The Million Dollar Question:



Eastside Missy, the million dollar cow. Missy sold for $1.2 million at the 2009
Toronto Royal Winter Fair, the second cow in Canada to break $1 million.

Is that cow worth a whole million dollars?

Short answer: Probably not. She likely won't produce enough calves that are of high enough quality to recover her cost.

The long answer is different. To some one, she is, in fact, worth a whole million, and change. Why? I guess she is one of a very select few dairy cows who scored a 99 on her card. That means that, out of all the sections of anatomy on a dairy cow, and all the things that could be wrong about her, she lost only one point. Most animals sit at 70-80 points, and are definately NOT worth a million dollars.

Commercial cattle at Innisfail Auction Mart, Innisfail, AB

This topic brings me around to the worth of a beef animal. Different animals, breeds, sexes and ages are worth different prices. If i were a commercial producer with a load of weanling calves, they are worth about $1.10 per pound. If i have a load of fattened steers, they are worth about $.60-.95 per pound. Slaughter bulls and cows are worth $.50-.70. These prices are approximate, because price fluctuates daily and demand may have feedlots or slaughterhouses bidding lots or little. The price of cattle also fluctuates seasonally, with highs reached in December and lows in June. Location, time, and even weather all have impacts on the price of catte as well.

In the purebred industry, prices for our animals are a little higher. Intstead of paying by the pound, we bid in lump sums of money. The average purebred Limousin yearling heifer will fetch anywehere from $2,000-$10,000. Animals of extraordinary conformation, genetics, or bloodlines can and have fetched as much as $800,000. The highest bid i have ever seen on a purebred animal was $75,000 a few years back, in Denver, Colorado. While purchase and setup costs are obviously higher, the return on investment is faster and larger than the returns in the commercial industry. That being said, there are more commercial cattle in Canada than purebred, because consumers don't want to pay $56.50 for hamburger. Follow this link for a purebred limousin production sale held in Montana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E2TODb0XfE&feature=channel_video_title

Often people will complain about the cost of supermarket beef, but this is a pain felt sharpest by beef producers. The packing houses and retailers make massive amounts of money by setting the price for live animals. Producers are forced to take what packers will give, because producers can't take them home, nor can they feed all of their calves every year. The meat is then sold at exorbidant prices to the consumer, with no trickledown to the farmer. There would be a lot more people in beef if the producer brought in 3and 4 dollars per pound. What can ya do?