What is th cheapest calf that you have done the best with in the show ring with?
- Thread starter McHale75
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My show steers from last year I paid $900 and $1100 for, and they both took suprime and res at every local show we went to $900 was in the final drive for steers at big east (other did not go there) and the other is in my avitar and won new englends state show.
coachmac
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We needed to find a bunk mate for my daughters heifer two years ago and in the process found a September % heifer for my son. She was the last lot in a local Simmental sale that was the last sale they had. She was in a group of five heifers, all right off the cow and incredibly GREEN. We werent sure if my son was serious enough to stick with it but, I did want to find a heifer that wouldgive him a chance to be respected in the ring. His first show in 2010 he won his class and was reserve crossbred. Second show...same day, she was supreme female. Koby didn't have clue how well she had done, but he did get a custom buckle. This past season Toots picked up where she left off winning crossbred champion at many local shows, reserve division champion at state fair, and just had my sons first calf, A baldy Fat Butt heifer that we hope works out as this next years bred and owned. And it all started with $600 on the last lot at a local sale.
We felt we got the most for our money this last year.
Pic #1 is our market heifer as a calf. We paid $900 for her from some friends just down the road. Pic #2 is her in the middle of last summer.
We took her to 11 Iowa Junior Beef Sanctioned Market Shows and she placed in the top five 8 times. She also went on to win our county fair market show beating some pretty high dollar animals all summer.
Pic #3 is our Shorty plus steer that we paid a little more for at $1750 however, considering his results we felt he was a bargain compared to the price a lot of people pay to never win.
9 overall top 5 finishes in Iowa Junior Beef Sanctioned.....4 Championships, 2 reserves, 1 third, 1 fourth, 1 fifth. Plus Division Champion at Iowa State Fair and Champion Shorty Plus at Iowa Shorthorn Field Day!
It was a fun summer.
Pic #1 is our market heifer as a calf. We paid $900 for her from some friends just down the road. Pic #2 is her in the middle of last summer.
We took her to 11 Iowa Junior Beef Sanctioned Market Shows and she placed in the top five 8 times. She also went on to win our county fair market show beating some pretty high dollar animals all summer.
Pic #3 is our Shorty plus steer that we paid a little more for at $1750 however, considering his results we felt he was a bargain compared to the price a lot of people pay to never win.
9 overall top 5 finishes in Iowa Junior Beef Sanctioned.....4 Championships, 2 reserves, 1 third, 1 fourth, 1 fifth. Plus Division Champion at Iowa State Fair and Champion Shorty Plus at Iowa Shorthorn Field Day!
It was a fun summer.
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We are just a small breeder of herfs and try and raise what we can show. It is our family hobby and enjoy every minute of it. I think showing from your herd is the most reward. Doesn't always mean you get the pretty ribbon but if you can show at a atate level and stand behind the big breeders it is a success. Out girl this year was 3rd in her class as was her mother. 4th generation for us out of a maternal line going back to the first show heifer we bought for son. Success is more than a huge win. It's improving yourself and your stock and be proud of what you raise. We look forward to continuing the line and seeing what this year will bring
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cattlejunky5
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The cheapest ones we showed were the ones that we raised... does $25 for a straw of semen count??? 
So I have a pretty cool story. I purchased a left over calf out of a feed lot for $600 market price ,the last day before my deadline. I worked everyday and made the calf my priority. 6 months later he was grand at my state fair and he brought 18k in the sale..... pretty awesome....
Gargan
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<rock>mk407 said:
Bradenh
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the chepest ones are the ones out of the good ole river bottom pasture! cost you a big goose egg in the price column, and its impossible to loose money on them. ffa record book recipe supreme
AAOK
Well-known member
Congratulations! Much more pride in a Champion from home.cattlejunky5 said:The cheapest ones we showed were the ones that we raised... does $25 for a straw of semen count???
Same here, but usually a $15 straw. Younger daughter raised and showed a Res. Grand Natl' Bred & Owned Heifer, a Grand Nat'l Bred & Owned Heifer, and a Res. Grand Nat'l Heifer, plus several Nat'l Division Champs. All were out of cows we bred and raised. Did pretty good at County and State too!
Had a steer that we bought for $1500 and took to our county he was grand there and brought $6000 the show was not terminal so we took him to the Arizona Nationals and he was Reserve Grand Overall and brought another $12,500 not bad for a left over that no one thought would feed into anything.
RidinHeifer
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It's great seeing that you don't have to be rich to buy a winner. I haven't bought a calf yet...reject bottle babes not the best in the ring but won't let you down in showmanship.
