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September 22, 2005 Dakota Feeder Calf Show Set for Oct. 15 in Turtle Lake The seventh annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show and feedout is set for Saturday, Oct. 15, in Turtle Lake. "Even with high calf prices, it's important to know how well your cattle perform through the market chain," says Karl Hoppe, livestock specialist at the North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center. "This project will give producers information on how their calves perform in the feed yard and on the calves’ ultimate carcass value.” The trial also is a way for producers to explore opportunities for retaining ownership of cattle beyond the cow-calf phase of production, according to Hoppe. "It's a low-risk way of learning about these options with three or four calves instead of 100,” he says. “Also, cattle producers have used the feeding and carcass information to select bulls that will improve the feedlot value of their calves.” Spring-born steer calves consigned to the Dakota Feeder Calf Show will be fed to market weight at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center feedlot. During last year's feedout, the calves gained an average of 654 pounds in 211 days, with a total feeding cost of about 48 cents per pound of gain. Average sale weight was 1,308 pounds. The calves were sold at $91.82 per hundredweight (cwt), with a breakeven of $84.40/cwt. “It's the variation between cattle that makes this project educational,” Hoppe says. For the 2004-05 feedout, the average per-head profit per consigner ranged from $26.71 to $242.33 after feeding expenses and calf value were deducted from slaughter value. Cattle will be accepted for the project and shown in Turtle Lake on Oct. 15 at the weighing station. Feedout project staff will gather data on rate of gain, fed conversion and other characteristics during the trial. After the calves are marketed, the staff will collect information on carcass weight, meat quality and value and provide it to entrants. Producers will be assessed an entry fee of $15 per calf. Feedout officials will present $2,500 in awards to producers at the end of the trial. The NDSU Extension Service, Turtle Lake businesses, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Z Tags and the Boehringer Ingleheim animal health company sponsor the show and trial. For more information or to preregister calves, contact Hoppe at (701) 652-2951; Teresa Presser, Bank of Turtle Lake, at (701) 448- 2323; or Pat Carpentier, McLean County Extension, at (701) 462- 8541, ext. 208. Producers may register cattle the day of the show, but the trial is limited to 170 head. ### Source:
Karl Hoppe, (701) 652-2951, karl.hoppe@ndsu.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
