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Let's take another look at everything that's gotta be done... It appears to me that you'd need to be on the farm at least daily -- seven days a week -- pretty much from fall weaning through the end of spring calving (assuming that's how it works at your place).. That's about half the year...

If you buy an animal at the salebarn, you're automatically giving more for it than anybody else was willing to pay.. Given that you're most likely going to be surrounded by people who know cattle pretty well, giving more than they'd give is a pretty dangerous thing for a newbie to do.. On the...

USDA hijacked the word "organic." If you use it without their permission, they fine you $10,000. Well.. Unless you're Wal-Mart, but that's a whole different issue. Anyway, the word "organic" is basically reserved at this point for "farmers" who can buy enough lawyers to get them through the...

I think you should sell her. To me. :D

I did a little looking around and found something called a "Puss Caterpillar" that hangs out in pecan (among other) trees, and delivers a sting which bears a striking resemblance to the effects you described.. I almost posted about it until I read that the Puss Caterpillar was also called an...

BINGO.

Ok, for all of those of you who aren't as dead set against pasturing on the gain as I am, I have a question.... Do you think pasturing on the gain would be a good thing for an inexperienced cattleman to do, first rattle out of the box? I'm willing to concede that it can work out OK for some...

If you lease it, you won't have to figure any of that out.. All you'll have to do is figure out a lease rate. By the by, what happens if you let someone else's stockers graze you to the roots on a gain-sharing agreement and then, just as they were finishing up, OOPS! -- renter must have...

I'm assuming by gain, you're referring to weight -- not profit.. Otherwise, they could just turn your grass into enough cash to buy stuff they needed, then say "Sorry, we only broke even this year." But even if we're talking weight, you're still at the mercy of someone else's talent for...

I remember reading about a court case once where some folks were suing the IRS for the right to claim dog food as a business expense... Yep, dog food. Might sound a little rediculous at first blush, but it turned out that the folks owned a junkyard.. Wanna guess who the dog food was for...

It's not just property taxes, though.. I've claimed most of my equipment and supply expenses, too.. Fencing, tractors, bushhog, etc.. The thing is, it's mostly all stuff you need anyway if you're going to keep up your land, so why not add cattle (or something else that turns grass into money)...

I used quite a bit of cedar, as well as some valueless non-millable white oak in the working pen.. Cut a narrow hickory or two for cross braces, as well.. I'll pretty much use whatever's handy. Running fence isn't exactly a beauty pageant anyway.

Very true.. I never understood the some peoples' compulsion to spend a dollar just to get a few pennies knocked off the tax bill.. I can't help but think people get it in their heads that when they deduct something, it magically becomes free.. Yeah, speaking of "cows" and losing money...

Here's my understanding... You're supposed to show a profit in three of the previous five years if you're audited.. If you haven't shown the necessary profits, then it's up to you to convince the IRS that you're actually trying to make a profit.. They may or may not believe you, depending on...

I was in about the same shape as you, I guess.. Wanted something that would do a good job without breaking the bank.. I went with hi-tensile, paid attention to the tips and tricks given out on this forum, and built as I could afford to build.. Today, I've got a six strand hi-tensile...

So, do you stop and deliver your little soliloquy to each calf individually, or do you address the whole trailer as a singular audience? Plus, how do you taste with your stomach? Sounds like a neat trick.

If I bought a gallon of iodine somewhere and a cop showed up at my door "to pay me a visit" on account of it, we'd have a major problem. At the very least, he'd have a door slammed in his face. Stuff like that used to be called harassment or entrapment. Now, before everybody gets all down on...

I had about 60 driven last spring (in 2-1/2 hours, total) and was happy as a pig in mud.. Now that we're in the "extreme drought" category, I'm questioning whether or not I should have drilled them all and set them in concrete... Reason being, the posts are shrinking inward and the ground's...

Might get a little boring, but do you reckon all these ads we see for Prilosec and Zantac might just have a little something to do with having unfettered, 24/7 access to exotic and/or totally-out-of-season foods? I kinda think it might.. Maybe what people need is to get a little bored with...

Since the oft maligned Wal-Mart is now the nation's leading retailer of "organic" products, and since USDA gave itself the sole authority to define and authorize the use of the word "organic" under penalty of law, I personally feel like it's pretty safe to say that "organic" really doesn't mean...