Can I make a living off of cattle

[Littlesalesman]

Hi, I am a newbi and I was looking for some information for some of you older generation. If I got a 2 year beef management degree could I make a living of just cattle?

 

[Herefords.US]

Hi, I am a newbi and I was looking for some information for some of you older generation. If I got a 2 year beef management degree could I make a living of just cattle?

How many millions do you have to invest? :tiphat:

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

There is so many things to consider. Do you own the land? How much land? Have you worked with cattle before? It is going to take quite a cash outlay to get started, if you want to live off from it. Do you have some money to work with or do you intend on borrowing it? Are you willing to not make a profit for sometime? For your general question I can give you a general answer. Yes it is possible but it takes money, time and a lot of hard work.

 

[Double E]

Well put HomePlace! Also, are you raising calves, beef or dairy, buying grass calves to grow and sell to feed out, are you feeding them out yourself, just buying low and hope the market jumps in a short time to resell? What kind of equipment do you have, facilities, property? The short answer is yes, one can make money but it takes a LOT of work and a good serving of luck to go along with it.

 

[Littlesalesman]

I plan On having a Cow calf herd with some feeders on grass. I have quite a bit of experience I am a veternarians son.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

What does your pop have to say?

 

[Herefords.US]

I plan On having a Cow calf herd with some feeders on grass. I have quite a bit of experience I am a veternarians son.

My question was a serious one! How much money do you have to invest?

Look at it this way. If you clear $100 a calf from a cow/calf operation, you would need 220 cows to clear $20,000 a year, assuming a 90% calf crop.

Is $20,000 a year a living? :?:

 

[robertwhite]

I plan On having a Cow calf herd with some feeders on grass. I have quite a bit of experience I am a veternarians son.

My question was a serious one! How much money do you have to invest?

Look at it this way. If you clear $100 a calf from a cow/calf operation, you would need 220 cows to clear $20,000 a year, assuming a 90% calf crop.

Is $20,000 a year a living? :?:

You got that right.

I look at this as an expensive hobby. Keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to do.

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

If your Dad works with a lot of cattle ranchs in your area, who better to get advice from? He has probably seen a lot come and go. :???: :???:

 

[Littlesalesman]

Yes my dad has saw alot of little farms come and go. So your saying that all I would make a year is 20000

 

[Littlesalesman]

Herford.us I won't have a ton to invest but I would like to slowly grow my heard

 

[kenny thomas]

Yes my dad has saw alot of little farms come and go. So your saying that all I would make a year is 20000

You might make 20,000 a year if things go ok. What happens if you have a drought like Texas and Oklahoma did this year? And just think 220 cows at $1,500 per cow is just $330,000. plus all the land, machinery, ect you will need. Be a vet like your dad and make some real money and raise cattle as a hobby.

 

[Herefords.US]

Yes my dad has saw alot of little farms come and go. So your saying that all I would make a year is 20000

No, what I'm saying is how much you can make is probably related to how much money you have to invest. And trying to make a living with borrowed money is going to make it much harder.

If you have no money - and are planning on using borrowed money, I'm going to give you much different advice than what you've heard so far.

Rather than get a 2 year degree, go to a rancher who runs the kind of operation you're interested in and has a reputation for being successful - and offer to work for him - for minimum wage or even for FREE, starting out, if you have to. The experience you'll receive in two years will be far more beneficial than any degree you'll receive. Then find out what textbooks they use for the classes in that two year program and check them out of the library - and read and study them at night and in your spare time.

George

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

All I ever hear or read around this forum is that there is no money in the cattle business and yet there are lots of folks raising them and there is certainly no shortage of beef in the stores. Is everybody in it for the fun alone?

 

[Littlesalesman]

That's 7 years of extra school tho collage will add up enough to where I could start a big herd if I didnt spend alot on collage :???: :bang:

 

[Littlesalesman]

That might be a good concederation thatnks herfords.us

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

Please don't anyone take this wrong but I have seen many, many young people come out of collage with a degree, book smart with no experence. I would rather have 4 years of hands on expenence and no degree, then a 4 year degree and no expenence.

 

[Littlesalesman]

Home place angus I don't see what you are try to say

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

Home place angus I don't see what you are try to say

What I am saying is that in my opinion, if you really, seriously think you want to spend your life raising cattle for a living, I would go out and take a jpb on a cattle ranch and work for a few years learning all that I could learn. After a few years of working/learning if you still want to raise cattle for a living, that would be the time to go out on your own. You would still be very young, have a better feeling for what you want, have some expenence and have a leg up on borrowing the needed funds. If you go to school and get your degree, you don't have a lot of hands on expenence. You don't necessarly have a good feeling for what you want to do and it will also be very hard to borrow money from a lender without having expenence.

 

[HomePlaceAngus]

Another thing to tuck away in the back of your head ! I know of some guys that actually was able to start there herds while working for someone else. Even recieved a lot of help from the persons there were working for.