Beginners Business Plan

[BLG31388]

Hello, I am a 31 year old factory worker who just bought his first piece of land. I want to use the land for some kind of cattle raising. The property is in central Ohio, and consists of 8 acres of hay feild, and 4 acres of fenced in pasture. The land came with all the equipment needed to continue doing hay, although I'm open to fencing off more of the property in the future. There is also a nice barn attached to the 4 acre pasture for shelter. My question is, what's the best route to go with this set up? Cow calf where I sell calves every year, or feeding cows out? And once fed out, selling quarters and half's, or sending them to my local live stock auction? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I didn't grow up in this life as my dad was a pastor, but I have the opportunity to raise my son this way, I just don't know where to start. Thank you in advance!

 

[Down in Dixie]

I would buy steers to feed out with that setup.

 

[chaded]

Not cow/calf with that setup. I agree with Dixie and would feed out some steers. What is the hayfield like? In central Ohio, I am assuming at least halfway decent ground.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Cow calf is where's it at for me. It's the most challenging and yet most rewarding. But it takes the right setup. Biggest decision you have to make is how many .
Why are you doing this ?
For money or beef or hobby?

 

[farmerjan]

Welcome to CT @BLG31388 ...

I would also agree that feeding out some animals is the best way to get your "feet wet"..... Like @Mountaintown Creek Ranch posted... is this to have some beef to eat and or maybe sell some to neighbors/family ?
Since you readily admit that you were not raised this way, and there is ALWAYS a risk when dealing with animals... this would be a "less" risky way to get a start... Learn some things about cattle. Dealing with cow/calf pairs... breeding... bulls... calving is a whole 'nother ball game... can be the most rewarding, but there are a lot of variables that can overwhelm a newcomer...

Is the previous owner available??? Someone that just was getting up in age and wanted out? Or another farmer that you could talk to close by to help you get some things figured out so it is not an expensive train wreck for you???? Do you know how to use the hay equipment?

Living/working on a farm is something that gives you a sense of an "attachment" to the soil and the land. It is a great way to teach children responsibilities, and to see real time "life and death" consequences. It is a very satisfying feeling to put meat in your freezer that you raised up yourself... and makes you appreciate what goes into the day to day of where your next meal comes from. It is good "insurance" against hard times... even with what it costs to actually put that meat in the freezer... at least you know that you won't starve if it is out there.

I applaud you for thinking ahead at the age of 31.... sooooooo many kids can't think past the "stupid" phone in their hand or what they are going to acquire that is as transitory as the next storm to blow though...

Please go to your name top right of page... down to account details and down to location and put in something like central Ohio or some such... it will show up in your avatar every time you post... so some of us "retarded.... whoops.. I mean RETIRED" folks will have a reminder where you are when making suggestions etc...

 

[Travlr]

Hello, I am a 31 year old factory worker who just bought his first piece of land. I want to use the land for some kind of cattle raising. The property is in central Ohio, and consists of 8 acres of hay feild, and 4 acres of fenced in pasture. The land came with all the equipment needed to continue doing hay, although I'm open to fencing off more of the property in the future. There is also a nice barn attached to the 4 acre pasture for shelter. My question is, what's the best route to go with this set up? Cow calf where I sell calves every year, or feeding cows out? And once fed out, selling quarters and half's, or sending them to my local live stock auction? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I didn't grow up in this life as my dad was a pastor, but I have the opportunity to raise my son this way, I just don't know where to start. Thank you in advance!

If you have hay equipment to do 8 acres it will be hard to maintain it for what you get in hay. Either plan on doing custom baling for people or sell the equipment and get someone to cut yours on shares, or buy your hay and turn the 8 acres into pasture.

As far as animals I think @Down in Dixie nailed it. Buy good steers to learn with. Stay away from heifers because they can be bred without knowing it. Be sure you set up some kind of corral to catch and contain your animals and include a chute and either a headgate or a squeeze. You can get used equipment cheap if you aren't in a hurry. Get someone local that knows what they are doing to tell you how many head you can run so you don't overstock and have to sell in a panic when the grass runs out. Ask the local large animal vet if there are any problems with the soil or local vegetation that you need to be aware of in your area. See if simple salt blocks will be enough or if you need something with selenium or magnesium in it.

