Show feed steers sheers To Choice agent urges does it pay a feeder to finish his beef cattle from a U S grade osgood of good to a grade of choice this is a question feeders often ask reports county agent ray thatcher so that stockmen stoc kmen wont bo be misled by some of the answers they receive to this query the agent presents these basic facts 1 A high finish on cattle requires grain a surplus crop 2 choice steers sell for about two to four cents more than good grade steers and from about four to eight cents more at live weight than commercial steers 3 finished steers ship bettor better than others and shrink less in travel 4 the carcass of a choice steer Is worth about four cents more per pound than a lower grade when sold the following problem will illustrate this the ag agent mt suggests assume a steer is put into a feed lot at pounds he cost the feeder about 17 cents a or a total of a or a a pound the steer will put on about two pounds a day now the feeder has a choice lie he can feed the steer to a good grade at 1000 pounds in days it will then sell at west coast prices for about 2050 per pounds or a total of this will give the feeder a gross return of or 62 cents a day for feeding the steer subtracting the cost of feed will give his net profit the feeders other choice is to carry the steer on another 40 days to a weight of 1075 and a grade of choice because west coast markets pay two cents more for choice than good beef he will get a total of for his choice steer at 2250 per pounds this is more than he would have gotten for the good steer or 92 cents a day for the extra 40 days feeding can the feeder afford to finish his steer to a grade of choice he got 92 cents a it day for the extra feeding compared with 62 cents for the first feeding period more than 48 percent more than he would get et for feeding the steer to the good grade the agent points out that this is probably the reason most steers sold by utah feeders go into other fed lots for 30 to 60 days more bafo before re being slaughtered most utah feeders only finish their steers to a good grade why does the choice steer bring the extra cents there are two reasons one is obvious choice meat is worth more west coast prices bring about 40 cents per pound for a choice carcass and only about 36 cents for good meat the other reason is that a choice steer dresses at about 61 percent of its live weight while a good animal only dresses at about 58 percent since low quality steers dont have this difference most commercial feeders carry steers on at least to the choice grades many of the animals they carry on are those that farmers called fat and sold at a grade of good thus losing some of the profit one thing that has confused farmers the agent says is that the U S grade of choice today is what has been called good in the past the choice grade of ten years ago is now called U S prime ten years ago feeders were advised to carry steers to good grades grade bat at least the same sound advice holds today to carry steers on to that same actual finish which isa is now called U S choice it pays |