Best cattle at best price?

[handyandy101g]

What typr of cattle would be best in invest in?

 

[Victoria]

That's not an easy question to answer because there isn't one answer for every person.
There are some questions you need to answer first to give you an idea of what you should invest in.
1) How much experience do you have with cattle?
2) How much land do you have?
3) How much money do you have to invest?
4) How much time are you willing to have go by before you see a return on your investment?
5) What kind of facilities do you have?
6) Are you doing this alone or will you be hiring?
7) What breed(s) sell the best in your area - both purebred and commercial?
8) What customer do you want to sell to?
9) How much time and effort do you want to invest in your cattle for paperwork, marketing, herd improvement?

 

[dun]

Before anything else you have to figure out how much of a return you expect from your investment and how little you'll be satisfied with.

 

[Dusty Roads]

Man with the plan, you might want to think up a new plan.
You can make money on cattle, but it takes a lot of money to start.
Even if you already have the land, by the time you build fence, corals, shoots, get a head gate, and countles other stuff you are already into a load of cash.
As far as the type of cows depends a lot on where you are.
Not knowing anything about cows, you might want to reconsider.
If you go ahead, then the very first thing you need to get before anything else is a mentor.
Good luck, and keep us up,
D.R.

 

[hillsdown]

Before anything else you have to figure out how much of a return you expect from your investment and how little you'll be satisfied with.

Right now cattle is really not a good investment.If you want to invest buy land and rent it out.

 

[preston39]

What typr of cattle would be best in invest in?

======
handy.,

A loaded question.

Concluding that you are asking as a entry herdsman and not as a commodity investor.

An objective should be established. Beef, commercial, milk, specialty, etc.

Develop a mentor in your area experienced with your objective herd.

Analyze what type animals fellow herdsmen are keeping in your area.

Visit your local sale barn and study what sells in your area.

Assist the vet there while processing animals and ask questions.

Unless you have access to unlimited cash consider the following;

But good used equipment for all needs.

Start out with the basics. (your mentor will guide you).

Choose animal buying time to your advantage. Example; because of hay conditions in many areas I believe good cows can be bought at below normal market values..mid winter...when the hay is depleted.

Above all make sure you are equiped and facilities are prepared for the animals chosen.

 

[BC]

Right now it looks like a calf that weighs 300 to 475 lbs. doesn't have many friends at the sale barns this fall. The wheat farmers do not want to graze any calves this year.

Saturday, I had some orders for:
Plain Brangus type heifers that weighed 300 to 350 for $1.10 or less per lb.

Angus/Brangus(1/4 ear or less) #1 heifers 375 to 425 lbs for under $1.20 per lb.

Black or yellow long tailed feeder heifers weighing 450 to 500 lbs for under $1.00 per lb.

Thin, dried out long tailed feeder heifers weighing 500 to 600
any color (no Longhorns or humpy's) under $95 per cwt.

1 1/2 Blk or Yel steers/bulls weiging 400 to 500 lbs for $1.05 per lb or less

700 to 750 lbs steers (no Longhorn or anything over 3/8 Brahman) for $1.01 per lb.

The sure enough top end #1 calves brought good money. The thinner upgradable calves looked like they were a bargain.

 

[handyandy101g]

Ok, i understand that i have to be well prepared, i have a uncle that's really helping me out alot. He has had a cattle ranch for a little over 20 years, but my questions is which animals hav the most profitable turnaround in the long run, not short term? I want to be more productive, and better established as a rancher in fewer then the 15 years it took him. So the question i meant to ask is which breed of cattle would be most productive within the next 3- to 5 years and howmuch would i be looking to spend? now i have 35,000 to invest so what would be my best purchase with that amount in South Texas, on 150 acres, that would be most productive in the next 3-5 years. I would really like for my father to retire in the next 5 years from the small business we own so that's why i ask. also i have unlimited amount of time to work with them, cause like i said we own our own business

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

...I want to be more productive, and better established as a rancher in fewer then the 15 years it took him...

Cattle ranching is not a make your name overnite kind of business... the old timers (at least around here) want to see you perform and do well for several years... up to 10 years, before they feel you've "cut your teeth in the business" so to speak...

