Anybody trying this?

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kenny thomas

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Anyone trying to buy products together as a group or just with some friends to get a better price? How is it working?
Also anyone trying different products or methods and compairing with others to keep from trying the same things.
Me and a few friends are doing some of the following:
Buying feed, medications, vaccines, semen, seed, and other things together.
Trying different methods to see which one works best and is most cost effective(grazing and hay especially).
Breeding all our heifers together to keep down costs.
If anyone is interested look in this months Progressive Farmer magazine to see some things we do. Angus cowman has already seen it so somebody else might be interested.
Long post but any comments will be appreciated.
 
Our local cattlemen's assn pools orders on minerals, posts, seed and the like. Last order of mineral was three semis, volume like that can save some cash.
 
We have a problem of people not making up there mind or not being able to pay. The thing to watch out for is the ones that back out after they make the biggest part of the order.

I get my minerals 2 semis at a time. I did order 4 pallets of what a close farmer used and sold to him. He was one of the; I'm off to pick up 10 bags every few days. I told him once I got it in I had a bunch off a semi load of stuff I got and I would sell it to him at a slight markup and was $3+ cheaper a bag then anyone around. It was a $.50 a bag markup but I had to store it and deal with him every few days. He was mad when I ran out and did get more for 20 days. Now he picks up day of delivery for half my markup and talks about it every few weeks to make sure he dose not miss me ordering more.

I did order a load of fence stuff one time. If it was large items it had to be by the pallet. All the smaller stuff I could get by the shipper or case (depending on how it was packed). When I was done with my fencing I posted a note on the bulletin board where everyone eats at for a one time sell out. I made a little money on what I sold. 3 farmers were fighting over some junk (I should have raised my markup).

I do know a seed guy that makes an order every other month. I do order some off him so he calls me about 2 weeks before the order. If you want something odd then you pre pay all of it up front but otherwise it's 15% at order. After 30 days you lose your down payment if you don't pick it up. I don't know his markup but depending on what I get he is 15% cheaper then I can get it for. I never make down payments but when he calls me to pick it up I'm there in 5 days and he never says a word about it.

I did get a deal on weaning feed one time. There were a few people talking about going to get some. It was you have to be at the mill at such and such a time. They would walk in and get the bulk discount. The mill added $2 a split because of the weight issues. You paid once the deal was set right before they started the mix and you left with your load. Everyone got the same mix and all the issues were with the mill.

I have made a few orders bulk orders for some of the stuff multiple farms use that I don't use. I don't preorder for people because then people get pi$$ed when it cost slightly more then I thought, "I can't move it this week", "I don't have a place to store it", shipment was late, "I don't have the cash", and "I didn't want that much". When it gets in we all get together and divide it out at 3/4 my mark up. Once there happy I have an open sale at full markup open to everyone. I just make sure it's something I will not be sitting on. I have to be able to make money on selling it cheaper then the stores, and it has to be something there is a demand for or I will not get it.

I just did the second semi load of protein tubes. I have half a pallet sitting around that I did not try to sell. But it did get cold early and have had long cold streak so I'm thinking I might toss a few out to the field one day.

I do make money off my sales but I do it legally. I make $300 to $1,000 off a semi depending on what the item is. But one day I might be eating a semi of something because no one wants it. To me this sounds like breading cows; will there be a demand for this when I have it ready to sell?
 
I don't like the supplements. I do creep feed when it's time to wean but stuff like the tubs are out. Now get me on minerals and I keep 2 different ground mixes (no salt added) out all year round. The summer I change the one for the stuff for fly's.

All the tubes were sold by the pallet till I got down to the last pallet. The one guy was short on cash for pallet #5 so I sold him half the pallet. I did have a few ask when I was going to make another order but just haven't done it yet.

IMO the only way to make money on some of the stuff is by the pallet. I don't want to load and unload stuff that 200 pounds each. But I add $8 a tub and that's about $9 cheaper then the fed mill. When the mill runs low there price goes up. Most of the people I deal with are 20 miles form me and the feed store is 50 mile drive for me.

If it dose not worm up a bit next week I will put out the tubs for the first time in years just because I have them.
Any one good at math? About 560 heifers with caves on a creep feeder would be how many cooked tubes to last a week? :lol:
 
cfpinz":1hdxh98i said:
Our local cattlemen's assn pools orders on minerals, posts, seed and the like. Last order of mineral was three semis, volume like that can save some cash.

I wouldn't want to store mineral very long. Vitamins especially, begin to deteriorate almost as soon as you add them to the mix. The same for yeast products if the mineral contains any.
 
TexasBred":qsud57yk said:
cfpinz":qsud57yk said:
Our local cattlemen's assn pools orders on minerals, posts, seed and the like. Last order of mineral was three semis, volume like that can save some cash.

I wouldn't want to store mineral very long. Vitamins especially, begin to deteriorate almost as soon as you add them to the mix. The same for yeast products if the mineral contains any.

