Calves with Sam

Price Tag on Raising Replacements

The folks at the University of Wisconsin have updated their cost data on replacement heifer raising. The report appeared in the April 10, 2016 issue of Hoard's Dairman (p 237).

In summary:

Year                             2013    2015

Total Cost                $2,427   $2,510

Value of Calf                150        400

Total expense

not including cal     $2,277   $2,110

For more on expenses related to calf and heifer raising you may want to go to

http://www.hoards.com/E_calf_heifer or click HERE.  Scroll to the bottom of the list of resources until you come to the heading REAL HERDS REAL HEIFERS.  

Some of the reports have data that are rather old but the methods used to assess expenses are still valid and can serve as guidelines for making your own estimates. 

The Penn State Extension web site has a spreadsheet for calculating the expense of heifer raising. 

http://extension.psu.edu/animals/dairy/nutrition/heifers/economics/costs-to-raise-replacement-heifers-template or click HERE. Even if you do not use the entire spreadsheet there are plenty of ideas for items that contribute to heifer raising.