Xgymnast27
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- Oct 18, 2019
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Hello all!
My parents just offered hubby and I free use of their 300 acre pasture, as long as we cover the $500/year cost of the electricity to the well (along with any other electricity costs) and keep up with the fencing. We are still discussing ideas of what we want to do with the pasture, but I wanted to pick everyone's brains here since you guys have been there, done that. Right now the pasture is mostly set up for spring/summer/fall use, and I need to look into the water situation (there is a creek plus the well), but my dad didn't sound like it was recommended for winter.
First off, pasture is right next to my parents' place but they aren't going to check on anything for us, other than probably letting us know if a cow is out wandering around on the road. It's about 30 miles one way from our house to the pasture, but we visit my parents fairly often and I show horses and use the indoor arena just down the road from my parents' often. I wouldn't want to be out to check the pasture daily, but it could be done one or twice weekly. Hubby and I have 2 acres where we keep our show horses, and if needed, could calve out heifers, bring a cow to be doctored, etc. to our place as needed. I am a horse gal with minimal cattle knowledge (but learned a lot while dating a rancher a couple years ago) and hubby knows nothing. We want to start small so we can learn without making huge financial mistakes. We each have our own separate jobs that bring in a steady income, so this is more of a hobby for us, but it would sure be nice if we could at least break even or even make a small profit (to make up for the money lost to the horses, haha!).
Our thoughts right now are to buy some bred cows in the early spring, let them calve and pasture them all summer, then sell them in the fall (before Labor Day is what I've read?). Is it better to start with short term cows, regular bred cows or bred heifers? Should we pick up a bull to breed the cows back to, and then sell them as bred cows in the fall with or without their calves as pairs? I have also wondered about buying a heifer bull (that could be wintered at my house), buying yearlings in the early spring, breeding them, feeding them all summer and then selling them as bred heifers in the fall? What other business models should we consider?
We would love to hear all your tips, hints and things we should know before we jump into this!
Thank you!
My parents just offered hubby and I free use of their 300 acre pasture, as long as we cover the $500/year cost of the electricity to the well (along with any other electricity costs) and keep up with the fencing. We are still discussing ideas of what we want to do with the pasture, but I wanted to pick everyone's brains here since you guys have been there, done that. Right now the pasture is mostly set up for spring/summer/fall use, and I need to look into the water situation (there is a creek plus the well), but my dad didn't sound like it was recommended for winter.
First off, pasture is right next to my parents' place but they aren't going to check on anything for us, other than probably letting us know if a cow is out wandering around on the road. It's about 30 miles one way from our house to the pasture, but we visit my parents fairly often and I show horses and use the indoor arena just down the road from my parents' often. I wouldn't want to be out to check the pasture daily, but it could be done one or twice weekly. Hubby and I have 2 acres where we keep our show horses, and if needed, could calve out heifers, bring a cow to be doctored, etc. to our place as needed. I am a horse gal with minimal cattle knowledge (but learned a lot while dating a rancher a couple years ago) and hubby knows nothing. We want to start small so we can learn without making huge financial mistakes. We each have our own separate jobs that bring in a steady income, so this is more of a hobby for us, but it would sure be nice if we could at least break even or even make a small profit (to make up for the money lost to the horses, haha!).
Our thoughts right now are to buy some bred cows in the early spring, let them calve and pasture them all summer, then sell them in the fall (before Labor Day is what I've read?). Is it better to start with short term cows, regular bred cows or bred heifers? Should we pick up a bull to breed the cows back to, and then sell them as bred cows in the fall with or without their calves as pairs? I have also wondered about buying a heifer bull (that could be wintered at my house), buying yearlings in the early spring, breeding them, feeding them all summer and then selling them as bred heifers in the fall? What other business models should we consider?
We would love to hear all your tips, hints and things we should know before we jump into this!
Thank you!