200 mamas/stockers

[tncattle]

Here's the scenario: Your managing right at 200 mama cows yearly and running at least two loads of stockers a summer. You are the farm mngr. and the owner owns the land/cattle and lives out of state. How would you want to get paid or what is the best way for you and the owner to arrange the deal fairly so it works for both of you?

1. Straight salary
2. Salary plus % of gross sales
3. Salary plus bonus for certain production quotas
4. Straight % of gross sales.

Please add other ideas if you have them.

 

[TexasBred]

Here's the scenario: Your managing right at 200 mama cows yearly and running at least two loads of stockers a summer. You are the farm mngr. and the owner owns the land/cattle and lives out of state. How would you want to get paid or what is the best way for you and the owner to arrange the deal fairly so it works for both of you?

1. Straight salary
2. Salary plus % of gross sales
3. Salary plus bonus for certain production quotas
4. Straight % of gross sales.

Please add other ideas if you have them.

All of those would work for you but the owner would be more likely to go for salary only or salary plus/minus a percentage of NET profit/loss.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

And let's not forget how you're going to take care of your Number One cow hand! :cboy:

 

[tncattle]

And let's not forget how you're going to take care of your Number One cow hand! :cboy:

:nod:

 

[dcara]

If I had someone managing everything, I think as the owner I would prefer to pay about 50% of an estimated annual salary on a monthly basis and the rest as a % of gross sales minus some small % of certain expenses. This provides the manager with some income for living expenses while providing incentive for good production returns and expense management

 

[tncattle]

Let me clarify. The stockers are in addition to the calves that are produced from the mama cows. So it's the calves from the mama cows selling in at least two truck loads plus what stockers are run in addition to those calves, probably at least two loads of stockers.

 

[Douglas]

If I were the manager I would want #2. As an owner I would want the bonus based on net profit to encourage cost controls. As a manager I would only agree to a % of net profit if I had control of the expenses and access to the books. I am a CPA, and there is no good way to consistently measure net profit that two people could always agree on - it would have to be based on cash expenses and revenues only, and exclude capital related items like equipment, new fences, taxes, insurance etc. If the owner is controlling the expense budget just stick with a gross sales based incentive. But that could be easily manipulated. For example you have 750 lb stockers ready to sell. Why not put them in a pen and feed them to 850 with expensive feed. Even though the cost might exceed increased revenue, your % bonus would go up. No real foolproof method. What a smart owner would do would be to pay a reasonable salary and give an annual bonus based on profits but without sharing with the manager the exact computations. As long as the manager feels his efforts are property recognized each year, he would keep working hard to improve the operations.

 

[bigbull338]

Here's the scenario: Your managing right at 200 mama cows yearly and running at least two loads of stockers a summer. You are the farm mngr. and the owner owns the land/cattle and lives out of state. How would you want to get paid or what is the best way for you and the owner to arrange the deal fairly so it works for both of you?

1. Straight salary
2. Salary plus % of gross sales
3. Salary plus bonus for certain production quotas
4. Straight % of gross sales.

Please add other ideas if you have them.

the q is this,would you run the farm completely.by that i mean bale the hay do all of the feeding vet work repairs.or just tend to the cows an let some1 else do the other stuff.but the way your talking thats a $1000 a wk job plus bonus at the end of the year if the farm made a decent profit.but youd have to work your butt off.

 

[tncattle]

Here's the scenario: Your managing right at 200 mama cows yearly and running at least two loads of stockers a summer. You are the farm mngr. and the owner owns the land/cattle and lives out of state. How would you want to get paid or what is the best way for you and the owner to arrange the deal fairly so it works for both of you?

1. Straight salary
2. Salary plus % of gross sales
3. Salary plus bonus for certain production quotas
4. Straight % of gross sales.

Please add other ideas if you have them.

the q is this,would you run the farm completely.by that i mean bale the hay do all of the feeding vet work repairs.or just tend to the cows an let some1 else do the other stuff.but the way your talking thats a $1000 a wk job plus bonus at the end of the year if the farm made a decent profit.but youd have to work your butt off.

He doesn't cut he buys it. Doesn't make sense to invest in all the equipment when he can buy it for almost what it pencils out to cut it every year without even factoring in the equipment cost. Also, as there is a lot of grass I think MIG should be seriously considered as it can reduce the amount of hay needed greatly. Not cutting that much hay cuts out lots of time & labor that is involved with hay production.

 

[shaz]

How many acres is this place?
500?

 

[tncattle]

How many acres is this place?
500?

I don't know the exact acreage but I think over 400.

 

[Buckaroo]

How many acres is this place?
500?

I don't know the exact acreage but I think over 400.

400 acres for 200 hd cow calf and 2 loads of stockers on top of that. Man what is your guys stocking rate?

 

[cattlepower]

If you're not doing the hay production man that cuts out a ton of work & time. I would not co-mingle the stockers with the cow/calf cattle so not to risk the health of the cow herd. Vaccinate twice a year, band at birth (keep good records), cull anything and everything that doesn't have and raise a calf without help--fence-line wean if you can. Make the cows do the work as they should--incorporate MIG grazing to cut down on needed hay for winter and unnecessary bush-hogging also. If you have good working facilities one man should be able to run those 200 mamas. I'm not sure I would even fool with the stockers.

 

[backhoeboogie]

There's no way my input is going to be considered by the land owner.

What kind of hand am I hiring? What are the expectations? Is he/she going to go the extra mile and exceed expectations? How trustworthy is this person? Are they going to work my place my way or theirs?

Whether there are 50 cows or 500, the commitment is the same. The only difference I see is the bonus potential. Someone going the extra mile is worthy of a significant bonus on years I am deep in the black.

 

[Lon]

One man should not have a problem working a ranch consisting of 200 head of momma cows and a couple of loads of stockers on top of that if it is that persons only job. Even if was putting up the hay to run them as well. My dad has almost always ran 200 hd or more by himself as well as putting up the hay and working for another rancher on top of it. Now that he is 60 he just runs the 200 head and i help out when he needs it like branding or working them but otherwise he does most of it by himself. When i worked for and old guy i watched 600 head and only had help for haying and working them but i didnt do any of the farming. Truthfully the moving them around and bringing them in and sorting was easier if it was only me or my dad helped. and the only help i had for haying was my dad and we are talking putting up close to 3 thousand bales wich up here is alot of acres to cover to get that and we eun 24 acres to a cow per year.
the only thing that would make it hard would be if when you start he is a year behind on everything than catching up would suck. But good equipment good fences and willingness to work and there is no reason why you couldnt make it and make a decent profit for the guy. But on the other hand a little bit of lazy could cost him alot of money also and you would be asking him to take the risk of doing this with you unless he already knows you personally and what your capable of doing.

 

[flinthillscowboy]

Where I'm at it's 4000 acres, 300 mama cows, and stockers(30 miles away). We contract the haying (except hauling and stacking), I do the weed control, burning pastures, building fence, and general upkeep on facilities and equipment. I can call day help when handling cattle. My employer pays bonuses on calving %, weaning weights, conception rate, and pasture conditions in the fall. Plus, in slack times, I can day help others for extra cash. It works for me...

 

[inbredredneck]

Remember first off I know nothing about a cow calf operation, however 200 head of cows and 370 head of stockers on 400 acres seems like it may not work real well.