Any ongoing frustrations with your cattle?

[herofan]

I'm wondering if you long-timers have any ongoing frustrations with the cattle business, or if you get to a point where things kinda smooth out.

If you've looked at another post of mine, I just started back in 2011, and my current frustration is that this is my second calving season, and my heifers didn't calve on the schedule i was hoping for either time. I'm not asking that to be addressed here; it was addressed in the other thread, but that is mu current frustration. I suppose it makes it more frustrating because i pass other farmers and see calves running around, and I assume they probably don't have that issue. Perhaps they did at one time, but it's under control, who knows. I even realize that one must expect negative things. I know that cows are going to die from time to time, for example, but if i had 100 cows and two died, that wouldn't be as bad as having 17 and they all died suddenly; my luck would probably be the latter.

My brother believes that if it wasn't one thing, it would be another. If we had that under control, it would be something else.

So, do any of you long-timers have any ongoing frustrations that makes you want to pull your hair out? Do you agree that if it's not one thing it's another, or have you recognized the causes of issues over time and gotten things under control?

It may even be something like your neighbor's bull is always getting out on you, or your hay just doesn't seem to do as well as your neighbor's, but there is some thorn in the side that makes you want to pull your hair out.

 

[Alan]

I'm not a long timer, I started about 2001. Looking back I had trouble making a firm decision on the direction I wanted to go with my cattle, ie; seed stock, commercial ect. A few cows I held on to too long, could have made money on them if I would have culled them earlier. I think the biggest problem was getting confident enough to judge my cattle's phenotype and what I wanted in my herd. For me it was moderate frame, depth, width, sound legs and good eye appeal. I also decided raising my own freezer beef was great, so it took me a while to get the carcass traits I wanted in my herd ..... Long story short, develope a confident eye and culling hard was an on going frustration for me.

Other than that I wish I had about more twenty cow calf pairs to sell at these prices, because of these prices I sold about 90% of my herd and I'm starting over only this time I have a much better small group of young cows.

 

[jedstivers]

Yes it will always be something. They are COWS, stuff happens. The thing is don't let it bother you. Something is going to happen and you fix it. Move on th the next thing that happens.
If this sh!t was easy everyone would be doing it.

 

[B&M Farms]

Resolve and determination are two prerequisites to farming of any kind. You can't let it bother you and just have to keep moving forward.

 

[Alan]

Even when you're chasing cows only to have fix fence before they get out again?

 

[Bigfoot]

My on going frustration is what I would call retention rate. For every ten hiefers I keep, I'm guessing 5 make it in my operation to 5 years old. I will say since I have been slowing switching to having some ear on my cattle, that number is probably more like 7.

Another on going frustration I have, is getting my pounds of beef produced per acre up. My acres that are permanantly dedicated to backgrounding is kicking tail on my cow/calf acreage. I know in the backgrounding acreage, I'm feeding more hay, and more supplement. I still should be running more pounds to the acre on the cow/calf side.

 

[Bigfoot]

Herofan,

You start some of the best threads were production is concerned.

 

[cow pollinater]

I have a really hard time balancing what is available and what works in my country and what the market wants. I had to grow very rapidly for a few years just to pay the mortgages/leases and what was available was not always the kind of cow that can climb a cliff and still raise a calf. That is getting better as I've kept back every heifer from every cow that is getting it done but I've had to accept that some of the stuff I bought was not capable of doing that every year. Since I would realisticly be faced with culling those and replacing them with another problem I've had to accept holding over open cows and making the correction on the bull side of things until I get enough native cows in the bunch that I can cull hard and still have enough replacements. The good part is that prices are strong enough that those cows are still profitable.

 

[herofan]

Herofan,

You start some of the best threads were production is concerned.

I'm glad you like them. I haven't been back in the business long, so I feel fairly useless around here as far as giving advice, but maybe my questions can spark some useful advice from you guys and gals who know what you are doing.