We order minerals two or three times a year, plastic wrapped ton pallets. I'd wager there's some minerals in the bay at the co-op that's older than my stash.
 
cfpinz":2gt4ovmh said:
TexasBred":2gt4ovmh said:
cfpinz":2gt4ovmh said:
Our local cattlemen's assn pools orders on minerals, posts, seed and the like. Last order of mineral was three semis, volume like that can save some cash.

I wouldn't want to store mineral very long. Vitamins especially, begin to deteriorate almost as soon as you add them to the mix. The same for yeast products if the mineral contains any.

We order minerals two or three times a year, plastic wrapped ton pallets. I'd wager there's some minerals in the bay at the co-op that's older than my stash.

All of our minerals have plastic liners in the bags. Had them sit in the rain and not get damp even.
 
mobgrazer":1siemal5 said:
I don't like the supplements. I do creep feed when it's time to wean but stuff like the tubs are out. Now get me on minerals and I keep 2 different ground mixes (no salt added) out all year round. The summer I change the one for the stuff for fly's.

All the tubes were sold by the pallet till I got down to the last pallet. The one guy was short on cash for pallet #5 so I sold him half the pallet. I did have a few ask when I was going to make another order but just haven't done it yet.

IMO the only way to make money on some of the stuff is by the pallet. I don't want to load and unload stuff that 200 pounds each. But I add $8 a tub and that's about $9 cheaper then the fed mill. When the mill runs low there price goes up. Most of the people I deal with are 20 miles form me and the feed store is 50 mile drive for me.

If it dose not worm up a bit next week I will put out the tubs for the first time in years just because I have them.
Any one good at math? About 560 heifers with caves on a creep feeder would be how many cooked tubes to last a week? :lol:

The amount of tubs for that many would depend on how much forage or hay you have less forage or hay more consumption
If your tub and consumption was egual to the ones I just tested the 38% protein and 12% fat you would feed about 2600lbs per week , if the tub weighed 200 that would be 13 tubs
 
If my brain did not let me down… The usage changes daily depending on temps, feed quality, location, and if I topped it off the day before.
4 to 7 oz minerals per cow a day depending on feed, calves, due date….
2 to 4 oz of salt per day depending on feed, calves, due date…

I have 560 heifer with there calves. At 5 oz a cow and 2 oz a calf that's 245 pounds. I'm using about 210 pounds day.
3 oz of salt per cow and 1 per calf and that's 140 pounds a day and I'm using closer to 1750 pounds a day.

So every week were looking at 1470 pounds of minerals and 1225 pounds of salt a week.
Then you have the bulls, the pet cows, and the show cows. Some of the pallets at the feed store were a year old off the ship date when I was getting it out of the feed store. So I go for about 6 months for my self.


I was joking about feeding the protein tubes.
 
mobgrazer":1s4e3ynj said:
If my brain did not let me down… The usage changes daily depending on temps, feed quality, location, and if I topped it off the day before.
4 to 7 oz minerals per cow a day depending on feed, calves, due date….
2 to 4 oz of salt per day depending on feed, calves, due date…

I have 560 heifer with there calves. At 5 oz a cow and 2 oz a calf that's 245 pounds. I'm using about 210 pounds day.
3 oz of salt per cow and 1 per calf and that's 140 pounds a day and I'm using closer to 1750 pounds a day.

So every week were looking at 1470 pounds of minerals and 1225 pounds of salt a week.
Then you have the bulls, the pet cows, and the show cows. Some of the pallets at the feed store were a year old off the ship date when I was getting it out of the feed store. So I go for about 6 months for my self.


I was joking about feeding the protein tubes.
No prob doing the math on the tubs I have all the figures down I have been doing test on the tubs consumption and cost per lb o& pr day and on diferent types so it wasn't any problem
 
Angus Cowman, have you tried the Chrystlyx bakes tubs? If so what are your costs. For me 40 cows use one tub a month at $90.00 per tub. Very good for the mineral but not much for protein as it is so hard they don't use much. Only add loose white salt.
 
We try to get together on a few things, Semen is the most consistant to help out the small breeders and get in the 50+ straws pricing. Have split a truck load of streatch wrap for baleage with a dairy to get a super good price. Combining seed orders with neighbors when we can to save on the fuel, along with shipping of calves if less than a truck. You can save a lot of $$$ through a year if you can get organized and not have people back out on their end.
 
It can work well.
i.e We split a semi load of mineral with a neighboring ranch just recently. The neighbor bought a semi-load of mineral and we bought a semi-load of fence posts, then split both. We consult each other before any big purchases to see if there is a need from the other and a savings can be realized by ordering in quantity if it works out.

We do things like this often, with one neighbor in particular. One of us will order and pay for the whole shippment of x, y, or z. We keep an actual book of purchases and trades with dollar values for everything and settle at the end of the year. It works well for both of our outfits and we both wind up saving money. I would really have to know and trust someone before I went too far, as I do this neighbor. In our case we usually wind up a couple thousand dollars owed one way or the other each year, but sometimes, in the middle of the year, one of us can be into an item for well over ten thousand +.
 

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