business opp ?

[Anonymous]

hello, i advertise in local paper having bottle raise holstein steers, i was contacted by 2 different people about raising calves to weaned, one guy offer is he supplies calves, feed, ect and pay me for my care time & boarding to weaned then pick up and deliver another batch. he will pasture raise them then sell to market (a one on one deal) the second guy is a larger operation, has several raisers and then ships calves off to different states to buyers. is there anything i should be aware of (scams) and such. i was doing this on a small scale. i can board 20 to start and if works out can expand we have the time and land to do this any info on what to watch out for is a help thanks

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[Anonymous]

Hi! Sounds like you have a potentially win-win situation. A Caveat--you should put any arrangement in writing...draw up an "agreement" form. Any animals out on "consignment" to someone else for feeding, etc., should include their identifying information, perhaps photos, and a $$ value on each animal. Also, should have a liability / hold harmless agreement signed. Remember that once the animals leave your direct care, you will have minimal control over the way they are treated, fed, handled. And, if they get sick or injured, who pays for their vet care? And, who pays for transporting to and from? And, any dollar or barter values involved in the arrangement...keeps you, the other person, and the IRS happy!

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[Anonymous]

most calf fatteners operate this way in europe, because of the sizes of the calf operations here. most of the mills own a few hundred thousand calves, and they just pay farmers to keep them, and they provide for medical and feeding costs. if an animal dies, a full autopsy is always done and an independent vet decides who's to blame.

i've never heard of any bad experiences in this type of business, although the profit margin is rather small, you don't have the risks involved.

sounds like a good deal, but make sure it's all written in contracts, and make sure you get either wages for tending the animals or that you get paid a certain, fair price/kg of calf delivered. good luck

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[Anonymous]

The profit in bottle raising calves is pretty lean already. It can be a decent way to pick up some part time money or to salvage an orphan, but there are a lot of hours involved for the return you get. You already know this if you're doing it on a small scale. I'm not sure exactly how you expect to come out ahead doing this for somebody else instead of owning the calves yourself. If somebody is going to pay you and still expect to come out ahead themselves, the money in the deal is getting spread pretty thin.

You do come out better doing a few calves instead of just one. The extra time to mix and feed four or five calves = a lot less than four or five X doing it for one. But, when you look at the hard costs (replacer, shots, etc.) it doesn't gain you anything to do more calves.

So it all gets back to what your time is worth. Baby calves are easy to load and haul, just put sideboards on the back of a pickup truck. If you figure it's worth your time to scale up, why not own the animals? Then you can decide when and how to sell and you keep 100% of the profit. If you choose to hire out, make sure you sell your time for what it's worth.

Craig

 

[Anonymous]

> hello, i advertise in local paper
> having bottle raise holstein
> steers, i was contacted by 2
> different people about raising
> calves to weaned, one guy offer is
> he supplies calves, feed, ect and
> pay me for my care time &
> boarding to weaned then pick up
> and deliver another batch. he will
> pasture raise them then sell to
> market (a one on one deal) the
> second guy is a larger operation,
> has several raisers and then ships
> calves off to different states to
> buyers. is there anything i should
> be aware of (scams) and such. i
> was doing this on a small scale. i
> can board 20 to start and if works
> out can expand we have the time
> and land to do this any info on
> what to watch out for is a help
> thanks If you decide to take on raising calves for a broker, make sure you know who stands the death loss and the costs for sickness. If these calves have been through a sale barn they have been exposed to diseases you may not be prepared to identify or treat. Calves that have been stressed or hauled a great distance will come off the truck either sullen or very excited due to extreme hunger.

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