A oddball (not suitable for everyone!)
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OklaBrangusBreeder
Well-known member
Also known as:
"Farming Strategies for the Lazy"
Anyone with only 40 head that basically is saying "I turn my cows out on their own, feed them hay in the winter, and thats it" is not really someone from which we should take lessons.
That said it is basically the same thing I do with my herd, although I do castrate the bull calves at birth and wean calves at the appropriate age.
I've always thought that a healthy herd that is not mixed with outside animals needs very little (if any) in terms of minerals or vacinations. So I don't do any of that myself.
"Farming Strategies for the Lazy"
Anyone with only 40 head that basically is saying "I turn my cows out on their own, feed them hay in the winter, and thats it" is not really someone from which we should take lessons.
That said it is basically the same thing I do with my herd, although I do castrate the bull calves at birth and wean calves at the appropriate age.
I've always thought that a healthy herd that is not mixed with outside animals needs very little (if any) in terms of minerals or vacinations. So I don't do any of that myself.
OklaBrangusBreeder":cb1hhqi2 said:
That is what it sounded like to me
I don't know about vaccinations in a closed herd, but I would think that a closed herd would still need proper minerals. Just because it is closed, doesn't mean the nutrition available will meet all the mineral demands of the animal. Before you jump on me, I am not saying you are running your operation wrong or anything like that. I could very well be wrong about the mineral needs. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I would not think mineral needs would be that closely associated with having a closed herd or not. JMO
Ryan
I cant say I agree with all of what this "Oddball" does. I do think articals like this one are good to read once in a while to keep us on track. What I mean by "on track" is this. When I took up hunting at a young age all I needed was jeans a flanel shirt 30-30 lever action and a hand full of shells. Now if you dont have full body camo, calls, high powered rifle with scope, a full box of shells, sent wicks, cover sent, tree stands, ect. you are hunting all wrong! My point is that for alot of people raising cattle has become far more complicated and costly then it needs to be. Articals like this one remind us of that.
jkwilson
Well-known member
I don't disagree with everything he says, but I do disagree with enough of it that it causes me to doubt he knows what he's talking about.
He claims the cows teach the calves what to graze. Maybe he's never raised bottle calves. Turn them out and they go straight for the clover. Who taught them?
He says he "believes" grass fed beef is healthier. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. He offers no evidence to support that.
When he tries to back something up, he makes claims like "I read an article..." or "after reading several articles..." That doesn't convince me.
Dollars to donuts says he isn't farming for a living.
He claims the cows teach the calves what to graze. Maybe he's never raised bottle calves. Turn them out and they go straight for the clover. Who taught them?
He says he "believes" grass fed beef is healthier. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. He offers no evidence to support that.
When he tries to back something up, he makes claims like "I read an article..." or "after reading several articles..." That doesn't convince me.
Dollars to donuts says he isn't farming for a living.
jkwilson":n8b9sehw said:
There was actually a good deal of work done on this subject a few years ago by the organic folks. While a calf will eat most anything, they found that cows that had been trained (another long story) to eat specific plants passed the tendency to eat those plants to their calves.
dun
badaxemoo
Well-known member
I went to Wrchota's place last summer to look at some bulls. They live on the other side of the state. Tom and Susan were nice enough to show me their operation. I don't intend to implement all of the "oddball" practices, but I did learn a few things.
Although I don't know them personally, they definitely did not strike me as "lazy". I guess I would call seeking profitability with the least amount of labor "smart". They rotationally graze their cattle. I'm sure any savings on labor on the farm is more than made up for by their marketing demands.
The article posted is a couple of years old. I think they currently have about 60 brood cows. They do farm full time and direct market their grassfed beef and pastured chicken at very good prices. I don't think they are trying to get rich, but they make an income they feel is adequate.
There is no detrimental inbreeding going on that I am aware of. I can't remember if they attempt any line breeding, but at any rate, the young bulls are grazed in a separate group from the heifers and cows.
I'm not experienced enough to tell you what their cow's body condition scores are (that's bcs, right?), but to my rookie eye they looked like fat and happy Galloways. They are definitely not skinny. Granted, it was during spring flush that I saw the cows and I'm sure they do put on some rebound pounds, but according to the owner, they can hold much of their condition over the winter on mediocre hay even with a nursing calf.
For the person looking for some scientific data on grassfed meat, try:
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/ ... stures.pdf
I add this with no intention of criticizing anyone that raises grainfed cattle. Grassfed is just the niche we want to get into with our farm. Perhaps it will be another fad, but from what I've researched it seems to have potential, especially for small scale producers.
And just as a side note, the porterhouse steaks I bought after my visit were some of the best tasting beef I've ever had.
Although I don't know them personally, they definitely did not strike me as "lazy". I guess I would call seeking profitability with the least amount of labor "smart". They rotationally graze their cattle. I'm sure any savings on labor on the farm is more than made up for by their marketing demands.
The article posted is a couple of years old. I think they currently have about 60 brood cows. They do farm full time and direct market their grassfed beef and pastured chicken at very good prices. I don't think they are trying to get rich, but they make an income they feel is adequate.
There is no detrimental inbreeding going on that I am aware of. I can't remember if they attempt any line breeding, but at any rate, the young bulls are grazed in a separate group from the heifers and cows.
I'm not experienced enough to tell you what their cow's body condition scores are (that's bcs, right?), but to my rookie eye they looked like fat and happy Galloways. They are definitely not skinny. Granted, it was during spring flush that I saw the cows and I'm sure they do put on some rebound pounds, but according to the owner, they can hold much of their condition over the winter on mediocre hay even with a nursing calf.
For the person looking for some scientific data on grassfed meat, try:
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/ ... stures.pdf
I add this with no intention of criticizing anyone that raises grainfed cattle. Grassfed is just the niche we want to get into with our farm. Perhaps it will be another fad, but from what I've researched it seems to have potential, especially for small scale producers.
And just as a side note, the porterhouse steaks I bought after my visit were some of the best tasting beef I've ever had.
As far as grass versus grain finished argument, I've had some grass finished meat that was terrible, and some that was great.. Some of the terrible grass finished meat I had was beef, processed in a mom-n-pop (but USDA certified) packing facility.. Some of the best grass finished meat I've had was DEER, processed in a tobacco barn.. I also know that I've had some really good and really bad beef, pork, chicken, etc that was finished on who knows what and processed in USDA facilities..
Kind of leads me to believe that just about anybody who could find a really good processor to work with would do well selling grass finished beef to a niche market.. Those who teamed with a bad one probably wouldn't have much repeat business..
Kind of leads me to believe that just about anybody who could find a really good processor to work with would do well selling grass finished beef to a niche market.. Those who teamed with a bad one probably wouldn't have much repeat business..
BAGTIC
Well-known member
TurnThatCowLooseMaw said:
if you have a closed herd and also an isolated herd you probably don't need as many vaccinations most of the time. If something does get in you have basically set yourself up for a huge wreck. Foresight. If all goes well they will do fine and you need not worry unless the feedlot operator finds out where the group of calves came from that got every disease known to mankind came from. Vaccinating calves is something that is typically assumed to be done and the industry looks at those who don't as piss poor cattleman and a liability to the industry which they are. The national ID system will make it easy for feedlots to blackball piss poor producers.