Learn how to judge animals by looking at them. Spend some time at the local sale barn and listen and learn. Learn how to bid and quit bidding. Don't buy from people at first unless you know them well and trust them, and even then you may get burned.

Unless you are made of money, don't buy a new trailer. I've made good money by buying damaged trailers and repairing them, using them for years, and selling them at a profit.

And go back to your profile and click on it to post a location so we aren't always asking.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Your talking a total of 12 acres? With a 4 acre pasture your talking what 1 or 2 animals? It isnt really a profitable setup for any sort of business no matter what you do so experiment and see what you like.

Calve out a couple and see if you like it? Keep the calves and raise them for beef and see if you like it? Buy some steers and fatten them out and see if you like it? Etc.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Welcome to CT.
I would fence the whole place in and divide the hay field into two four acre pieces.
Four acres of pasture, four acres of hay, and four acres of corn. I’m sure there is a neighbor close that has planter/ combine that would custom plant and harvest.
You could then run cattle on the corn stalks in the winter and give your pasture a rest.
600lb strs will eat around 75 bu of corn to be finished. Sometimes more.
Stockers would require less grain and you could run more. Buy 350-400lbs and sell at 6-700lbs.
Cow calf might be fun but you would probably be limited to 6 cows max. And then you have to figure out how to get them bred back.

 

[Travlr]

Welcome to CT.
I would fence the whole place in and divide the hay field into two four acre pieces.
Four acres of pasture, four acres of hay, and four acres of corn. I'm sure there is a neighbor close that has planter/ combine that would custom plant and harvest.
You could then run cattle on the corn stalks in the winter and give your pasture a rest.
600lb strs will eat around 75 bu of corn to be finished. Sometimes more.
Stockers would require less grain and you could run more. Buy 350-400lbs and sell at 6-700lbs.
Cow calf might be fun but you would probably be limited to 6 cows max. And then you have to figure out how to get them bred back.

Six cows on 12 acres is a pretty high stocking rate and that's if he uses all 12 acres to graze... unless he has very good pasture. Do they have that in central Ohio?

 

[SBMF 2015]

Six cows on 12 acres is a pretty high stocking rate and that's if he uses all 12 acres to graze... unless he has very good pasture. Do they have that in central Ohio?

I'm guessing Ohio is very similar to Illinois. We can go 1 cow calf pair per acre on spring calvers or a cow and a half per acre on fall calvers.
Four acres of alfalfa/orchid grass mix, fertilized should net 5 ton / acre. Six cows won't eat 20 tons of hay in the winter so you could supplement hay in the late summer, fall if you had to.

I'd lean more towards the stockers and sell them as yearlings . Yearlings always seem to bring good money and you could have more of a group than six.
There's a knack to finishing cattle that the packers want and dealing with people on quarters and halves is a pain in the butt.

EDIT: I just did the math; if they eat fifty pounds of hay a day each. 20 tons would last 6 cows 133 days.
But if you run them on corn stalks and you give them a little corn you could stretch that another 30 days pretty easily.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Or if you had a neighbor who chopped corn and you could get them to come bag a couple acres. That’s 25 tons/ acre on 200+ bu corn.
You could really maximize the acres you have.
Plant rye where you chop and strip graze it in the spring.

 

[wobbie1775]

Whatever route you take, I recommend making sure your perimeter fence is bullet proof and use electric poly for any cross fencing. As soon as you put permanent fence in you will want to move a gate or abandon it altogether or have some other change. If you take some time you can find stockers that are trained to single strand electric wire and would already be familiar with that means of control. Echoing @Travlr spend time at the sale barn to get eyes on a lot of cattle (good and bad!). Sit in the back with the old timers and ask 1 question...once you do the old timers will give you a lifetime of thoughts for free. Also, see if you can find an experienced cattleman at church who will let you come work calves and get some hands on time. And always remember you can change course: if you go with stockers now you can always change if you think there is a model that you find has more utility for what you want to do (cow/calf, buying pregnant cull cows, dairy, raising mini zebu/highland crosses, registered longhorn ETC...)

