Prices this year are way high on all cattle. We are getting $2.50+ a lb for our 450-600 lb feeder steers and heifers have been in the 1.40-1.80 range. Bred cows and cow/calf pairs are also hitting some highs as some farmers that had to sell down with the drought that lasted for several years in the mid-west, south central and west... I look for prices to come off as many buyers have gotten their orders filled... but there is limited numbers and people are trying to make sure they have what they want. As the demand drops there will be some more reasonable buys but they are not going to be where we were buying last year at the 1.60 avg. Heifers will have more versatility, can always get bred if not sold for feeding out.
We graze 30-35 in WVa at a friends place... last year had 1.80 in them, pasture rent, mineral, trucking, everything... and sold for 1.65 at 300 lb weight gain and made some money... this year the steers were just too high to hold and put out there with the uncertainty of the fall prices... although futures have the same 800 lb steers @ 2.15..... IF... the fall prices hold, and we had put those same 550 lb size steers out there... we would make the same per head avg that we made last year.... BIG IF.... I am not sold on this economy situation.
So if we put heifers out there instead... we have less in them, and they will gain less than a steer and will bring less... but we will have options which will give us some flexibility....
We are selling off all the feeders and any females we are not 100% in love with for replacements this spring... cashing in on the higher prices and paying off debt so we are not paying out interest on borrowed money... We also are culling any "iffy" cows... opens and ones that are trouble makers or raise mediocre calves... more grass to last longer and less hay fed....
I raise goats...meat and dairy. Smaller animal, shorter gestation and grow out. Easier for we oldsters. but waaay harder on fences. But good meat goat prices for most sales. Depends on your area market. Since you "know" cattle, less learning curve. But $$ outlay? Consider options.
I raise Katahdin hair sheep. Don’t need shearing, they shed their winter wool. Same reasons as @Mini Horses but sheep aren’t escape artists. Goats, especially Boers, bring higher prices at auction than sheep.
Go to auctions in your area and look around. You are in south central Texas, prime country for goats and sheep. How are your fences? What about putting goats on that scrub brush and let them clean it up for you?