? About raising cattle

[cathunter]

I'm throwing around the idea of getting some cattle. Have access to a farm close by that won't cost hardly anything to lease. (Family owned) I'm only talking about 10-15 head. Is it profitable to invest in? I would have to buy hay as I don't have the equipment for hay.

[fairchaser]

Grew up raising a few cows and my brother raises 100. All I can tell you is it's a full time job and they don't call them dumb animals for nothing. My brother and his wife never go on vacation because they can't leave the animals and they have to be back home every evening for daily chores. There isn't enough money in the world that could make me do it but my brother loves it.

[huntinkev]

No not profitable. You will be lucky to break even. Good thing is you can have a lot of write offs on farm,


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[Bigmonts]

NBF7240 should be able to tell you.

[pressfit]

NO

[chebuck]

On a small scale like that. You'll be hard pressed to make any money. Any unexpected cost will put in the whole.

[Cazador]

This morning I went out to find the breaker had tripped on my water tank heaters. After a couple hours I figured out why and repaired it. Then I had to haul 150 gals of water to fill another tank because the others were frozen. Because the tanks froze so did my water line. Only good thing is that once the tanks thaw it will be warm enough for the water line to defrost. Hopefully it wont be broken. Back in the summer. The wife and I were going out for the day on a motorcycle ride. Just about to leave and someone pulls into the drive to tell me my cows are out. They have gone through my back fence and are in the neighbors yards. So a couple hours of getting the cows back and fixing fences and we were off. Had some get pink eye. Give them antibiotics and put up in stalls in the barn. Then get up early every morn to feed and water them before work. Get home from work and feed and water in the barn again.
So if you don't mind doing things like that when it's 10 degrees and the wind blowing. Wind chill down to zero or less. Or it's hot and humid. They are great to have.

[fishboy1]

IF the property is fenced like fort Knoxx, and IF you have zero health problems, and IF you have a good crop of calves, and IF you already have a tractor, and IF you can get a good price on hay, you MIGHT break even or make a few bucks. And by few I mean $5 to $150.
Cows LOVE to mess up your fences, especially the bulls. They also have spies that look at your calendar and decide to escape or have health problems the day you try and go out of town.

[hillbillyfab]

They also have spies that look at your calendar and decide to escape or have health problems the day you try and go out of town.

lot of truth in that statement.

[Cazador]

But there is nothing like eating steaks that you raised.

[Coldfusion]

I used to also think it sounded like a good idea until I met my wife. My father in law raises cattle, black Angus to be specific. He's running almost 100 head with 80 producers. There are many many many hours and costs your probably not even familiar with like when it's time to "work" your cattle. You gotta have a head catch, meds, etc. Then if one gets sick you gotta get the vet to check it asap in case it's contagious then you have to treat the other cows and the meds can be very expensive. There's a ton more but these are just some examples. Also keep in mind they are your responsibility. If one gets out when it's raining sideways and 40 degrees your gonna be chasing it. I'd strongly suggest going and volunteering to help a local farmer for a week or so to get an idea. If you don't have the time to volunteer you definitely won't be able to manage owning your own. After helping my father in law I decided I like my time off too much for cattle lol.

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[gtk]

So if you don't mind doing things like that when it's 10 degrees and the wind blowing. Wind chill down to zero or less. Or it's hot and humid. They are great to have.

You hit the nail on the head.. The town of Olive Branch grew up around our little dairy farm, and our cows would wait until the most inopportune moment to escape, which was usually about 2:00 AM on stormy nights.. Many a time we got a call in the middle of the night from the police, telling us that our cows were headed to Sonic

[Hunter 257W]

You guys are making me smile at the memories of having cows. I grew up on a cattle farm and we got up to almost 100 black angus. All the undesirable jobs each of you mentioned bring back memories. Great memories that I shared with my Father but now that he's gone and I am looking at retiring on the farm, I want NOTHING to do with cows. I'll cut hay and sell it to other suckers....errr cattlemen. hehe That's as close as I want to get to being tied to those bone heads again.

I do admit though that the home grown beef where you can control how much corn they eat for months before slaughter will produce beef like you can't get anywhere else.

[Coldfusion]

Absolutly the best eatting meat by far, but you can find a reputable local farmer to buy good beef from

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[Hunter 257W]

Absolutly the best eatting meat by far, but you can find a reputable local farmer to buy good beef from

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That's right. It seems that more slaughter houses are getting into coordinating between farmers and customers to sell beef compared to the past where the slaughter house did nothing but kill cows on request. I know Mac's in Winchester was and I assume still is going this route. Makes sense for everybody because the farmer can get more $'s, the slaughter house increases business by drawing in more non-farmer customers and the person buying the beef gets all cuts of beef for about the price of hamburger.

[Lost_dawg]

You guys are making me smile at the memories of having cows. I grew up on a cattle farm and we got up to almost 100 black angus. All the undesirable jobs each of you mentioned bring back memories. Great memories that I shared with my Father but now that he's gone and I am looking at retiring on the farm, I want NOTHING to do with cows. I'll cut hay and sell it to other suckers....errr cattlemen. hehe That's as close as I want to get to being tied to those bone heads again.

I do admit though that the home grown beef where you can control how much corn they eat for months before slaughter will produce beef like you can't get anywhere else.

So true. Meat is great. Just not fun losing out on sleep when they get out in the middle of the night. My brother loves it though.... but he works at night so it is up to his wife or other family members to help out. Lucky us

[Cazador]

So if you don't mind doing things like that when it's 10 degrees and the wind blowing. Wind chill down to zero or less. Or it's hot and humid. They are great to have.

You hit the nail on the head.. The town of Olive Branch grew up around our little dairy farm, and our cows would wait until the most inopportune moment to escape, which was usually about 2:00 AM on stormy nights.. Many a time we got a call in the middle of the night from the police, telling us that our cows were headed to Sonic

SONIC? I would think Chil Fil A

[NBF7240]

NBF7240 should be able to tell you.

Do it. Farming is the most rewarding activity that you can do. If you have any questions drop me a pm. Also check into classes that are offered by your county extension agent. Loads of information. Cows do get out, but its never been a real problem for me

[gtk]

So if you don't mind doing things like that when it's 10 degrees and the wind blowing. Wind chill down to zero or less. Or it's hot and humid. They are great to have.

You hit the nail on the head.. The town of Olive Branch grew up around our little dairy farm, and our cows would wait until the most inopportune moment to escape, which was usually about 2:00 AM on stormy nights.. Many a time we got a call in the middle of the night from the police, telling us that our cows were headed to Sonic

SONIC? I would think Chil Fil A

1/2 priced drinks at sonic

[smalljawbasser]

There are several different niches in the beef cattle business. Cow/calf is the last one I will ever do.

None of them are easy and none of them will make you rich.


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