, and the oddest part for us is that we are running 7% twins on both the heifers and cows. Twins can create their own set of challenges as well. During those late-night checks, my mind tends to wander a bit. Maybe it’s just sleep deprivation taking over, or maybe it’s old age and a lack of focus. Two things really struck me. The first: for those who think beef prices are too high, I would like you to stay with us for two months during calving season before voicing your opinion! Besides the physical and mental tolls, the rate of rising economic costs is just inconceivable. As evidence of this, I offer the following: On Wednesday, I needed to rewire a trailer plug-in. I keep a picture in the glove box because it seems to be a more frequent occurrence that I forget to unplug before I drive off. While rummaging through the glove box, I found the original list price sticker: 2015 Ford F250 4x4 diesel crew cab, $48,800 list. The same pickup today would be over $90,000. The second thing: Of all the EPDs we’ve studied and developed, we have yet to come up with an I.Q. for expecting mothers—more specifically, an environmental awareness I.Q. While picking up cold calves from moms that had walked away from protection, I realized that more than half of those cows had short ears. This likely means their mothers probably did the same thing. Does this mean environmental awareness is heritable? Now, to the more pressing question of the day: What is a good bull worth? OSU’s Mark Johnson recently published an article in Drovers that I would encourage you to read. It’s available online by searching for “What is a good bull worth.” He uses the age-old adage that a bull is worth 5 calves. Then, he goes into the calculations of selling at weaning, as yearlings, or as a finished steer. He concluded that the longer you own the calf, the more valuable the bull becomes, because you capture more of his genetic properties. Mark came up with values ranging from $12,000 for weaning programs to $17,175 for retained ownership programs, based on last fall’s market conditions. Prices are higher today than last fall, so he may be underestimating the value this spring, given current prices. THANK YOU again for your interest, Berry and Crew
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