Advice for Newbies(to cattle raising)

[AngusLimoX]

I am sticking to my guns, ask around about the operation you are thinking of buying from and take an expert, with No economic incentive with you to make your selections. Don't buy the first cattle you see, shop around and take your time.

A pb breeder who did that around here, would be black balled.
I see a sort of "all in this together" attitude in the pb crowd, one dishonest deed and it puts the whole breed in a bad light.

A lot of the pb folks around here are multi generation family operations. Conducting business in bad faith would sully their family name and likely end any future for the operation for the next generation.

That being said your advice is right on and noone will ever go wrong having a good plan, taking an experienced person with them and being cautious. In the commercial side there are folks that will skin you alive if you let them. And if you are foolish or arrogant enough to think you can swim alone with those sharks then maybe you deserve what you get.( Unless they lie or misrepresent their cattle, I don't call them crooks, just sharks :lol: ).

ALX

 

[KMacGinley]

Let me clarify my statement about the high number of crooks in the purebred cattle business.

Do I think that the majority of Purebred breeders are crooks?

No.

Less than 10%?

Yes

If 5% of purebred breeders have a different set of ethics from what can be considered moral and ethical, this would be hundreds anyway, which I consider to be a high number.

Let me give an example.

A lady from Chicago moved into our neighborhood and bought a livestock farm. She was flush with cash from a personal injury settlement and loved animals. She decided that she needed some cows for her farm. She had already bought goats and ducks and chickens.

She saw a cows for sale ad in the local paper and went out to the farm and came home with two cows and a bull. The cows were July calvers from a farm that calves everything in January and February. The bull would be right at home with many of the bulls pictured on this forum. She called us to come and see her new cows. She told us that she had got the cows for $1800 apiece and the bull for $3600. She did this on her own, with no advice from anyone with knowledge. I guess she took Mike C's advice and let the breeder help her with her selections.

So what did she have? 2 hard breeders that would have been culls if she wouldn't have come along and a bull that I wouldn't have taken for free. Well I might have taken him for free, but he would've been to the sale barn the following Wedensday. $3600 for breeding two cows, if they bred back. Not a recipe for profit. Except for the guy that hooked her and reeled her in.

I am sticking to my guns, ask around about the operation you are thinking of buying from and take an expert, with No economic incentive with you to make your selections. Don't buy the first cattle you see, shop around and take your time.

The farm she got the cows and bull from sound more like some individual trying to dump some culls out of paper than a reputable Breeder. They guy probably sold used cars for a living and cows were his hobby.

Nope, you are wrong, His sole living comes from his registered Angus herd and farming a little, I think his wife has an off farm job.

A lot of farm people think that there is nothing wrong with what he did to her. Rip off the city slicker and laugh about it at the coffee shop.

 

[aplusmnt]

Let me clarify my statement about the high number of crooks in the purebred cattle business.

Do I think that the majority of Purebred breeders are crooks?

No.

Less than 10%?

Yes

If 5% of purebred breeders have a different set of ethics from what can be considered moral and ethical, this would be hundreds anyway, which I consider to be a high number.

Let me give an example.

A lady from Chicago moved into our neighborhood and bought a livestock farm. She was flush with cash from a personal injury settlement and loved animals. She decided that she needed some cows for her farm. She had already bought goats and ducks and chickens.

She saw a cows for sale ad in the local paper and went out to the farm and came home with two cows and a bull. The cows were July calvers from a farm that calves everything in January and February. The bull would be right at home with many of the bulls pictured on this forum. She called us to come and see her new cows. She told us that she had got the cows for $1800 apiece and the bull for $3600. She did this on her own, with no advice from anyone with knowledge. I guess she took Mike C's advice and let the breeder help her with her selections.

So what did she have? 2 hard breeders that would have been culls if she wouldn't have come along and a bull that I wouldn't have taken for free. Well I might have taken him for free, but he would've been to the sale barn the following Wedensday. $3600 for breeding two cows, if they bred back. Not a recipe for profit. Except for the guy that hooked her and reeled her in.

I am sticking to my guns, ask around about the operation you are thinking of buying from and take an expert, with No economic incentive with you to make your selections. Don't buy the first cattle you see, shop around and take your time.

The farm she got the cows and bull from sound more like some individual trying to dump some culls out of paper than a reputable Breeder. They guy probably sold used cars for a living and cows were his hobby.

Nope, you are wrong, His sole living comes from his registered Angus herd and farming a little, I think his wife has an off farm job.

A lot of farm people think that there is nothing wrong with what he did to her. Rip off the city slicker and laugh about it at the coffee shop.

If thats the case, then I would not do business with this guy just because of what he did to they city slicker.