Showcattle.com Forum · Suggestions

Considering 10 to be perfect and 0 to be dead. If you tried to sell a 0.5 animal.... NEAR DEAD .... in a real sale barn today you would be lucky to get $75. However the same animal in perfect condition could bring over $275. So if this is an "educational simulation game" should it be changed so condition plays a part in selling price?

Should Condition change the price of your cattle?

YES		69.88%
NO		30.12%

I understand where you are coming from, a low quality cow should be worth less but what are you really asking for? Do you want admin to limit the price you can get for a poor condition animal? If that's the question then my answer is no. The animal is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it. If you are asking for there to be a greater deterrent for an individual to not purchase low quality animals then my answer is yes.

What i mean by deterrent would be a decreased life expectancy, chances of high vet bills, etc for animals that are of low quality.

I don't think admin should change auction or private treaty prices at all, in that case an animal is worth as much as someone is willing to pay. I am simply referring to packer prices.
Adding Vet costs and higher death loss to animals of low condition would be an option too.

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Last edited by Zeek Farms on 10/31/2014 4:28:08 PM

I like the idea of a market grid. Perhaps with the highest premium would be for something a bit under 10.0? After all in real life the peak price isn't for the most morbidly obese animals. Even prime animals don't have to be a BCS 9.

I like your thinking.

First off condition doesn't determine an animals health, it determines its fat cover. Young steers will not have excessive fat - this doesn't mean they are not healthy. However I do like the idea of a grid system which is already in play at many meat works where if your cattle fall within a certain criteria you get a premium. also in carcase comps this comes into play heavily where the lighter the beast the less fat is required for optimum points, and if those beasts are over fat, so there is wastage, they are docked points...

I was under the impression condition was a reference to the animals general health and appearance, and the three stats on the bottom right were fat referance numbers. But it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

Condition in General Traits = Fat over ribs

I believe ideal conditioning is 7 and it is the combination of the fat traits of your cattle.

www.showcattle.com/help/topic.aspx?id=1

There already is death loss for animals of low condition. It was added a while back, but I believe it was for animals under 1.0 condition and over 30 days old - calves were not to be impacted. I've never actually tested to see if those cattle die. I don't own animals that meet those criteria unless I miss killing a feeder bull.

7.0 is ideal condition for show steers. As to ideal condition for slaughter market... that could be a whole new topic or can of worms.

Considering everything on Open Range is 0.5 condition, no.

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posted by Brum Cattle Company
Considering everything on Open Range is 0.5 condition, no.

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I think that's the point.
This would put an end to; or at least a HUGE dent into the feedlot only operations.
Everyone always like to compare this game to real life, but the way the feedlots have gotten on this game is crazy.
Massive frames with no condition or muscle.
What would that bring at market in real life??

yes i 100% agree with you

Exactly, what real feedlot runs on open range? And the way I see it in this game open range is what I would consider a dry climate, with little amounts of grass and lots of brush and thorns.

No feedlots don't run on open range but the cattlemen that send their stock to the feedlot to finish, do run open range. Feedlots are finishers but not where they grow up; no, cattle shouldn't (and wouldn't) be going straight to market from the field.

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posted by Kiaran Ranch
No feedlots don't run on open range but the cattlemen that send their stock to the feedlot to finish, do run open range. Feedlots are finishers but not where they grow up; no, cattle shouldn't (and wouldn't) be going straight to market from the field.

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Its called grassfed beef - there are plenty that a processed straight off pasture

Lucy, you will actually find Americans dont finish much stock on grass and thats why they pay bigger money for us to export it to them

Americans don't finish cattle on grass because they don't finish as efficiently on grass and do not marble as well on grass. If grass fed beef was the most cost efficient way to produce the best product than everyone would do it.

There are non commercial ranches that sells to the general public does grass feed for the main diet. We (dad) found out the hard way when buying half a side of hanging meat. We also found that we had to add flavor to it when cooking it otherwise its bland and no flavor.
Now we always ask what the primary feed the cow was raised on. Cattle raised on feed with grains/berries, ect have flavor without adding to much.
Same as hunting bear. Bears that eat berries have sweeter meat. Fish eaters taste fishy. Beef is the same way when meat flavor is concerned.

Samantha & Hannah
SBCF

There was a comment made that cattle wouldnt and shouldnt be sent to be processed straight off pasture. My argument was that that is not a true statement. I agree that meat is more tender and flavorsome when finished on grain because their nutritional plane is still increasing at time of slaughter, however there are a great number of butchers here who sell exclusively grass fed beef and that it is quite common. So from my perspective that comment is incorrect. That may be different in the us, however this game is not strictly limited to American individuals so I was putting my 2 cents in and saying that that is not the case everywhere.

I am not saying that it need to be changed so you have to put cattle on grains or expensive feed. There are plenty of grass fed beef operations in the world. However those cattle are on quality grass, and when they are sold you cannot count their ribs due to lack of feed. I am talking about the operations in this game that put their animals on the cheepest feed possible so they make the most game dollars they can, and never give a thought to how their animals would look if it was real. And as far as that goes plenty of people do that in real life too, but it would be nice if there was a little better price for those of us that do care. Quality stock in prime condition always bring the best dollar per pound when sold.