Showcattle.com Forum · General

How Will the new AU Fee Structure affect you

Greatly		27.27%
Not at All		27.92%
Somewhat		44.81%

It moved me from being a Show and Breeder producer of four different breeds, to just a feeder lot system.

Dosnot worry me , if im under i dont pay if im other i pay and loss some profit, just like when my truck blows a tyre or i get find for speeding, loss of profit sux but sometimes ya just want to get home....

Just done a major cull from 1000 head to under 100. Sorry if I tanked the market.

My au costs between 2 ranches were 80k, I hope you all understand when I kill everything and quit the game

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posted by Matty.Martin
My au costs between 2 ranches were 80k, I hope you all understand when I kill everything and quit the game

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Perhaps you could develop your own feed lot game.
It' sounds like there might be a market for it.

Just sayin.

Not a fan of the new structure, actually.

Took my feedlot from 1k head to 550, and killed 320 au.

Know how much that dropped my fee?

A whopping 6k.

New system is great! (Insert sarcasm here)

If you don't wish to pay the AU fee, you don't have to pay it if you ranch stays below what the hard limit would be without it.

If you do choose to go over what the hard limit would be without an AU fee, you are going to pay a marginal cost the larger you get.

It affects all the big ranches in some way. My au fees are out of control also. I think we should really put more into the SHOW part of the game. Almost nobody even breaks even SHOWING cattle so nobody shows anymore. I cant blame ranches for not showing because its a waste of money. Steers cost a fortune to feed and I have won grand at 2 out of the the last 3 terminals and I have still lost money on the steer projects because for every one that wins there are 30 that dont and we have to feed them all to see what they will do on the muscle. And showing breeding females is a huge waste if time and money. Lets be honest if your steer is lucky enough to get 3rd out of sometimes over 15 head you dont even get market price for being selected as one of the best steers. Your premium is a punshiment. This has been a problem for over a year and every time I say something nothing gets done. On the other hand I have seen feeders explode. You keep them on open range dont pay to show and get rewarded with all your hard efforts with hugh market. I am not a brain surgeon but I know why everyone is switching to feeders. They cant loose money. In fact most rules hurt ranches actually trying to play the show game. Everyone is doing it and good feeders are bringing big money. Maybe they should change the name of the game to feed lots or something. I know I signed up for show cattle.

Running a 1,000 head ranch isn't putting an emphasis on the show aspect of it.

We'll get a payout tied closer to the market price on the terminal cattle.

I don’t understand how you are all having problems with the new structure. I run my ranch in probably the most non efficient way possible and I am still making money with the new system. I have around 15 embryo cows that stay on PSM, around 5 bulls on PSM, 30 to 40 show animals on TRI-MAX, and around 10 show steers on Muscle Max. I Keep all my steers till they weigh 1500 or are 50 days old and cull my 260 ish implant cows with any 30 day old cow worth keeping. Every day I show over 20 animals. I made 3K last night… Not a bad day for me.

No change in my operation as I tried to stay at the right level of au from the start. I don't feel the least bit sorry for anyone complaining about this and maybe the feedlot players should get out of the site as this is supposed to be a show cattle sim.
FLA

If there was more money on offer for stud classes (no one EVER makes money on stud classes, pay $20 and if you win best of breed you get about $15) i think the need to feedlot would greatly reduce and we wouldn't have so many people upset that they cannot make money the way they have been.

Admin can you please change it so stud classes at least break even if you place top 3 in a class and maybe offer $1000 in the BIG shows for a supreme bull and supreme cow award? like what they do here at the royals.

If its 'show cattle' and not 'feedlot cattle' lets make it somewhat viable and more fun - ie more money, more awards, trophies if you win big that display on your page. Stud classes in my opinion need more help to encourage players to show more and feedlot less.

Please at least consider it...

I agree with emphasizing the show aspect. I think a trophy counter and more prize money would be wonderful ideas.