Another example of a frustration is our hay. Granted, we haven't exactly babied the hay fields for several years, but I pass other fields that I know haven't been fertilized or seeded in years, and there is thick fescue and orchard grass flowing.

I have a friend who gained access to the hay fields of a farm that had been sitting for years and he mowed the fields for hay. Sure, it wasn't the best, but it had thick fescue with some weeds scattered about, and he said his cows ate it really well.

Now, lets beam in to my 30 acres. We decided to reseed and fertilize this year in the fall, which would be after the spring cutting. We weren't expecting gold, but we assumed we would at least get what most people get with their neglected fields before giving them the treatment. Instead, we had some crap that was barely knee high and as thin as frog hair. We got 63 rolls(5 ft) off 30 acres. :shock:

 

[dun]

I try to keep things fresh and generally find something new everyday to be frustrated about

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Herofan,

You start some of the best threads were production is concerned.

I agree.

 

[Nesikep]

I think my biggest frustration is also forage management, I have some fields that just refuse to grow a decent crop for any length of time, and others that perform great. I know part of the problem is soil compaction, and it's hard to get rid of. I know a large part of the cause of it was the previous owner had Percheron horses that absolutely overgrazed it, and were always right by the irrigation, where it compacts the worst. A second problem we have here is bacterial wilt in the alfalfa, and we're trying to find a decent 'public' variety that has good resistance to it. I have about 50 acres in production, and I try and reseed about 5-8 acres every year. I'm also experimenting with interseeding without plowing because some places are just too gravelly to touch.

On the cow side of it, we had a LOT of frustrations over the years, particularly with prolapses, bad udders, hooves and bad attitudes.. We've gotten over the worst of it now though, by hook or by crook I'm lucky enough to have more cows than we've ever had and the prices are up to take advantage of it.. When I moved back 6 years ago we had 18 calves, we're up to 27 this coming year. I do have a lot of cows that are getting pretty high on the cull list, probably about 6-8 of them could go at any time, and 4 will certainly go this coming year.. They aren't on death's door, so I figure they might as well make me another calf.
As for choosing the right cows.. It just takes time until you find what works for you, and you get an eye for that you like. We've tried all sorts of breed, so we have genuine Heinz 57's, but we always had a general idea of where we wanted to be. Perhaps trying 1 or 2 bulls on any breed doesn't give you an accurate picture of what that breed *could* do, but we don't have much more to go with. By chance we were forced to take a Gelbvieh bull when our SH failed halfway through the breeding season, and he was the best we've had yet. After seeing his offspring, I have a much better idea of what I want my herd to look like. Unlike some people here who cull cows based on age alone under the supposition that since their offspring *should* be better than the parents, I take a different approach, and look at is as the old cow that I've kept daughters from who performed well, I will keep as many from that old cow as I can. I've found that some cows will raise a marvelous bull calf every time, but completely fail at raising heifer calves. Some cows will perform well with a particular bull, others will perform well no matter the bull. All this takes years to figure out. I've been doing this nearly 25 years, and I *might* be halfway to where I want to be

We used to have open range around our place, so that was an endless supply of frustration from june-october with other people's cows in our pasture.. YEARS of battles, but we've got that resolved now.

I started a thread about frustrations a few years ago.. The things that got my blood boiling at the time were untangling chain harrows and opening that braided string on bags of seed.. GRRRR

 

[Lucky_P]

kinda like CP, though mine aren't running on rough country.
Re-started 20 years ago,with 5 registered cows and a borrowed bull. Have been in expansion mode the whole time, and until the last 4-5 years kept every heifer, unless there was a major problem with her. Would have been better off to send quite a few of 'em on to town...'cause we're still working out from under some of the poorer quality stuff - but then you get into...'Do I roll the dice on this virgin heifer that SHOULD be good, based on what's behind her...or keep a proven cow, even if she's not a world-beater?'

Disappointing - pretty often - to see those AI calves, even out of decent cows, that don't perform as well or better than those by the walking herdsire.