And above all else, especially here on the forum, take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[cowman82]

might want to build a nice concrete pad for feeding if you don't have one around the barn. they'll be belly deep in mud in no time there.

 

[BLG31388]

Not cow/calf with that setup. I agree with Dixie and would feed out some steers. What is the hayfield like? In central Ohio, I am assuming at least halfway decent ground.

I like the feeding out steers idea. I'm just not sure what to do with them once they are fed out. I know alot of people around here sell quarters and halves to people, but say it can be somewhat of a pain in the butt. Do people take fed out steers to a livestock auction? Yes the hay feilds around here are great as long as you're taking care of the soil.

 

[chaded]

I like the feeding out steers idea. I'm just not sure what to do with them once they are fed out. I know alot of people around here sell quarters and halves to people, but say it can be somewhat of a pain in the butt. Do people take fed out steers to a livestock auction? Yes the hay feilds around here are great as long as you're taking care of the soil.

If you are feeding cattle out it is probably best you have a market for the meat. Dealing with people is a pain but that is part of it. I don’t think taking them to the auction is going to yield good results for this.

I will be straight with you, you don’t really have enough land for cattle and especially from a business perspective. This is coming from someone that has 30 acres of pasture and 30 acres of hayfield and I have been thinking about switching to another type of livestock because I don’t feel I have enough land to make this work much longer.

I’m not trying to crush what your wanting to do, just being realistic. I do think you can farm your land but you might want to broaden your choices. If the hayfield is really good and you already have the equipment there then maybe selling hay and running a few small animals on the pasture might be a good idea? Just thinking out loud here.

 

[Moparmaniac07]

Definitely not enough to make a living with cattle. I'm in a similar situation, I like beef though, so I'm buying hay while I slowly expand my pasture. You're best bet is probably a handful of feeders and selling quarters/halves. As soon as people get wind of your making beef, you might find that you'll have more interest that you can supply.

Pastured pork could be a good option too, especially if any of your land is wooded. Buy some piglets in the spring, train them to electric, then butcher after the acorns are done dropping. Really tasty pork, and you only need to grow them for 4-6 months.

 

[farmerjan]

I agree with what @chaded suggested. Perhaps running a few animals for yourself, maybe some sheep or goats that your son could get into showing, FFA or 4-H.... if you are close enough to the land to be able to go there everyday.... maybe the fences will not hold smaller livestock...

Hay can be a decent income and does not require 7 day a week care like animals do. The weather is the big variable and you will work your tail off when the weather is good to get it made. Small sq bales will bring good money if the hay is good. It is more work.
But it is another possibility...
I am not sure I would go the "finish route" with steers. Buying at 450-500 lbs and running to 8-9 wts that would go to a finisher. Again... going to the stockyard and spending some time watching the weights... what they bring... where the price break makes it sensible or just to trade dollars.
Here in this part of VA, 7 wts are often discounted. There usually aren't that many of them...so buyers won't pay as much because they cannot put together a load. They are too small to go directly to a feedlot, and bigger than most want to take home to only graze for a couple months... Those type of things are what you need to be aware of and then you will be able to see where it does not pay....
Buying some 6 wts and feeding to 900 lbs might be workable. They would be older, less likely to get sick like a just weaned calf... you would not be able to have as many but if you used some type of electric to divide the land they would be on, could rotate some to get better utilization out of the grass... Feed some hay to stretch the grass too... get your feet wet...

 

[cowman82]

selling sheep or goats to hobby people would be your best bet if you want to make money.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Make money selling goats? Around here if your not careful people will just drop them off at your house. Best case scenario you can find someone willing to take them off your hands for free.

 

[cowman82]

Make money selling goats? Around here if your not careful people will just drop them off at your house. Best case scenario you can find someone willing to take them off your hands for free.

they sell for 3-4 hundred each here.