...since you own your own business already, do this the same - with a business plan, calculate anticipated growth and anticipated losses, etc. etc.

...and read the advice above, you need to research your area to see what sells there, also look at your plan to see what you need for facilities vs. cattle investment, what will you rent from your uncle, and so on and so forth... pencil to paper first... then up to your ears in it second.

Best of luck.

 

[vs_cattle]

As long as you got the place fenced and crossed fenced and water is available to the animals you have some options to play with.

- Buy some pairs (Cow & Calf)
Sell Calves at weaning (Fast Turn Around of Invesetment)
Breed Back Cows by AI to a bull of your choice
Repeat Proccess
- Buy 3-1 (Bred Cow & Calf)
Sell Calves at weaning
Calve out the cows and sell those calves as well
Breed Cow by AI
Repeat
- Buy Yearlings Bred Heifer
Calve out heifers sell calves
Breed Heifers
Repeat
- Buy Feeder Calves
feed them for a certain period of time then sell em
- Buy Bottle Calves
raise them for a certain period of time and sell em

If I was in your position I would try to get some 3-1 Packages so you have a calf to sell and make some quick money as well as a calf on the way or Heavy Bred Females. It jump starts your return by a couple years vs buying open heifers breeding them waiting 9 Months selling the calves after another 6 Months and then breeding them back and waiting more months before you sell another calf.

 

[BC]

If you have the time and expertise to "doctor" young calves, then there appears to be some opportunities to run calves on grass getting them from weaning to feedlot size as cheap as possible. The market is rewarding calves that weigh over 700 lbs this year.

This appears to be one of those years when there will not be much roll back figured in the price of stocker calves. If you can put gain on economically, there is a great opportunity to make money.

 

[OK Jeanne]

There will be a selection of bulls, bred cows, bred and
open heifers up for auction starting Oct 7th. Here's
a link to the "gallery" page where the thumbnail photos
are shown of the animals listed so far.:
http://www.murraygrey.net/cgi-bin/aucti ... sp=gallery

The rest of the sale animals will be posted by this Fri night
or Saturday morning. It's easy to register on the software
system. And it works something like ebay; not hard to
navigate.

 

[Beef11]

What typr of cattle would be best in invest in?

Everyone is walking around the question. Let me answer it..... MINE.

Mine are the best ones to invest in.


Really it depends on the animal and the price. I would suggest getting a long term plan drawn up and go from there working almost backwards.

 

[Brandonm2]

Ok, i understand that i have to be well prepared, i have a uncle that's really helping me out alot. He has had a cattle ranch for a little over 20 years, but my questions is which animals hav the most profitable turnaround in the long run, not short term? I want to be more productive, and better established as a rancher in fewer then the 15 years it took him. So the question i meant to ask is which breed of cattle would be most productive within the next 3- to 5 years and howmuch would i be looking to spend? now i have 35,000 to invest so what would be my best purchase with that amount in South Texas, on 150 acres, that would be most productive in the next 3-5 years. I would really like for my father to retire in the next 5 years from the small business we own so that's why i ask. also i have unlimited amount of time to work with them, cause like i said we own our own business

Normally I would say to put that $35,000 into the best 30 Angus or Hereford bred heifers(if you want to fiddle with registered cows) or black baldie bred heifers (if you want to stick straight commercial) that you can find; BUT that "South Texas" part kind of scares me. Given where you are at, you MIGHT want some eared cattle.....Hereford x Santa Gertrudis, reg Braford, Brangus x Hereford, etc. I think you need to talk to some folks actually in YOUR area. Extension beef specialist, Texas A&M, the local livestock barn, etc before you make a decision. And you might want to find somebody knowledgable too walk your place with you to tell you how many cows it will support and how much supplement they will need there.

 

[tmaygspeara]

i say stick with commerical cattle, for a quick and profitable turnaround try to get them black and breed them to a registered black angus bull. I feel if you are trying to run seedstock you need to be more hands on with people and you have to try to market and sell your cattle yourself. if you choose commericla cow-calf, try to breed the black, take to the sale barn and get you check everytime.