 

[bigbull338]

if you stay in the cattle business youll see everything sooner or later.you also learn how to deal with things that pop up.i dont always do things the way i know todo them.

 

[cowgirl8]

Mine is that i cant seem to take one day off without some disaster happening, so i find myself never going anywhere for any length of time. I try to limit myself half a day or i check cows early in the morning or late in the evening. But, i still worry when i'm away. Its all in my head, i know.

 

[Bigfoot]

Nesi,

I would have thought all the freezing, and thawing you have would remedy a compaction problem in two years minimum. Ofcourse, I've never seen the soil in your country.

 

[kjonesel]

By chance I got back in the cattle business about six years ago and started out with heifers that were a cross between registered polled Herefords and a purebred Gelbvieh. I have only bred to AI Gelbvieh sires on them and their offspring. I also bought 2 or 3 Fullblood Gelbvieh each year from Jim Lewis in Springville, Indiana. The herd is relatively young and is performing very well. I have had to sell only one heifer that just would not calm down and she was making everyone else in the herd upset. After she was gone everything became peaceful again. My son has went to college this fall and I am able to walk the cows into the pen to breed them, normally by myself. I couldn't ask for any better breed to work with. We had more acres to put our herd on this year and the forages were great so our cows that are to spring calve are in great condition. This year I have a lot to be thankful for and I realize it.

 

[herofan]

By chance I got back in the cattle business about six years ago and started out with heifers that were a cross between registered polled Herefords and a purebred Gelbvieh. I have only bred to AI Gelbvieh sires on them and their offspring. I also bought 2 or 3 Fullblood Gelbvieh each year from Jim Lewis in Springville, Indiana. The herd is relatively young and is performing very well. I have had to sell only one heifer that just would not calm down and she was making everyone else in the herd upset. After she was gone everything became peaceful again. My son has went to college this fall and I am able to walk the cows into the pen to breed them, normally by myself. I couldn't ask for any better breed to work with. We had more acres to put our herd on this year and the forages were great so our cows that are to spring calve are in great condition. This year I have a lot to be thankful for and I realize it.

It sounds like you didn't have any trouble starting with heifers. Did they breed back ok too?

 

[FlyingLSimmentals]

There is all kinds of frustrations with cattle or for that matter any part of the agriculture business. I just roll with my successes and brace myself for the headaches that are sure to pop up. It seems to be some everyday. We try to remember what we do right and what we did wrong, learn, learn, learn. Many frustrations or problems are fixable and can be fixed with ease and expertise, but others are within us. Myself, I'm having a hard time on deciding on a bull to AI my heifers to this next go around. I probably should stick with one I have used before that did well but I always want to try something different or something new. Just can't make my mind up on something that should be simple to do. Laziness or being impatient kicks in for me from time to time as well. Was told if I checked on the heifers every 4 hrs. near calving I should be able to save them all. It has indeed worked but waking up all during the night and checking cattle gets really tiring especially when she needs help and you start pulling a calf in the middle of the night with a flashlight. Thankfully now I've got a pretty good handle on my EPD's and have figured out what kind of CE and BW bull my cattle are successful with. Don't pull very many very often at all anymore.
Another recent frustration I've had was the neighbor's dog attacking the cattle. I have taken care of that with a few loud bangs but my neighbor isn't too friendly anymore. They had their chances to solve the problem but refuse or just didn't do so. Lastly, my ongoing frustration now is 1 particular cow has figured out she can jump the electric fence and graze free range up and down the highway, moved them from that acreage and now figuring on doing something with that fence.

 

[Brute 23]

Not a long timer but drought is my biggest frustration.

In a close second is partners, bosses, family, lessors, hay balers, contract sprayers, ect.

The cattle are the easy part of the whole deal. They are predictable compared to the list above.

The business side of cattle is very tough. You have little control over the cost of your inputs and very little control on what you receive. Your kind of between a rock and a hard spot all the time.