Recent content by twabscs

Thanks Dunn, Great info for those of us in fescue country. I was grazing mine early instead of later so I'll need to rethink that.

Red, I completely agree. There are enough small differences between the two parcels to make for a large difference in the end. It boils down to this: The higher gain parcel has this: 1) Better fertility and so better forage based on it's long-term history of grazing 2) Better (closer) access...

Thanks all for the great comments. Here are some more details: 1) They drink directly either from the ponds or creeks. During the winter they use the concrete waterers, but it's still pond water. 2) Distance to water is larger at the bigger parcel as it has larger ponds, but farther apart. On...

3Way, Agree, the larger piece get's more fertilizer as I buy half my hay and feed it there, while the smaller parcel does get some fed hay for the last two months of winter (Mar-Apr). In fact, the 80 acre parcel on where I fed through the winter last year looked / looks fantastic this year...

Thanks ILuv and Jogeephus, My cows are mostly BA / RA with some Charlaois crosses, with registered BA bulls. A mostly random selection from the herd each of the two years was placed at the smaller farm. If it really is just a difference in soil, it brings up an interesting point. Maybe the...

Thanks HD. Yes, there are many variables. I'd like to hear more on "overstocking." If there is ample grass through the season, would it make a difference? I agree that the one parcel that grows the big calves is slightly less stocked than the other, but not by much. Here are more particulars...

Hi All, I'm starting my fifth year of raising cattle (cow/calf) and now have two farms that are 37 miles apart. The purpose of my post is get some opinions on an interesting observation. I've had one farm five years, and the other one approaching two years. For each of the past two years, it's...

If you're going to upgrade get a 24' as it's seems to be the best all-around trailer for my use. I can move 12 cows or 25 5 wt calves with it. It does have the 7' width, though. Trailering a 24' is nothing compared to my 36' bale hauler. That's the best one for taking out gates, mailboxes, and...

I have one that I use on larger calves that I don't get banded when they are smaller. Just used it yesterday on a 400 lb calf. It does take some practice but now that I've had it awhile, I mostly use it instead of the $100 XL bander that I also have. My "tag bag" now has just the $15 cherio...

Anyone using it near NW Missouri? I called them a few months ago and they could only sell me a tanker load as there are any distributors near me. I'd really like to start using it instead of feeding cubes. Any help would be appreciated.

Um, I think you need to rethink your logic. Of course the vet sees lots of calving problems. I don't call the vent when the 99% of my cows calve without any problems. I have five registered angus bulls, four black and one red, and my average calf size is around 75 pounds.

Thanks cowman, that's the detail I needed. It makes sense the way you describe it so I'll need to focus on selling "on the hoof" and let the customer pay for the processing. I'm only selling halfs or fulls so I'll just have one or two checks as income for my finished steer. Since I'm not selling...

Thanks all for the comments so far. As I said, I'm still learning, and it isn't really the money, but the principal. I'm very thankful that I sold 40 steers back in October before the market really dropped so the prices on these three steers are mostly a lesson learned. I kept my heifers as...

Hi all, I've been at this three years now and continue to learn and grow my herd. However, yesterday I sold three calves (Angus) that I didn't catch with a larger load from about six weeks ago. Three steers, one BLACK 900 lbs sold for .40, yep, he lost most of his ears to frost bite, guess the...

Bandit, Can you pass along the mfr of that feed wagon as I'm in the market for something just like that and I'm near you here in NW Missouri. Are they green as I think my coop has those too but I haven't priced them. I was thinking they were around $3K, but I could go for 2150. Thanks, Tom