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Working at a job to pay for the losses in cattle gets old real fast. I guess if you can see it turning around dramatically somewhere in the future it might be okay. Young people might want to put a lot more effort into it than older people who need to consider retirement? I guess when it isn't...

There are many ways to calculate this, but for a real true cost a person needs to ask themselves "How much would I have if I never owned the cow"? What could you get in rent for your land? How much could you sell your hay for? What kind of wage could you make if you weren't doing this? What kind...

mossy: I've sure got to agree with Bez on this one. Get an education. No matter where you go in life you will always have that degree? When my son got out of high school all he wanted to do was come back to the farm but I insisted he go to university and get an education. He got a degree in...

Probably getting a job first to get experience and find out if you like it would be good advice, but if you intend to just jump in then I would suggest start out small and try to keep costs as low as possible. Right now the economics of most livestock operations are pretty poor, but if you are...

I think Aaron pretty well has the right numbers for yearlings going on grass? The buyers want a steer coming in off grass in that 900 to 950 lb. range around Sept. 1. A 700 to 750 lean and mean steer is just what the doctor ordered in the spring. British cattle fit this market very well, not so...

Well I don't get it when it comes to prices in the grocery store? Is Canfax right when they say a fat steer returns 16% of the final retail price of that steer? I would think they must have done some serious research before they brought out that figure? Basically the packer sells the carcass...

There is a lot of truth in this article and I believe the solution might soon be at hand. I suspect after the sell off of cows this year Canada will be approaching a position where the cattle producers will not be able to supply the domestic market, let alone export cattle. Unfortunately when we...

nova: Personally I can't make it work. I expect to be able to winter a cow for right around $150...but then I do alot of banked forage etc. which I probably don't put the proper values on. In a recent article the "beef specialist" at Alberta Ag said 3.5 cent hay loses the cow/calf operator $20...

Well I was trying to point out the high cost of wintering a cow in the traditional manner and you are probably right, I should have left out the sarcasm in my first post! The old time cattlemen around here who intend to keep their cows are busy as bees baling up all their straw. A whole lot of...

Hillsdown: Please do ask your neighbors. I know everyone of them personally. You implied I was a fake. I gave you the info to prove I wasn't. Everyone has to make their own decisions regarding their business. My leaving the cattle business has nothing or little to do with the drought. In fact...

hillsdown: In regards to you basically calling me a fake and a liar...I will give you my bonafides. Both my great grandparents and grandparents were pioneer breeders of Hereford cattle in Alberta. Both families are in the Hereford history books. My grandfather sold the highest selling bull(and...

nova: It doesn't make sense for these reasons: The hay coming off that acre of land is greatly reduced in a drought? One ton per acre would be optomistic this year. That ton of hay would be worth $166? Which sounds fairly good? Compare the same acre in barley at 75 bu/acre at $3/bu and it loses...

hillsdown: I still haven't sold my cattle. Trying to put some more weight on the calves before they leave. I don't bale any significant amount of hay...haven't for years...it just doesn't make economic sense, in my opinion. Even in a year like this with high prices it doesn't work. Check out the...

Hillsdown: I am assuming your quoted prices for 10,000 bu. of steamed rolled barley was a misquote and was really 1,000 bu of barley? Taking your numbers for feed fed I assume you are in my general area and I would like to try to assign some costs. 165 round hay bales X $100/bale...

I agree with Bez, in that I sure don't envy your hay bill. How much is hay selling for in your area? The traditional 1200 lb. first cut round bale is right around $100-$120 in central Alberta this year. Add another $5-$8 for delivery. This means if you could get away with 6 bales per cow it...

I have never heard of anyone putting 1.25 tons of fertilizer on an acre of anything. Would anything even grow?

Brandon: I don't think I said land isn't a good investment? In fact I said the majority of a farmers assetts probably come through land appreciation? Obviously a 6% return is a fairly decent return at this time. Will that rate remain the same? Go higher? Shrink? I truly don't know. I suspect...

Personally I would not buy cows from a sales barn unless I knew the owner and the cattle, real well. The old feed bucket can make a lot of dogs look pretty good? What are you bringing into your herd? Trich? BVD? IBR? Are you getting a fence crawler? A cow with poor genetics for udder, feet...

I guess farmers have to play whatever tax games work. I understand that, but it still doesn't explain the basic soundness of the business? The fact is that cow costs $1000 for that cow whether home raised or bought. She does produce a calf that is income...minus all the costs associated with...

Further on this: If you own the land or are still paying for it there is still a cost? Say the acre you own is worth $3000. You borrow the money from the bank at 5%. You have an interest cost of $150/acre. If you own that $3000 acre what could you get in return if you had the $3000 invested in...