An average price for a Beefmaster heifer?

Question

Im in FFA and need to know what the average price for a beefmaster heifer is and if you know of one in Texas that would be great. But I need to know the price. Thanks~Victoria

Answer 1

Hey there. I did some investigating, and it looks like they are running about 9-950 a head. Check out http://www.countryworldnews.com/classifieds/classifieds.shtml for some classified listings in Texas for beefmaster, braford, brangus and charbray heifers. Also, if you have a local stockyard, give them a call and ask them what they are getting for them. They should be able to tell you straight away. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Loopylung is right to state that it depends if you buy a open heifer, or a bred heifer, etc.. However if you are buying a purebred Beefmaster to show, it will probably run higher than the average cost of a heifer. It depends on who you buy the heifer from (what breeder) and if she is bred, what bull she is bred to.

If you are buying the heifer for an FFA project I'm going to assume you will probably get her younger and then raise her to take her to fair/ shows at around a year of age up to two years or less.

I would recommend talking to your FFA advisor and seeing if he/she can put you in contact with a breeder or someone associated with the breed.
You can spend as much or as little as you want on purebred cattle, but for a good heifer I would expect to spend upwards of a thousand dollars.
Here are some websites for breeders in Texas.
http://buckaroo.home.texas.net/buckaroo.html
http://www.mcallenranch.com/home/CATTLE/cattle.html

Answer 3

during the south texas commersial female sale a couple of years ago...

Bred Heifers vs. Exposed Heifers vs. Open Heifers

Heifers marketed as exposed had been running with bulls for a minimum of 45 days. In some cases heifers had been exposed 60 days. All heifers marketed as exposed were palpated and diagnosed as open. Forty-seven head of exposed heifers averaged $554.68, or $159.74 less per head than the bred heifers of approximately the same age. Using this data, a producer might conclude that buyers penalize slow breeders by roughly $3.55 per head per day over a 45 day breeding season.

"Fifty-one open heifers, 9 to 14 months of age sold for an average of $400.89, or $153.80 less than an exposed heifer. However, it should be noted that type may have played a role in the price a producer received for an open heifer. There was a $150 range between the top selling open females selling at $500 per head, and the low selling open females selling $350 per head. Based on the projected TAEX cost estimate of $160 per head to move a heifer from a weaned to bred condition, the projected total cost for developing these open heifers would range from $510 to $660 per head. This would indicate that on average, buyers still preferred bred heifers which average $714 per head."

hope this helped!