Greetings from Billings, Montana!  Sorry I wasn't able to get a post cranked out yesterday.  I got behind as I was preparing the curriculum for the Bud Williams Marketing School that I will be teaching here tomorrow and Saturday.  If I recall, we were going to visit about the fallacy of thinking that more weight equals more profit.  The best way to start is with the MATH:

Beatrice, NE, Monday, May 4, AD 2009

650# heifers go for $99.88 which is $649.19 per head
750# heifers go for $85.63 which is $642.19 per head

How in the WORLD can a person seriously argue that a cattleman should put on as much weight as possible?  The 100 pounds of weight gain between 650 and 750 IS NOT COVERED by the market.  If a guy has a cost of gain of $0.80 per pound, he just ate that $80 per head in costs by taking a heifer from 650 to 750.  As if that wasn't horrible enough, The market is actually sticking him for an additional $7 per head - a "service charge" for the PLEASURE of gaining that 100 pounds.  So, in review, not only will the market not cover one red cent of our gain cost from 650 to 750, it will charge us a service charge for the pleasure of gaining the weight. 

Now perhaps you can understand why I routinely find myself pulling my hair out by the roots when I read mainstream claptrap - ESPECIALLY regarding cow-calf operators.  The mainstream tells the cow-calf man that his only hope of profitability is to sell an 850 pound calf.  This is mathematically incorrect.  A cow-calf operator SHOULD ONLY PUT AS MUCH WEIGHT ON HIS CALVES AS THE MARKET WILL PAY FOR.  No one - cow-calf, stocker or feedlot, should be looking to gain weight in the weight windows in which the value of the weight gain is collapsing and the cost structure is not covered.  The mainstream talking heads have exactly ZERO understanding of any of the dynamic outlined above, and when confronted with the MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY which you now understand, will mask their ignorance by deflecting the conversation to forecasts, usually based on macro-economic statistics.  Don't fall for it.  Your operation is too important.  We can't lose you.  We need you.