Advice

[gizmom]

We had a young lady visit our farm yesterday along with her mother. The boss and I were very impressed, she is 14 and wants to get into the cattle business. At this point she has purchased two heifers from a local guy, they are purebred but he didn't keep up with paperwork so she can't get them registered. ( she thought she could get them registered herself, so I think she was a bit disappointed that she couldn't) she told me she wants to be in the seed stock business. We showed her around basically showing her how we grouped cattle in age groups, discussed herd health and our breeding program. Her Mom wanted to know if they should purchase a bull, our answer was NO not for a small herd use AI much cheaper than purchase and maintaining a bull. She wants to build her herd on limited funds, her parents chip in 40% of the cost but she has to pay the other 60%.

So my CT friends what kind of advice would you give this young lady to help her get off to the right start in the cattle business. We did offer her several suggestions, but am sure there are many ideas that we never even considered.

Gizmom

 

[cow pollinater]

You might steer her towards one of the breeds with a breeding up program. That way she can use the quality genetics she already has to start something now that will keep her excited and by the time her herd grows everything will have papers. If she at least knows the sire of her heifers she'd be a step ahead.
You might also add hers in on your program. Not bring them on your place but have her vaccinate on your schedule, purchase her semen when you buy yours for bulk pricing, store semen for her, etc. Use your economy of scale to lower her cost. I've always done that for 4H and FFA kids and it helps them a lot. Sometimes with vaccines/cidrs/etc they wind up getting it free because I can't use the last few doses.

Thank you for helping her. We need more people like you.

 

[angus9259]

Get a bull.

I've had a ton of newbies think they can just AI and get away from a bull. Maybe some can, but most can't (I find) and end up frustrated.

If I have someone starting out with heifers from my place I may offer to rent them a bull in that situation ONLY as there is limited opportunity for STDs as long as they only run females from my place. Kind of like they are doing a cooperative herd sort of thing.

The last bit of advice would be to have a plan for catching, working, and loading animals BEFORE you get the animals.

 

[gizmom]

CP

That is excellent advice, and I had not even considered it! That is why I wanted to throw this out to you guys I knew I could count on some great ideas! We always have a few doses of vaccine left that has to be thrown out so YES that would be a huge help to her! I know the guy that she purchased the heifers from, he is a super nice guy his health has kept him from being able to keep up with all the paperwork. He spent months in the hospital and just got so far behind he just quit trying to keep up with the paperwork. I might be able to get with him and help her get the heifers registered, we would know the bull he knows the dam she is just not papered. I will call the association on Monday to see if DNA sample might help us get it done.
angus9259 I am going to disagree with you on this one, at this point she has two heifers, she would be better off getting them AI bred, if they don't take AI then send them down the road and use the money for an AI bred heifer. At 14 just getting started she doesn't need to be handling bulls.

Angus your 100% correct have the right facilities before you have cows! We did tell her that even went over how to set up a small work pen. We made the mistake of bringing in a big group of bred heifers onto leased property one year without facilities it was a train wreak. One thing for sure those kind of mistakes you don't forget the lesson!

gizmom

 

[JWBrahman]

1. Start at the bottom and learn/earn/work your way up the old fashioned way.
2. You are going to make mistakes, lots of them. How you manage failure is more important than how you handle success.
3. Dont get so focused on the process that you lose sight of the end result,the old saying about forests and trees.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Start commercial learn the ropes research the breeds acquire a bull and slowly replace the commercial girls with registered with sales of her commercial cow/calf. This will help generate income for genetic improvement while learning the ropes.
I ran both for years so many get wrapped up in papers mean more money,papers don't
mash scales. Find who you are competing with in your area as your are selling your name.
I can drive right down the road and find another fly by night seed stock breeder.
This is a journey not a quick trip.

 

[gizmom]

jW abs CB

Great thoughts, and advice keep the ideas coming! It is so refreshing to see a young person that has a fire in them for the industry!

Gizmom

 

[shortybreeder]

Travel the country, and really look into how other herds operate, and the type of cattle they are producing. Don't limit yourself to the cattle available nearby. Starting with good stock is a lot easier than creating good stock.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Start with older cows who know the ropes come calving time. She doesn't need the first calf that arrives too be one that needs any help. She might be able to sell the two commercial bred heifers for enough to almost buy three older cows.

Wait on a bull until she has at least 6-8 females to get bred.

Smaller framed animals (like 4s, not 1s) can vary a higher stocking rate than larger framed (7s, etc). She will get more mileage out of smaller frame animals than larger.

Stay commercial and move to registered (if she still wants to). Again, no need to learn all your mistakes on high dollar animals.

Aubracs have a breed up program. I'll give her 20 units of semen on good bulls if she wants to go that way. UFla had a small number of Aubracs in their research herd and sometimes sell fullbloods and crossbreds.

 

[Lazy M]

Before she invests much capital in her own operation she should volunteer to work for other established farms (like your place) for a few years. Offer to work for free (they'll always end up paying). That way she can get hands-on experience and avoid major newby mistakes at the onset. I wish she had done this prior to buying anything, because it sound like she has already had a setback to her plan. She may decide that this isn't for her before she gets too invested and it becomes mom and dad's problem..

 

[Bestoutwest]

Here's what I've learned so far in my short stint:
Only purchase what you can pay for in cash. My only exception has been my trailer. My cattle, fences, hay, etc were all bought on non-borrowed funds. The reason this is so important for me, is that we've had some issues in the past year that would have given us a big loss if we were counting on money coming back in to pay loans. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but at least I know I'm not missing a payment for anything else.

