Iowa Farmer today
05-26-07
Feeder finds heifers make up for lighter performance
By Jeff DeYoung, Iowa Farmer Today
TREYNOR -- Got heifers for sale? If so, Roger Chambers would like you to give him a call.
“Our close-outs say when you market steer and heifer mates from the same source, we usually see a 10 to 20 percent higher percentage of Choice with the heifers than with the steers,” he says.
“You can always buy them for a little less than steers because of the difference in performance, but the price at the end more than makes up for it.”
Chambers and his wife, Jill, operate Silver Creek Feeders near here in
Pottawattamie County. Their feedlot is filled with custom-fed cattle as well as cattle they partially own with other producers.
Feeding heifers is no more difficult than feeding steers, he says.
“We don’t want pregnant heifers because that is not a lot of fun, but we really don’t do anything differently with them,” Chambers says.
“And, once they go to the packer, you usually have the same base price on the grid, so there’s no difference there.”
He says most cattle weigh between 600 and 700 pounds when they arrive at his
Southwest Iowa feedlot.
“We’ve started getting heavier cattle because of the higher corn prices, and that helps alleviate som e of the health problems,” Chambers says. “Just about everything we get is pre-conditioned, so the cattle are in pretty good shape when they get here.”
He says since most heifers have smaller frames than steers, they tend to be marketed at lighter weights. Chambers says he tries not to market cattle below
1,000 pounds, adding larger heifers will hit 1,200-plus lbs. when they are marketed.
“That’s a good challenge because you don’t want a discount for not having heavy enough cattle,” he says. “But, it’s better for the industry to have the smallerframed heifers go through the feedlot because it gets them out of the breeding herd.”

Years ago, many feeders stayed away from heifers because they believed packers discounted them at the plant, says Jim Mintert, Extension livestock marketing economist at Kansas State University.
That myth has been debunked, he says. The difference comes in performance,
Mintert adds.
Most data indicates heifers average 8 percent less daily gain than steers
“You are going to find heifers somewhat cheaper to buy, but when a feedlot buys heifers, they expect them to bring as much money as steers,” Mintert says.
“You have to decide if the decreased feed efficiency balances out the lower cost of feeder cattle.”
Another major issue is bred heifers finding their way into the feedlot, says Darrell
Busby, Iowa State University Extension beef specialist in Lewis.
He says ISU research indicates a pregnant heifer could cost a producer as much as $300 in lost performance and lower quality grade.
“That’s the risk you sometimes take when you buy heifers, so it becomes important to find a source that can guarantee them to be open,” Busby says.
“In our (Tri-County Steer Carcass) futurity program, we had 15,000 head last year, and only three or four were bred.
“We actually make more money feeding heifers than steers.”
Heifers generally will have a larger rib-eye per hundredweight than steers, Busby adds.
“If you know there are no pregnant heifers, they are often better than steers,” he says.
“You have the higher cost of gain and the lower average daily gain, but the lower price you pay for them as feeder cattle and the potential to grade Choice is going to make up for that.”
Chambers says the reward far outweighs the risk when it comes to feeding heifers.
“If you can make sure they aren’t pregnant, then there isn’t much of a problem,” he says.

“We have some customers who are always looking to find a good group of heifers. They know they are probably going to do pretty well.”