Can I make money buying a ranch

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cattle farming is away of life, not a way to get rich. you can make enough for a meager living if you enjoy what you do. old farmer was asked what he would do if he won a million dollars & he said he would keep on farming til he spent it all
 
Buy it for what cattle ground is really worth and not what hobby ranchers pay and hire someone that knows what they're doing to run it for you. There is money there but you'll need climbing gear to get up the side of the learning curve you're in for if you try to do it yourself. Hiring someone sounds expensive but it's cheap if you get the right person. Once you get someone good, pick their brain.
 
cow pollinater":zgy5yqhz said:
Buy it for what cattle ground is really worth and not what hobby ranchers pay and hire someone that knows what they're doing to run it for you. There is money there but you'll need climbing gear to get up the side of the learning curve you're in for if you try to do it yourself. Hiring someone sounds expensive but it's cheap if you get the right person. Once you get someone good, pick their brain.
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Best post so far this thread.
 
The biggest issue with this is the no experience part. Other than that it will work.

Here where I am with 1 million you could buy all the equipment you need, 200 cows and a place that would take care of them and grow your own hay.

So the only way it won't make money is if you don't make money selling 200 yearlings every year.
 
I live on the East coast in a major metropolitan area. If I was to get into this business I would need to purchase a ranch elsewhere. Since I'm not really tied to any particular ranch area by family ties I am in a position to set up camp any where. I currently own a business in a field where most guys claim to not make any money. I've been blessed to make a decent and comfortable living for me and my family mostly by applying business principles to operate it and working 15 hour days. My question is by using the same practices-strict cost controls and business goals and hard wok can the ranching business be profitable? I hear the various jokes about making a little money if you have a lot, etc but I'm confused how, if there is no profit in the business how can I go to the store and buy steak. If everybody is losing money here does the beef come from?
 
Get the hardest cattle you can find and don't be afraid to start small. And be willing to tinker. Find ways to keep costs low. If you spend too much time telling people you're new, the more people who are looking to take advantage of you.

Learning curve is cheaper on 5-10 than 50-100.
 
One point of confusion for me is does the OP simply want to have a business that has the ability to operate in the black or make his living solely from it? I don't feel $1mil is enough to do the latter. Doesn't mean it can't be profitable though. Where he is from would be helpful too.
 
rww225":18zcqu65 said:
Lets say I want to get in to the cattle ranch business. I've got nothing but cash and good credit. No experience but something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm willing to invest up to $1 million dollars and with that I need to buy whatever is needed to have a viable ranch. Can it be done with that capital investment, can I have a positive cash flow. Is it possible to make money in the cattle business? Thanks very much for your responses.
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After thinking about your question, are you saying you would make an initial investment of 1M. Then will the cattle positive cash flow. Meaning will the cattle pay for the cattle. So you are trying to see what kind of rate of return you can get on your 1M in the cattle business?

If that is the case...
What kind of avg an rate of return are you looking for?
Does all the income have to come from cattle?
 
rww225":tulsw7ws said:
I live on the East coast in a major metropolitan area. If I was to get into this business I would need to purchase a ranch elsewhere. Since I'm not really tied to any particular ranch area by family ties I am in a position to set up camp any where. I currently own a business in a field where most guys claim to not make any money. I've been blessed to make a decent and comfortable living for me and my family mostly by applying business principles to operate it and working 15 hour days. My question is by using the same practices-strict cost controls and business goals and hard wok can the ranching business be profitable? I hear the various jokes about making a little money if you have a lot, etc but I'm confused how, if there is no profit in the business how can I go to the store and buy steak. If everybody is losing money here does the beef come from?
Click to expand...

Fair questions. I think one biggest contributors to that mindset is that the vast majority of cattle producers are hobby guys with less than 100 head. Many of these operations never can or will make money due to economies of scale in regard to labor, inputs etc. I also think it is a default position for many more to just say "oh, there's no money in it". Maybe they knew someone who went broke or they did themselves. Maybe bad market conditions got them, maybe drought, or maybe they were simply not good at it. My view is different. As I've mentioned other times on threads about how there is no money in this business, my family has been in the cattle business since 1904. Cattle are basically our only business and any sideline businesses we have were paid for with cattle. There is no way we could have not only stayed in business but expanded our operations through that many ups and downs without one thing.....profit. As I mentioned in a thread not too long ago, I have no idea how to pay bills and live off of red ink. As to your ideas, employing all of those strategies will contribute to a healthy bottom line. I will say that as I see it, your biggest limiting factor is the lack of knowledge. If you are thinking of buying a ranch, I would seriously consider hiring someone that knows this business, in the area in which you want to operate. At least on a consultant basis to get things up and running. To truly be successful at this business the nuances both on the production side and the managing of the markets can truly be staggering. I will also say that, as in much of ag, depending on what your goals are from a size standpoint you may be surprised at how much $1mil doesn't get you. To summarize, could you lose all your money and this adventure be a bust? Sure. But saying that money can't be made on cattle and that some people don't do extremely well with cattle is simply ridiculous. Good luck with your project.
 
rww225":bypmj0i7 said:
I live on the East coast in a major metropolitan area. If I was to get into this business I would need to purchase a ranch elsewhere. Since I'm not really tied to any particular ranch area by family ties I am in a position to set up camp any where. I currently own a business in a field where most guys claim to not make any money. I've been blessed to make a decent and comfortable living for me and my family mostly by applying business principles to operate it and working 15 hour days. My question is by using the same practices-strict cost controls and business goals and hard wok can the ranching business be profitable? I hear the various jokes about making a little money if you have a lot, etc but I'm confused how, if there is no profit in the business how can I go to the store and buy steak. If everybody is losing money here does the beef come from?
Click to expand...

I make money on cattle and I am not large nor have I ever been most momma cows I ever ran was 37. It is a business your only control is inputs doesn't matter if you have 10 or a 1000. Now with that I am tighter than a crabs ass and that is waterproof. This is a business of buying retail and selling wholesale.You have to be a jack of all trades as well or you will go broke. You had better be a pipefitter, welder, carpenter, machinist, mechanic, common laborer, gopher, vet and the list goes on. You can't be pasture blind and ruthless culling is survival. You can't BS yourself either if the money was spent in support of the cow it has to be charged against the cow.
Last year it cost me 492 dollars to keep a cow in the pasture that is a 1.35 a day this year looks to come in less, I haven't finished the books yet. Don't be fooled either as there are a lot of welfare cattle out there as well.
Read about Tom Lasiter management philosophy.
 
After thinking about it to add to my above post I don't think I could make money today starting out.
At the time I bought timberland and sold the timber paying for the land and then some.
Now if you have the money to invest in the lifestyle and not worried about recouping your initial investment.
I think with some mentoring and hard work you could make income off your cattle. Can you support the lifestyle you are accustomed to probably not. I have no clue to what the national average is but in Texas 92% of the cattle are owned in 30 cow or less operations.
Lot of people have a day job and run a few cows. Not many make a full time living off of it.
 
There are a lot of negatives in this thread. Yet there are some folks making it.

Market prices are as good as many of us have ever seen. Fertilizer and land costs are too. That's the problem. Equipment costs, land costs, maintenance, taxes, fuel and fertilizer eat up a lot of profit.

The old widow lady running nurse cows put 117 calves in the market last year. She is not running that many cows. About half were beef. She's making money and she aint tooting her horn any.
 
JS I wouldn't consider a 100 head a hobby guy. I thought the national average was around 30 head.

Caustic my buddy always says a ducks ass but a crabs is just as waterproof
 

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