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<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1416409" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>How old were those 250 pound calves? Around here an Angus calf that weight would be 2 to 3 months old. That seems really young to wean and sell. Some people feed bottle calves that long. You say you were grazing them. Are you saying they were already weaned? The price you quote sounds like the buyers expected some impressive growth out of those calves, so I expect they were very thin but healthy. A healthy 250 pound calf on mothers milk and good pasture should gain 2 to 4 pounds per day without creep. In 60 days I would conservatively estimate healthy calves to gain at least 120 pounds putting them at 370 which should still be at the top of the market. A healthy calf with some compensatory gain on good forage might gain 200 pounds or even more in those 60 days.</p><p></p><p>You said the heifer weighed over 1400 pounds. That would be a good sized adult in my registered Angus herd. Are you saying your 250 pound heifer calves can make 1400 pounds as yearling heifers? How old was that heifer? </p><p></p><p>You bought 110 acres at $1300 an acre or $143,000.00. Your payments are $6,700.00 per year or about 4.69% of total. That sounds like a 30 year 4% mortgage with about $25,000.00 down. I don't know that area, but it sounds like with your hard work and time that could be a profitable investment. </p><p></p><p>The weights you gave don't make sense to me. If this is for real, I would say don't get more cows until you have the place cleaned up and facilities to work them in place. See how it goes for a year with just 10 cows. Those cows should be able to nurse a calf for 6 to 7 month and breed back without problems, or you need to replace them with cows who can. If those 10 cows are unable to keep up with your forage after a year you can keep replacements or buy bred cows or pairs. It is unlikely that hunting and cows will pay your mortgage, so hopefully you have a day job that will. If 90% of your cows breed and wean a 550 pound calf you will have 4950 pounds of calf to sell next year. The market is all over, so you could get $1.00 a pound or $2.50. If we estimate $1.50 a pound that would be $7,425.00 but you will have expenses in those cows so that is not all profit. Winter feed (maybe summer feed if pastures can't keep up), vaccinations, minerals and salt, vet bills, breeding (AI? bull?). You need to pay for fencing, corrals, a squeeze, and other infrastructure. What about replacements? Will you keep back heifers meaning less animals to sell or will you spend money to buy those replacements. Without seeing your land everything is a guess. The land might support 50 cows if it is all irrigated with improved forages, or it might not support 10 cows. You may already know this, but most small operations operate in the red. In many cases the cattle are there to keep real estate taxes low. The land should appreciate in value, especially with your improvements, so it likely was a good investment. Just be sure to find a way to make those payments that does not depend on the revenue from cattle.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1416409, member: 9933"] How old were those 250 pound calves? Around here an Angus calf that weight would be 2 to 3 months old. That seems really young to wean and sell. Some people feed bottle calves that long. You say you were grazing them. Are you saying they were already weaned? The price you quote sounds like the buyers expected some impressive growth out of those calves, so I expect they were very thin but healthy. A healthy 250 pound calf on mothers milk and good pasture should gain 2 to 4 pounds per day without creep. In 60 days I would conservatively estimate healthy calves to gain at least 120 pounds putting them at 370 which should still be at the top of the market. A healthy calf with some compensatory gain on good forage might gain 200 pounds or even more in those 60 days. You said the heifer weighed over 1400 pounds. That would be a good sized adult in my registered Angus herd. Are you saying your 250 pound heifer calves can make 1400 pounds as yearling heifers? How old was that heifer? You bought 110 acres at $1300 an acre or $143,000.00. Your payments are $6,700.00 per year or about 4.69% of total. That sounds like a 30 year 4% mortgage with about $25,000.00 down. I don't know that area, but it sounds like with your hard work and time that could be a profitable investment. The weights you gave don't make sense to me. If this is for real, I would say don't get more cows until you have the place cleaned up and facilities to work them in place. See how it goes for a year with just 10 cows. Those cows should be able to nurse a calf for 6 to 7 month and breed back without problems, or you need to replace them with cows who can. If those 10 cows are unable to keep up with your forage after a year you can keep replacements or buy bred cows or pairs. It is unlikely that hunting and cows will pay your mortgage, so hopefully you have a day job that will. If 90% of your cows breed and wean a 550 pound calf you will have 4950 pounds of calf to sell next year. The market is all over, so you could get $1.00 a pound or $2.50. If we estimate $1.50 a pound that would be $7,425.00 but you will have expenses in those cows so that is not all profit. Winter feed (maybe summer feed if pastures can't keep up), vaccinations, minerals and salt, vet bills, breeding (AI? bull?). You need to pay for fencing, corrals, a squeeze, and other infrastructure. What about replacements? Will you keep back heifers meaning less animals to sell or will you spend money to buy those replacements. Without seeing your land everything is a guess. The land might support 50 cows if it is all irrigated with improved forages, or it might not support 10 cows. You may already know this, but most small operations operate in the red. In many cases the cattle are there to keep real estate taxes low. The land should appreciate in value, especially with your improvements, so it likely was a good investment. Just be sure to find a way to make those payments that does not depend on the revenue from cattle. [/QUOTE]
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