Stocker operations are grass-based production systems fitting between the cow-calf producer and feedyards. These operations are transitional, often buying calves from local sale barns or directly from cow-calf operations and selling them to feeder cattle buyers.
A sector of the beef industry that can be found across the U.S., experts share what makes a good stocker operation.
Forage Factors
Jeff Lehmkuhler, University of Kentucky Extension professor in beef cattle nutrition and management, says there are three things that add value to stocker calves:
- Added management such as castrating/dehorning, pregnancy checking and vaccine programs
- Improved nutrition
- Sorting calves into larger, more uniform packages for the feedlot
Beyond these, management practices can change considerably depending on where the calves are from, forage availability and location.
“In the Southeast it is common to see a blended stocker/backgrounding system,” Lehmkuhler says. “Calves are on pasture grazing tall fescue/cool season mixed pastures while also getting supplemental feed. This supplemental feed aids in diluting the impact of the ergot alkaloids found in Kentucky 31 tall fescue, evens the plane of nutrition to support desired levels of performance and allows for slightly increased stocking rates.”
He says there will be some future investment into pasture renovation away from Kentucky 31 tall fescue to novel endophyte tall fescue in operations that are willing and able to improve their forage.
In the Kansas Flint Hills burning pastures in the spring is a common practice to allow for fresh regrowth before the grazing season.
“The Flint Hills grass is adapted to burning from centuries of wildfires on the prairie, and if this practice is not done, we see a reduction in cattle performance,” says Bill Hollenbeck, Kansas State University beef systems manager. “This also allows for the control of non-native forage species and can reduce tick populations.”
The K-State Stocker Unit practices early intensive grazing. They turn cattle out on native prairie grasses such as big bluestem, Indiangrass and little bluestem around May 1 and allow a 90-day grazing period that ends about Aug. 1.
“This practice allows the cattle to consume fresh regrowth in May after our April burn and get the cattle off grass before our driest time of the year in August and September,” explains Cole Ellis, K-State Beef Stocker Unit research assistant.
Full Circle Data
Hutson Angus in Elk City, Okla., manages its cattle from conception to carcass, creating progeny predictability through their data. Breeding decisions are made based on phenotype and data through an individual feed efficiency test called Vytelle Sense.
“We test all of our bulls and as many of our replacement heifers as we can,” says Zach Long of Hutson Angus. “That is a huge part of our breeding decision-making. I’m going to use some historical information to make some breeding decisions as well.”
While expected progeny differences (EPDs) play some role in Long’s decision-making, they initially base their decisions on actual measured data.
Long makes an initial cull at weaning based on weaning weight ratios and phenotype. Here he identifies early the cattle that will go to the feedyard and what will remain as seedstock cattle.
“From that point we generally put our bulls on the feed efficiency test first and our ration is a very high roughage, low concentrate ration,” Long says. “We want to simulate as close as we can a forage-based diet in a feed bunk.”
While the bulls are on the feed efficiency test, the heifers will go on an end of a growing season, Sorghum type product late in maturity. They graze heifers on that pasture until there is room to start heifers on the feed efficiency test.
“The feed efficiency test is a 59-day warm up period and then a 49-day actual test of data being collected,” Long explains.
Cattle are sorted again based on their feed efficiency test performance, and those that were selected as feeder calves will go on green pasture as quick as possible, generally wheat or triticale. They are on pasture until mid- to end of March, when they are then sent to the feedyard.
“I’m going to collect the last weight that I can collect on the ranch, so I’ll know individually how they performed in comparison to their contemporaries on green pasture,” Long says.
Their fall-born cattle go through a similar process after weaning in early spring. Those selected as feeder cattle will go to green pasture, typically wheat or triticale that is at a more mature stage than what the spring born cattle graze. After planting the sorghum-type forage in the spring, they will move cattle to those pastures in early summer or onto grass if it is available. Stockers will graze through the summer and ship to the feedyard in the fall.
“Cattle who did not perform well in the feed efficiency test are going to be stockers,” Long explains. “Even the cattle that perform under our performance standards will still go to the feedyard and have excellent feed efficiency because there’s been so many years of selecting against that. When I say feed efficiency, I’m not saying low intake cattle. What I use for feed efficiency is: ‘Did he eat less than he needed for his body weight but still gain at or above his contemporaries average daily gain?’ Those are the cattle that we’re selecting for.”
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