May 2022 Cattle Projections

Posted: May 20, 2022 | Written By: Heidi Doering-Resch, M.S., Form-A-Feed

May 2022 Cattle Projections

Feedlot projections continue to be tight pending your feed inventory and month of finish. Increasing fuel and cost of operations has led to an increase in yardage; you will see that pack facilities run with these projections are now done with a $.042/hd/d value. Grass, corn and silages all remain in tight supply and in demand, keeping the price relatively high for the season. I did soften the cost of dry corn a little based on the futures and cash price throughout these feeding periods. Distillers values usually start to drop as pairs return to grass and some softening of that market has begun.

It has become quiet obvious that running oneself out of feed or tight during the last few months that cattle are on feed took its toll on some feed yards skyrocketing their COG during the last months of feeding. When cattle are consuming the most and costs are already at their highest these issues become even more costly. Be sure to sit down with your Form-A-Feed Nutrition and Production Specialist and go over the amount of feedstuffs needed to feed cattle through the year and maintain an overage as we let new fermented feedstuffs ferment in the bunker. Having a budgeted idea allows you to strategically put up feed and prepare rations based on your acres, feedstuffs and facilities. The more prepared and known your cost is, the better you can market your cattle through these ups and downs.

Highly efficient cattle continue to have the lowest break evens. With costs projected to stay relatively high, understanding your marketing window becomes more valuable than ever. From figuring when to implant so you are maximizing that ROI, to other technologies that help break apart and utilize more starch/energy, and using feed additives to increase weight going out the door, its never been more important to have these discussions and put together a yard standard operating procedure (SOP) for all incoming and outgoing cattle.

Teaching and learning always continues in the cattle industry, and now is the time to remain diligent and open to new technologies that can help you understand better how to combat the challenges that our industry remains in. Please reach out to your Form-A-Feed Nutrition and Production Specialist for more information.

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