Post by nina on Jun 18, 2017 22:29:02 GMT -5
You talked of doing semen on your cows, so I assumed you were in the market for crossbreds. It sounds like you have narrowed down what you want to do - good registered stock. Doing it with crossbreds will take you 5 generations (if they even allow breeding up), and that still will be half bull calves, culling poor heifers etc, so probably faster to start with a good heifer or two.
And just a side - you will not get 12 out of 14 pregnant. With fresh Embryo transfer you have as high as 60-65% take. With frozen it easily drops to 50%. Embryo transfer for the seedstock producers who flush their own and put high quality embryos into other cull cows is a very lucrative thing. For others who are paying for the procedure and hundreds for the embryos (or even thousands!), it turns into a lot of money very quickly.
So, $300 per cow x 14 cows is $4200. If half of them take that is 7. Then you keep 3-4. Assuming nothing happens and you get 7 to weaning age. I don't know what your cost to feed your cows for 15 months is, but for me that would be $400 ish per cow. $400x 7 = $2800. Then If 7 of the cows don't take, you will know in a month or two after implanting. So then you will have to re AI or put then with a bull and lose 3 months breeding. So 7 x$100 is another $700.
At my dollars to feed, that is $4200 for vet costs, $2800 for feeding 7 that are pregnant and $700 lost on the 7 that have to be re aie'ed. That is $7700 for 3.5 calves. If registered heifers are $4000 and NOT $2500, that is a good deal. It doesn't take long to lose the benefit, but there is a benefit to it.
I just don't know where the market is unless you are a top notch sales person. And I would be sure to have a lawyer review your contract and have everything in writing. Good luck!
No eye rolling please, I dove in the deep end and bought a yearling purebred heifer for $4,000.00 DH must be richer than I know, I have $90.00 in my bank account right now, but he fronted the money and said we can do the embryos too, but I have to get really serious about marketing and sales. Wagyu look different than regular beef breeds so don't judge harshly, value is more in the genetic testing, this particular heifer is 6 on the tenderness scale, and free of all genetic diseases. She is registered as black but looks brown. I don't know if they keep getting darker or what. I did see some beige colored calves running around. The mother of my heifer looked black and was very large. My beef/milk cross yearlings are the same height as this heifer but much chunkier. 
