Thanks to Ross Mcdonald of the 98 Ranch up in Saskatchewan for sharing.

It’s a posting from the Cow-Cow Calf blog about cattle size Cattle Size and How It Affects Profitability.

Larger weaning rates became the trend driven by “bigger is better” – larger weaning rates mean you sell your calves (by the pound) for more.

But the clawback is big calves become big cows. The gains from larger weaning rates get literally eaten up along with profitability because input costs to maintain the bigger cow plus the extra expense to raise the larger calf.

A shift to less extreme weaning rates is consistent with what I hear from producers in southwestern states where I am active in farm and ranch brokerage.