 

[CowpokeJ]

Ok, i understand that i have to be well prepared, i have a uncle that's really helping me out alot. He has had a cattle ranch for a little over 20 years, but my questions is which animals hav the most profitable turnaround in the long run, not short term? I want to be more productive, and better established as a rancher in fewer then the 15 years it took him. So the question i meant to ask is which breed of cattle would be most productive within the next 3- to 5 years and howmuch would i be looking to spend? now i have 35,000 to invest so what would be my best purchase with that amount in South Texas, on 150 acres, that would be most productive in the next 3-5 years. I would really like for my father to retire in the next 5 years from the small business we own so that's why i ask. also i have unlimited amount of time to work with them, cause like i said we own our own business

Normally I would say to put that $35,000 into the best 30 Angus or Hereford bred heifers(if you want to fiddle with registered cows) or black baldie bred heifers (if you want to stick straight commercial) that you can find; BUT that "South Texas" part kind of scares me. Given where you are at, you MIGHT want some eared cattle.....Hereford x Santa Gertrudis, reg Braford, Brangus x Hereford, etc. I think you need to talk to some folks actually in YOUR area. Extension beef specialist, Texas A&M, the local livestock barn, etc before you make a decision. And you might want to find somebody knowledgable too walk your place with you to tell you how many cows it will support and how much supplement they will need there.

I'm with Brandon, I would use a britishxamerican cross with terminal bulls.

 

[xbred]

BC what do you mean by "long tailed feeders"?

 

[OhioRiver]

I like the 3-1 option. I would like to hear some success scenarios on this.

As long as you got the place fenced and crossed fenced and water is available to the animals you have some options to play with.

- Buy some pairs (Cow & Calf)
Sell Calves at weaning (Fast Turn Around of Invesetment)
Breed Back Cows by AI to a bull of your choice
Repeat Proccess
- Buy 3-1 (Bred Cow & Calf)
Sell Calves at weaning
Calve out the cows and sell those calves as well
Breed Cow by AI
Repeat
- Buy Yearlings Bred Heifer
Calve out heifers sell calves
Breed Heifers
Repeat
- Buy Feeder Calves
feed them for a certain period of time then sell em
- Buy Bottle Calves
raise them for a certain period of time and sell em

If I was in your position I would try to get some 3-1 Packages so you have a calf to sell and make some quick money as well as a calf on the way or Heavy Bred Females. It jump starts your return by a couple years vs buying open heifers breeding them waiting 9 Months selling the calves after another 6 Months and then breeding them back and waiting more months before you sell another calf.

 

[grannysoo]

Cows that are alive and healthy.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Ok, i understand that i have to be well prepared, i have a uncle that's really helping me out alot. He has had a cattle ranch for a little over 20 years, but my questions is which animals hav the most profitable turnaround in the long run, not short term? I want to be more productive, and better established as a rancher in fewer then the 15 years it took him. So the question i meant to ask is which breed of cattle would be most productive within the next 3- to 5 years and howmuch would i be looking to spend? now i have 35,000 to invest so what would be my best purchase with that amount in South Texas, on 150 acres, that would be most productive in the next 3-5 years. I would really like for my father to retire in the next 5 years from the small business we own so that's why i ask. also i have unlimited amount of time to work with them, cause like i said we own our own business

Normally I would say to put that $35,000 into the best 30 Angus or Hereford bred heifers(if you want to fiddle with registered cows) or black baldie bred heifers (if you want to stick straight commercial) that you can find; BUT that "South Texas" part kind of scares me. Given where you are at, you MIGHT want some eared cattle.....Hereford x Santa Gertrudis, reg Braford, Brangus x Hereford, etc. I think you need to talk to some folks actually in YOUR area. Extension beef specialist, Texas A&M, the local livestock barn, etc before you make a decision. And you might want to find somebody knowledgable too walk your place with you to tell you how many cows it will support and how much supplement they will need there.

I'm with Brandon, I would use a britishxamerican cross with terminal bulls.

Plus, if his uncle is successful, he has a mentor. You got to wonder why he is asking us tho? Doesn't trust his uncle's judgement? I'd tell my nieces and nephews to go with brangus, Beefmaster, Braford etc also. Hopefully they'd listen to me and not a horse trader trying to sell cattle.