06/11/2026
âť“ When you sell your calves at weaning, are you leaving profit on the table?
Retained ownership, backgrounding your own calves—is a major decision. While there is potential for higher revenue, it introduces costs, risk, and cash flow considerations.
đź’ˇ Sneak Peek:
✔ Risk vs. Reward Quantified: Retained ownership shifts your risk profile—from being a pure price taker at weaning to managing performance risk (health, feed conversion) and market timing risk over a longer period.
âś” The Infrastructure & Capital Question: Do you have the facilities, feed resources, and working capital to carry the added costs? What are the necessary investments and their impact on the overall profitability equation.
âś” The Critical Breakeven Calculation: How much additional gain must you achieve, at what cost, to outperform selling at weaning? This highlights the sensitive relationship between feed efficiency, cost of gain, and market price slides.
🧠Does your operation have the management, margins, and mindset to capture the next stage of value?
This isn't a simple "yes or no" question. It's a strategic decision to determine if your operation's strengths align with the demands of retained ownership and how to structure it, to mitigate the risks involved.
đź“„ View the full report 24-13_Retained Ownership:https://canfax.ca/uploads/Analysis/CRS-Fact-Sheets/24-13_Retained_Ownership_JB_edits.pdf
