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He Makes Money Buying Cull Cows
"The biggest asset we've got is an abundant supply of winter feed and the most efficient way to utilize it is through cows," says Mark Smith, who's becoming known as the "Cull-Cow King" in his part of the country.
The Sharon Springs, Kan., rancher, who farms with his father and two brothers, buys cull cows in fal
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He Makes Money Buying Cull Cows LIVESTOCK Beef 22-1-42 "The biggest asset we've got is an abundant supply of winter feed and the most efficient way to utilize it is through cows," says Mark Smith, who's becoming known as the "Cull-Cow King" in his part of the country.
The Sharon Springs, Kan., rancher, who farms with his father and two brothers, buys cull cows in fall when prices are low and sells them early in spring when prices are high. He's been doing it profitably for 12 years.
His method is completely opposite what just about everyone else is doing. But after running up to 800 head of culls a year for each of the past several winters, he has proven the strategy works - and works well.
"I've never lost money on cows," Smith says. "You can realize a profit of from $30 up to $175 per head buying and selling cows this way."
Typically, prices bottom out in November as ranchers finish culling their herds, so the Smiths buy. By March, prices are at a peak, so they sell.
"As a rule of thumb, you can put a couple hundred pounds on a 1,000-lb. animal, grazing it mostly on irrigated corn and wheat stubble, and realize at least a 10 percent in-crease in market price in about four months," Smith says. "Packers pay more for cows with better body conditioning."
But the slaughter market isn't the only alternative for marketing the cows, about 90 percent of which are bred.
The Smiths also have the option to sell cows to other ranchers in the spring, or to calve them and then sell the cows and calves as pairs, or summer them and wean the calves for a growing program.
They have also sold newborn calves for $250 to $300 to ranchers to put on cows that have lost calves. And to 4-H'ers for livestock projects.
Experts agree that cull cows offer a neat profit opportunity.
"The bottom line is, cows represent 16 to 20 percent of the gross revenue of the typical cow-calf operation," says Larry Corah, live-stock specialist at Kansas State University. "They're a largely ignored area but one where there's the opportunity for money to be made."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Smith, Smith Flying V, HC 2, Box 201, Sharon Springs, Kan. 67758 (ph 316 376-4079).
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