Another thing is to not be afraid of the tried an true. I know that when I was younger, I would get caught up in the next best thing b/c it would "make more money" than the old tried and true stuff. What I found is that it only made money for the guys selling it to me. Ostriches are a great example of that. They were supposed to take off and a lot of people were left with only giant omelets.

 

[Alan]

Start commercial learn the ropes research the breeds acquire a bull and slowly replace the commercial girls with registered with sales of her commercial cow/calf. This will help generate income for genetic improvement while learning the ropes.
I ran both for years so many get wrapped up in papers mean more money,papers don't
mash scales. Find who you are competing with in your area as your are selling your name.
I can drive right down the road and find another fly by night seed stock breeder.
This is a journey not a quick trip.

Great advice CB! I got out of registered cattle, although I still have some, because I got tired of the nickle and dime fees. Also seed stock can be deceptive and unethical at the fly by night level. I certainly agree no bull with only a couple of head, AI is the way to go. Other than that she may be able to find a breeder who would be willing to get her heifers bred if she keeps her herd closed to only his Bulls. She can always go AI to get different genetics. Learn the ropes on cattle that won't empty your pockets to acquire.

 

[cbcr]

by gizmom » Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:03 am
We had a young lady visit our farm yesterday along with her mother. The boss and I were very impressed, she is 14 and wants to get into the cattle business. At this point she has purchased two heifers from a local guy, they are purebred but he didn't keep up with paperwork so she can't get them registered. ( she thought she could get them registered herself, so I think she was a bit disappointed that she couldn't)

If this girl was able to find out anything about the breeding of these heifers, this is where the Composite Beef Cattle Registry http://www.compositebeef.com is helpful in being able to register animals in this situation.

Even if she does breed them with another breed, she can have complete pedigree information on the dam (if it is available)!

 

[ez14]

Im 16 and want to have a seedstock herd my self. advice i have is have her out to your place when working your cattle show her things like giving different shots show her how to pull calves have her watch your close up cows and ones giving birth so she knows what it should look like. I got a job on a dairy farm and those are the type of things i`ve learned that i think will be
a big help

I hope i that can be of some help i like helping people in the same boat as me im also starting out with two commercial heifers

 

[bball]

She needs to find a GOOD mentor, someone to show her the ropes, be around cattle, learn how to work them, manage them, and the business side. (Perhaps, she may have an opportunity to learn from your operation gizmom). I think it's vitally important for youngsters to have a positive experience and mentor when getting started in cattle. So much to learn, some of the lessens are expensive and its becoming less forgiving.

 

[ez14]

One more thing my boss often times has me help the vet when he needs help i think if you could work that out with her that would be good for her

 

[coachg]

Don't know if I would advise her to buy heifers, they can break your heart if you have calving problems with that first pregnancy . Plus they can be trouble breeding back. I would suggest buying 2nd or 3 rd calf cows, maybe 3 in 1's. One or two at a time.A-I is the way to go till she gets 10 head or more, then buy a bull. I know you can help her out !

 

[DOC HARRIS]

I have skated through this scenario of attempting to advise young people ( and older one's too for that matter) as to the Who, What, Where, Why, When and HOW to operate and function in the Beef Cattle bu$ine$$, and the number one answer in EVERY situation is - - GET EDUCATED BEFORE you spend SERIOUS[/u] money! Any money spent in the cattle business is on-going and must be accomplished in a shrewd manner. By that I don't mean deceitful or insidious, but knowledgeable! Most people wanting to run cattle do so with stars in their eyes and do not have enough knowledge or information in advance to make it successful for them. As a result, they usually run out of CAPITAL before the educated "HOW" takes over and the "stars in the eyes" become reality.

GET EDUCATED!! In ADVANCE! Best advice I could give everybody. That is why there is so much information available on-line, in books, manuals, magazines, periodicals and successful breeder's catalogs to aid the beginner in knowing what he/she can do and Who, What, Where, When and Why to do it! Don't be "Barn Blind" in selecting your basic seedstock breeding cattle.

THINK!

DOC HARRIS

 

[dieselbeef]

run...run fast

 

[Nesikep]

Apart from the good advice already given, I have a couple things to add.

Go to the sale barn, look at THOUSANDS of cows and calves, crunch the numbers and see what makes money and what doesn't... For example, black hides do have a leg-up on others, but a quality animal will still be recognized (at least around here) and can beat the black hides in price... Look at build and conformation.

It's my experience that it's terribly hard to breed BAD traits OUT of a cow herd.. it's much better to start off with good sound animals that are moderate producers and improve their production.. It took us 25 years to get rid of prolapses, bad hooves and blown up udders and teats shaped like rutabagas. I'm now down to 4 maternal lines from the 20 we had 25 years ago, and another one or two lines may eventually fade out... In other words, I could have bought 4 prime animals back then and with the same effort have a complete herd of front pasture cows.. Alas.. it may take me another 25 years to get there.

Make your rookie mistakes on cheap cows.. (if possible, someone else's!) Basic handling facilities are a non-negotiable necessity.. At least 1 corral that easily leads into 1 crowding pen, with at least a head gate and loading chute.

Lastly.. Don't get freak-shows to start with.. get some docile ones that cooperate with you, everything will be more enjoyable for you and the cows... I quite like it when I don't need to watch my back or have momma steaming up my tailfeathers when I'm around the calf.. I'd much rather they proudly come show off their newborn baby to me!