Preparing For A Profitable Market Day

Studies show some communal farmers may be losing as much as 40% in value when selling livestock.

- Shane Brody

Putting aside the need for good genetics and animal health and nutrition, there are other things you can do to improve the value of your livestock. One of these things is to plan properly for market days.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have good loading and handling facilities, such as cattle crushes or races, where livestock can be weighed prior to marketing to determine what they’re worth according to current prices.

A lack of functional loading facilities will discourage professional livestock buyers from doing business with you or in your area.

You’ll also need a cattle neck clamp so that buyers can ‘mouth’ cattle or count teeth to ascertain the animal’s age. Remember, red meat is graded according to age, with the prices of younger animals usually higher than those received for older animals.