Tips for Profitably Managing Stockers

Tips for Profitably Managing Stockers

Stocker cattle can undoubtedly be a profitable enterprise, however there are several considerations that must be accounted for before buying a set of calves. Doug Ferguson, utilizes sell-buy marketing strategies in his business to maximize profit.

“Sell-buy is the marketing method a lot of the old timers talk about where you capture your profit on the buy,” says Ferguson. “The short definition is it's a real-time cash flow reckoning. We see those relationships as they exist in the present, so there isn't going to be any projected break-evens. We're dealing with real-time real numbers.”

In the case of stocker cattle, there are a variety of ways to capture that profit.

“You can buy a three weight and sell him at five, take him to eight or finish him out,” says Ferguson. “Most of the time, the value of gain is good, so it’s a weight gain business.”

However, adding weight is only one method of adding value to stockers.

“I have a list of probably 20 ways to add monetary gain to stocker cattle that I share in my sell-buy marketing school,” explains Ferguson. “You want to look for value and that can look like a lot of different things from weight gain to value-added lots to picking up high-risk calves or feeder bulls if you know how to handle them.” .... 



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