With rising land, feed and energy costs, there has been a lot of discussion lately about what the so-called “optimum” cow is. Most of the discussions I have heard or read lead you to believe optimum is different for different environments. A few will lead you to believe the optimum cow could be different for different people within the same environment. I’m not sure I agree with either of those viewpoints. I don’t think it is that complicated.

     For most ranchers, the optimum cow is the most profitable cow — the cow that can do the most for the least. When we consider cow efficiency, a smaller cow will always have an advantage over a bigger cow. Smaller cows can do more for less. If your ranch can support 100 head of 1400-pound cows, it will support 120 head of 1100-pound cows — on the exact same inputs. That’s 20% more cows producing 20% more calves — and I guarantee those 120 smaller cows will always produce more total pounds of beef than the 100 larger cows. On top of that, the calves out of the smaller cows (because they have smaller individual weights) will be worth more per pound.

    If smaller cows can produce more total pounds that are worth more per pound on the exact same inputs — then smaller cows are obviously much closer to optimum than bigger cows. So, how small can we go? Is there a point at which smaller cows cease to be more profitable than bigger cows?

     Since nearly all cow-calf producers are in the commodity business, the product they produce must fit within the current parameters of the commodity beef industry. If their product is too big or too small, it will be discounted. Therefore, we can only reduce cow size to the point that our calves still fit the parameters of the existing corn-based commodity beef industry.

     The optimum cow size at Pharo Cattle Company is a 2 to 4 frame cow that weighs 1000 to 1250 pounds. Cows that are bigger than this are not efficient or profitable enough to carry their own weight. Cows that are smaller than this, even though they are extremely efficient, may produce calves that are too small to work well in the existing corn-based system.

     Some will say, “Since I live in a better environment, I can have bigger cows.” I don’t see what difference that makes. I could have a whole herd of 1800-pound cows if I wanted to — but the herd wouldn’t be very big. No matter how good or how bad your environment is, you can run a higher number of smaller cows that will always out-produce a smaller herd of big cows.

     ~ Kit Pharo