Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Cattle Prices Skyrocket

Calving season is always fraught with worry.  Each calf born is the product of years of selective breeding and represents the farms profits for the following year.  If you've checked out the cost of beef in the supermarket or elsewhere you know that the value of this little guy is twice what it was just three years ago!

As I write this in mid- May all but one heifer has calved for the spring season. Unhappily we had one calf that did not survive - Samantha, a two year old heifer calved unassisted in March. I came home from work to find her crying over a dead heifer calf, with no reason for the fatality that was easily discernible.  Samantha is a very sweet cow, one of the Buttercup daughters and I was so looking forward to her first calf.  The loss is doubly sad because the value of that heifer calf was about $2500!.