Feed Lot Magazine Online, Survey Shows How Much Breed Plays a Factor in Price

Breed, or more importantly the perception of breed, plays a part in the sale of feeder cattle, according to an on-going study in Oklahoma.

Dr. Steven C. Smith, an Oklahoma extension livestock specialist, says they have conducted two surveys, one in the fall of 1997 and one in the spring of 1999, on characteristics buyers want in feeder cattle in Eastern Oklahoma.

" This is a survey of buyers' opinions in terms of characteristics that they'd like to see in the products that they're going to buy," Smith says.

Calves from Eastern Oklahoma, where two-thirds of the state's cowherd is found, are primarily sold at weaning in local auctions to order buyers. The price of these calves, Smith says, is affected by consumer demand, feedlot occupancy, feed prices, stage of the cattle cycle, forage availability and weather.

" We looked at the perception of breeds on these cattle and what buyers thought about breeds," Smith says. "We arbitrarily picked Angus as a base and compared what was perceived to be an Angus calf." Smith said the calves weren't necessarily Angus, but they appeared to have Angus blood in them. "If they looked like Angus, we classified them as Angus," he said.

Smith said there are certain breeds that the buyers like and are willing to reward probably because of the increased frame or muscling that is attributed to those breeds or because of the way those breeds fit within the environment in which they are going to live. Factors affecting prices for different breeds reflected perceptions relative to growth rate, reproductive traits, carcass traits and other factors that may affect animal performance and producer profitability. "In general," Smith says, 'the direction of the premiums and discounts remain the same."

Relative to cattle perceived as Angus by the graders, black exotics and other exotics sold at greater prices for both steers and heifers. Dairy and Longhorn steers and heifers sold at substantial discounts relative to Angus. In both studies, those discounts were over $20 per cwt. Hereford steers and heifers were discounted relative to Angus in both studies.

Steers with less than one-quarter Brahman influence sold at a slight discount, $1.91 per cwt., in 1997, with smaller discounts for steers and heifers in 1999. Heifers with less than one-quarter Brahman, however, sold in 1997, at a $1.43 premium. Smith said this was perhaps due to a perceived value as replacement females in Eastern Oklahoma where resistance to heat, humidity and parasites is valued.

Conversely, Brahman cross cattle typically receive significant discounts in the fall due to concern about their lack of tolerance to the cold weather in feedyards in Western Kansas, Nebraska and the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Across the breed types surveyed, Smith said, data from the two Oklahoma studies are in general agreement and are consistent with data from Tennessee, Kansas, Georgia and research in other parts of the country.

Some breeds may have sold at premiums or discounts due to differences in the quality of animals of a particular breed relative to other parts of the state or country, he says.