Aug 24, 2026 · 1 hr 20 min · 13 segments
Who else has wondering what things actually pay vs what is all marketing and hype? I know I have. Eric discusses his perspective on this topic hitting on mineral, creep feed, apple cider vinegar and…
Eric BaileyGuestJaredHostAnd, and how much, I mean, maybe some of these things do have some backing to them when it's claims around weight gains and stuff, but is it still at a profitable level? Like, I mean, when people come to you, how many times are people asking about, is this a profitable decision versus is this a productive decision? Will this increase my
Because there are certainly times where, and even going back to the heifer development conversation that we had in 2024, you know, my whole thesis around heifer development is that we should only invest in heifers that can demonstrate their ability to perform in your management system, not let's invest all the resources in a handful of heifers and maximize their probability of getting pregnant.
Yeah.
and then turn them out in the back 40 and treat them like any old mature cow, right? That's not a good recipe for longevity.
And even those that fail to become pregnant, then because you've developed them at a high cost of gain, higher than what the market will bear, you're going to lose money on the ones that you sell.
And this is the same deal, right? I mean, you can spend a tremendous amount of money chasing a five percentage unit increase in conception rate.
If that's going from 90 to 95, it may not be profitable at that point, depending on how much you have to spend in it.
Yeah.
And, you know, I just I like I said, I get kind of a reputation for for being too skeptical at times.
Yeah.
Well, it's
And I think I do as well, because, and I've tried to push myself on this a little bit and stuff too, specifically in our context as being seed stock producers, trying to produce low input cattle that can thrive with minimal input.
I, in some ways, see it as our job to maybe push the limits on what is too far.
And I'll often tell people, you know, what makes sense for us may not make sense in a commercial setting, and maybe you are better off doing something.
So how does that person really find where is the limit of...
You know, you're moving from making a good business decision to you're trying to starve a profit and do a cow or you're trying to cut too much and it's going to hurt your bottom line and you'd be better off putting a few more bucks into it.
Well, you know, there's a whole cottage industry of consultants that have built up in this space.
And I'm just going to shout out the OGs in it, Ranching for Profit, right? If you don't know your numbers to begin with, you know, I don't know.
And, and how much, I mean, maybe some of these things do have some backing to them when it's claims around weight gains and stuff, but is it still at a profitable level? Like, I mean, when people come to you, how many times are people asking about, is this a profitable decision versus is this a productive decision? Will this increase my
Because there are certainly times where, and even going back to the heifer development conversation that we had in 2024, you know, my whole thesis around heifer development is that we should only invest in heifers that can demonstrate their ability to perform in your management system, not let's invest all the resources in a handful of heifers and maximize their probability of getting pregnant.
Yeah.
and then turn them out in the back 40 and treat them like any old mature cow, right? That's not a good recipe for longevity.
And even those that fail to become pregnant, then because you've developed them at a high cost of gain, higher than what the market will bear, you're going to lose money on the ones that you sell.
And this is the same deal, right? I mean, you can spend a tremendous amount of money chasing a five percentage unit increase in conception rate.
If that's going from 90 to 95, it may not be profitable at that point, depending on how much you have to spend in it.
Yeah.
And, you know, I just I like I said, I get kind of a reputation for for being too skeptical at times.
Yeah.
Well, it's
And I think I do as well, because, and I've tried to push myself on this a little bit and stuff too, specifically in our context as being seed stock producers, trying to produce low input cattle that can thrive with minimal input.
I, in some ways, see it as our job to maybe push the limits on what is too far.
And I'll often tell people, you know, what makes sense for us may not make sense in a commercial setting, and maybe you are better off doing something.
So how does that person really find where is the limit of...
You know, you're moving from making a good business decision to you're trying to starve a profit and do a cow or you're trying to cut too much and it's going to hurt your bottom line and you'd be better off putting a few more bucks into it.
Well, you know, there's a whole cottage industry of consultants that have built up in this space.
And I'm just going to shout out the OGs in it, Ranching for Profit, right? If you don't know your numbers to begin with, you know, I don't know.
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