– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Livestock Marketing Specialist, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee
Why would I castrate bull calves when prices are so high? There are producers who castrate bulls and make them steers. There are producers who simply sell bull calves. There are producers who think they castrate bull calves, but they clearly struggle with counting to two or their castration technique needs to be refined. Regardless, there is still a good reason to castrate bull calves and market steers instead of bulls when prices are high.
For instance, 525 pound bulls were discounted $13 per hundredweight compared to same weight steers while 575 pound bulls were discounted $20 per hundredweight the week before Thanksgiving compared to same weight steers.
What other reason does a person need to castrate bull calves? What one will eventually realize when asking this question of those who do not castrate is the higher price does not always outweigh their cost of castration. Those who do not castrate will most likely never castrate bull calves and that is perfectly fine.