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STOCKTON, Mo. – “The Missouri Steer Feedout Finale showed that producers were very profitable in feeding steers over the last year,” says Patrick Davis, University of Missouri Extension livestock field specialist. Held in conjunction with the Barton County Cattlemen’s Association meeting on Sept. 9 in Lamar, the event discussed the results of the steers fed at the Show Me Youth Ag Academy Feedlot near Newport. This meeting was a cooperative effort of the cattlemen’s organization, MU Extension, Missouri State University and the Show Me Youth Ag Academy.
“Three of the six participants in the feedout had average group profits of over a $1,000 per steer,” says Davis. In addition, these groups were all black hided steers. Ronnie Vieth, of Purdy, Mo., who has fed with the program for many years, had the highest average profit on his group of seven Angus crossbred steers. Steve Fury, Golden City, Mo., has fed steers with the program in the past but not in recent years had the second highest average profit on his group of five purebred Angus steers. Scott Daniel, Arcola, Mo., with Daniel Farm LLC, was a first-time participant in the program, and his steer group had the third highest average profit, with his 10 Angus crossbred steers.
“The two primarily red hided groups of steers averaged $831 of profit,” says Davis. These groups were 11 head of Red Angus steers from Kunkel Farms Red Angus, Neosho, Mo., and four head of Red Angus/Gelbvieh/Beefmaster crossbred steers from Harold Brunner, Lockwood, Mo.
“The carcass quality of the steers was very good,” says Davis. Forty-one of the 42 steers were choice or prime at slaughter. Forty-seven percent of the steers were high choice or prime, with 30% of the steers being prime. The Show Me Youth Ag Academy group of 5 Akaushi/Angus crossbred steers were 80% prime. The combination of high base prices and premiums received due to high quality grades helped lead to high profits for the producers.
“Feed efficiency and gain is very important to profitability,” says Davis. The average feed to gain ratio over all 42 steers was 8.91 pounds of feed per 1 pound of gain. Also, the overall average daily gain of the 42 steers was 3.64 pounds per steer. A combination of good feeding genetics and lack of health issues led to a good overall average feed efficiency and gain. Ronnie Veith had the group of steers with the best average feed to gain ratio at 8.0 pounds of feed to 1 pound of gain. Steve Fury’s group of steers had the second-best average feed to gain ratio at 8.10 pounds of feed to 1 pound of gain. The Fury group had the best overall average daily gain and the Veith group had the third best overall average daily gain. In addition to good performance, these groups of steers were first and second in average profitability.
“This feedout program is an excellent way to gain experience in feeding cattle on a small scale as well as evaluate steer genetics and management on feedlot performance and carcass characteristics,” says Davis.
If you would like to enroll steers for the 2025-2026 Missouri Steer Feedout or want more information, contact Davis at 417-276-3313 or davismp@missouri.edu. Enrollment deadline is Oct. 15.