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Last edited by SapphireMoon on 10/22/2014 7:59:24 PM

The whole 'show' aspect of this game is flawed. You can see this by the natural evolution towards feedlots. The judging is a total joke. Prize money sucks. Terminal shows sneak up on unsuspecting newbies.

Not sure how much longer I'll keep playing this game.

Maybe this is just me being new, but how does anyone afford to show anything without having a feed lot? I have been playing since August, and have around 400 head of cattle, three of which are show quality. Yesterday for shows, I spent $60 on entry fees, and made $11.14 in prize money. How does that make sense? Especially if you have to have $50k+ to buy a decent show quality animal? I am so confused about this whole AU thing but at this point, I don't have much of a choice but to pay the nearly 4k each day, to make enough money to actually buy any better show cattle.

I think something is flawed with the system, Im just not sure of what? I don't think it's the whole AU thing though. Just my two cents on this. Take it for what it's worth.

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posted by SRB Farming
The whole 'show' aspect of this game is flawed. You can see this by the natural evolution towards feedlots. The judging is a total joke. Prize money sucks. Terminal shows sneak up on unsuspecting newbies.

Not sure how much longer I'll keep playing this game.

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Can you explain in more detail what you believe is flawed about the show aspect of the game?

To do well in shows it is not rocket science, I took time to read the judges comments and and analyze the animals that are winning and I started breeding animals that the judges are more likely to like.

To be great at this game, you have to do what we do in real life. Cull the cattle you don't want to show, feed them out to auction, sell, market them. (in most cases, you don't even need to feed them out)

There's plenty of animals to show that don't get shown. Keep in mind, most "big auction cattle" that go for 50k+ in auction; those ranches started on the bottom at one point in time. You don't automatically get big in the beginning; but if you're smart, you'll be able to have bidding wars in auction for the best SHOW cattle on the game, when you put the time in that it takes to have the revenue to purchase better animals.

Now do you need 1k head of animals to do that? NO! Is it quicker? YES! Does it cost a lot of au's to do it the patient way (150 au)? NO! Does it cost a lot of money in au's/feed etc etc to do it the other fast (1k head) way YES!

Pick your challenge. The bigger the ranch, the more expenses you'll face. Simple economics.

Breeding stock shows isn't how you're making money, showing steers will make you the most money (that's why there's a cap of 5 steers per show.) Breeding stock would be considered "bragging rights" so to speak.

Biggest thing I have to say, the last thing I'd be worried about is au fees. I can always kill and cap my herd at 150 head if i'm so worried about money. The worst thing that could happen is I keep my best quality of animals on the ranch and I would just have to pay feed everyday. The market price is also at 1.10 (ish) right now but it is still higher than it used to be!

Evolve and get used to the game; or quit whenever you see a challenge.

Heather, 4K isn't bad for UA fees.

I am not complaining about the UA hike. The more cattle we want to keep, the more land is needed.
Pasture rent goes up as everything else does in life does.
Jeff has kindly givin us a few more acres for an additional 50 head, FREE!!! After that, we need to pay him rent. his rent fees gone up. So did our condo rent in real life, $150. more per month. Our dad isn't complaining about it. either pay it or move. We're not moving.

My point is... Jeff and his staff is trying to keep this as realistic as they can. Land rent goes up, same as real life. The more animals you have, the more land you need to rent.

I hope this makes sense. I am going on three days of very little sleep.

Samantha

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posted by BLG Prairie

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posted by SRB Farming
The whole 'show' aspect of this game is flawed. You can see this by the natural evolution towards feedlots. The judging is a total joke. Prize money sucks. Terminal shows sneak up on unsuspecting newbies.

Not sure how much longer I'll keep playing this game.

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Can you explain in more detail what you believe is flawed about the show aspect of the game?

To do well in shows it is not rocket science, I took time to read the judges comments and and analyze the animals that are winning and I started breeding animals that the judges are more likely to like.

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That is the flaw, why breed to a judges likes and dislikes, it's how close to the breed standard that a show animal conforms that it must be judged on!