AAOK said:Congratulations! Much more pride in a Champion from home.cattlejunky5 said:The cheapest ones we showed were the ones that we raised... does $25 for a straw of semen count???
Same here, but usually a $15 straw. Younger daughter raised and showed a Res. Grand Natl' Bred & Owned Heifer, a Grand Nat'l Bred & Owned Heifer, and a Res. Grand Nat'l Heifer, plus several Nat'l Division Champs. All were out of cows we bred and raised. Did pretty good at County and State too!
Same here $25 for a straw of semen !
A few years ago we went to an auction on a whim...didn't even drag the trailer along. A May Who Made Who heifer sauntered into the ring and the auctioneer was begging for a bid. Just to to help the guy out I yelled $400 out from the back. To my amazement no one else bid. We had someone else haul her home. Eight months later we had the Grand Champion heifer at the county fair - only grand we ever raised and the least expensive critter we ever owned!!! In the fall I sold her as a bred for $2500. Once in a lifetime steal.
CarleyE
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$15 for a straw of Double Stuff semen
Redangus01
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Had a bred and owned heifer out of a friends herd bull, her mother had already paid for herself in the first 5 calves. This heifer was a July born and she won Supreme Champion 9 times just as a yearling heifer. Took her to our national show and NAILE she won her class in our Jr Show and the NAILE Jr Show and was 2nd in our National Show Class. We also won Supreme Showman at our national Jr Show. All this from a heifer that was a last second decision to throw her mama out with this bull!
My last year that I could show at the county fair I purchased my first show steer two weeks before the first weighin and deadline ( we always showed heifers). He was the last calf a frind of mine had, out of the Shorthorn bull Teddy Bear, and was at a discounted price of $700, he was also blind in on eye. This little calf was about 500 lbs and wild as hell when we brought him home. He finished out at just over 1,000 lbs. but went on to win the light weight class. We made it back in for Grand Selection in both market and showmanship classes. He was deffinatly a judge favorite but he was just over powered by all the "Big Boys". It was a really good year considering he was a tiny reject with a blind eye.
indianaclipper
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this was 12 years ago, but we bought a bred heifer for $650 and her heifer calf won our county fair and her class at state fair. And 2 years ago I bought a $1200 heifer that won champion shorthorn 6 times including 2 state fairs.
DLD
Well-known member
This one happened some years ago, but it's my favorite cheap calf story (and I've got several of 'em). One of our neighbors had weaned their calves, and they were penned right beside a road I traveled at least twice a day. One steer kept catching my eye, so after a few days I stopped to take a look - now these folks were in no way trying to raise show cattle, but had a daughter that had shown some Maine heifers several years before that. This calf happened to be out of a daughter of one of the old Maine show heifers (who was sired by a Highlander bull, btw) and another neighbors Chi-Angus bull. I asked the lady if she'd be willing to sell him, she said she would, but she'd really rather we just trade her another calf. The one I brought her was prob'ly 150 pounds heavier, and I had to refuse her offer to pay me some difference!
This was my neice's senior year, and this steer went on to stand second behind the grand steer at Tulsa - she also had another breed champion ($850 from another neighbor), so we took him on to Kansas City where he stood third in a class where the judge said you could swap the top four steers around any way and he couldn't argue (the class winner was reserve 4H steer that day and the fourth place steer went on to win Louisville). She had another third place steer that day as well (home raised), so we pulled this one out of the premium sale and took him to Denver where he ended up second in his class (we did sell him there). That's lots of fun out of a basically market priced steer. Oh yeah, and she finished out the year with an $1100 steer that was reserve grand at county and won his class at Oklahoma City. Granted, all this was twenty-ish years ago, but those were still very inexpensive cattle at the time.
This was my neice's senior year, and this steer went on to stand second behind the grand steer at Tulsa - she also had another breed champion ($850 from another neighbor), so we took him on to Kansas City where he stood third in a class where the judge said you could swap the top four steers around any way and he couldn't argue (the class winner was reserve 4H steer that day and the fourth place steer went on to win Louisville). She had another third place steer that day as well (home raised), so we pulled this one out of the premium sale and took him to Denver where he ended up second in his class (we did sell him there). That's lots of fun out of a basically market priced steer. Oh yeah, and she finished out the year with an $1100 steer that was reserve grand at county and won his class at Oklahoma City. Granted, all this was twenty-ish years ago, but those were still very inexpensive cattle at the time.
