Guest post by Greg Christiansen
"When should I sell my meat kids," is a question I am often asked. My answer is always January, February, or March.
My kids are born in April, raised on pasture, and supplemented as needed after the forage has been depleted in the winter months, usually by December or January. My aim is to get my kids to 70 – 75 lbs. by January. Last January the group of kids averaging 70 lbs. went through the sale ring and brought $2.20 / lb., that is $154 / hd. A lighter weight group averaged 55 lbs. and brought $2.45 / lb. that is $134 / hd.
It seems that 75 lbs. is the breaking point of diminishing returns, meaning that after the meat goat reaches that weight the price per lb. goes down rapidly, taking away the profitability of the added lbs.
Now this only works in January, February, or March. If you sell in October, November, or December, the price of the 55 lb. meat goat is usually less, maybe $1.75 / lb. putting $96 in your pocket, and the breaking point of diminishing returns may be about 65 lbs. Meaning that the 65 lb. goat may only bring $1.50 or about the same dollars as the 55 lb. goat. This is simply due to supply and demand in the goat market.
Now if your goats are weighing 65 lbs. and it is August or just about any other month except Jan., Feb., or March, you need to sell them before they get any heavier. Usually after Easter the market price paid for goats will cycle down and then work its way back up through the fall and winter, and peak sometime in late winter.
You can see how the market doesn’t pay you for creep feeding or spending any extra money to grow your kids faster. It doesn’t pay you to have them born earlier in the year and have them reach market weight before the peak market. For most commercial goat producers it is going to be less labor intensive to have them born in April after most of the winter weather is over and grow them on minimal inputs until January.
You can find more fencing ideas and other help in raising pasture meat goats in Greg's book, Raising Meat Goats In A Commercial Operation available on his website, in The Goat Rancher Magazine , and on Amazon.
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