Farming/ Ranching- .What does it mean to "background calves" and "run" yearlings?

Question

Context:

As far as farm/ranch- I am in a partnership with my dad we raise corn, soybeans,wheat and alfafa. We background calves during the winter and have a small feedlot. We run yearlings on grass in the summer

Answer 1

I take it you mean in the context of you keeping your calves enclosed during winter with access to a small outside feeding yard & your yearlings are put to grass in the summer ?

Very different terminology to what we say in the UK

Answer 2

Backrounding is the feeding of calves that have been weaned but before they go to the feedlot.  This is usually from about 500-600 pounds to 900-1000 pounds.  Especially as the get heavier, the operator starts feeding them some grain in preparation for the grain rich diet they'll get in the feel lot.  

Running yearlings can be the age period for heifers 12 months of age to calving time, which is usually 18-24 months of age.  You could run steers of the same age, but normally they're going to go to the feedlot at around 12 months of age.

Answer 3

To background calves means feeding the calves for a while after weaning them to get them to a weight that will bring you the most money when selling them for the feed lot. Some people will background only the lighter calves while some will background all of them, but there is a delicate balance between putting on too much weight and the price/lb going down on calves for the feedlot. Running yearlings on grass means just what it says. Grass is a cheap way to put some weight on your yearlings. It is beneficial to find the cheapest feed possible to put weight on your calves, especially with the price of corn these days.

Answer 4

In northeast Texas, "backgrounding" calves is essentially a training period for animals prior to them entering the feedlot.  In years past, feedlots had an adequate to excellent supply of experienced "cowboys".  These individuals grew up with cattle, knew how to train the animals to use the feed troughs quickly, effectively and with a minimum (hopefully) of injury and disease (on the animal's part).  This labor supply has now become extremely limited.  One of the responses to this has been to pay a premium for "backgrounded" calves.

These calves have been trained to come and eat at a trough, been given the required medicines, are clear of diseases and are ready to gain when put on a concentrated diet (aka 'full feed").  Backgrounded calves have been shown to gain faster and have less incidences of disease and injury.

"Running" steers or yearlings usually means grazing stocker animals.  "Stockers" are steers that are too light for the feedlot and too heavy to be consuming milk from the cow.  Usually the animals enter the program when the calf (yearling) is about 500 pounds and removed when they are about 750 pounds.  In this part of the world, they are usually grazing annual grains (wheat, rye, oats) with or without ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and clover.  The forage grazed will be dependent on where one is grazing, but usually this is very young and high quality forage.

The time spent grazing is often determined by the price of grain.  When grain is expensive, the stockers will spend more time on pasture.  When grain is inexpensive, they spend less.  This is not an enforced rule, but is rather an experssion of "Margin".  Margin is the difference in price per pound of the 500 pound calf and the 750 pound calf and is most commonly negative (you get paid less per pound for the heavier calf).  The wider the margin, the less time spent grazing.  The narrower the longer.  If the margin is positive, the animals may be grazed till slaughter.  This is has been a very rare event in the last century.