The Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast: Economics of Developing and Reselling Heifers
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Reference: Podcast Corner
Economics of Developing and Reselling Heifers
July 20, 2026 | Written By Shaye Koester
Can cattle producers truly create a profitable enterprise buying open heifers and reselling them as breds or pairs? That’s a question a former student approached Jon Biermacher with which resulted in the creation of a heifer development calculator for cattle producers.
Biermacher says, “We put together a detailed enterprise budget and then thought this would probably be good decision tool for other producers too.”
Biermacher works in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics for North Dakota State University as a livestock development specialist in in the extension program.
The model Biermacher created in collaboration with his colleague Tim Petry and former NDSU student Gavin Eeg largely looks at the profitability of buying backgrounded heifers in April, breeding them and selling them as either long-breds or pairs come next April. There is also another comparison between the profitability of using artificial insemination in combination with clean-up bulls or relying on natural service breeding.
The more profitable option – natural service.
“The economics is about fifty-five dollars different. And I can tell you I can tell you it's even more than that if you account for labor,” says Biermacher.
The caveat of this finding is it’s challenging to calculate the difference seen in final marketing price for heifers bred to more popular sires or privately compared to at a sale barn. Keep these factors in mind.
Bull acquisition and management also impacts the final outcome....
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