cattle herd

[txshowmom]

If we keep our pastures rotated and fertilized and we get rain at the right times we can run about 1 head per 2 acres. We have a little over 100 acres.

 

[txag]

If we keep our pastures rotated and fertilized and we get rain at the right times we can run about 1 head per 2 acres. We have a little over 100 acres.

ok, help me with my math.......1 head per 2 acres. 100 acres would be 50 head, right? where do you keep the other 350 head?

 

[BLACKPOWER]

If we keep our pastures rotated and fertilized and we get rain at the right times we can run about 1 head per 2 acres. We have a little over 100 acres.

ok, help me with my math.......1 head per 2 acres. 100 acres would be 50 head, right? where do you keep the other 350 head?

Addition by subtraction? Lol. We can only run 1 pair to 15 acres up here, must be nice run that many head on that little of acres.

 

[Chuck]

Eric- My first post was kind of wisea$$ and I apologize for that. My point was that given your sales of 100 calves at the salebarn price you gave of 600.00 your income of 50-60K implies 100% profit. Even if you were able to sell nearly 1 calf for every cow,your gross sales would be $120,000 before deductions. I don't know what business you are in now,but even if you are debt free you still have overhead and just the normal everyday cost to be in business. Also consider the opportunity cost of having the money tied up in a business that is only semi-liquid and driven by a market that is completely out of your control. I am not trying to be a downer but as Cattle Gal and others said there is a lot to consider and better to be prepared than find out later your assumptions didn't work out(voice of experience on the bad assumptions part!) Good Luck to you-Chuck

 

[eric]

No offense taken Chuck....Actually I was considering the worst case scenario. Seems I read on here somewhere that most of you guys consider anything less than 90%-95% calving success somewhat of a failure. Heck, I was figuring about a 50% calving success rate. Couldnt you pretty much count on at least one calf out of three being for profit?

Maybe we do have good grass down here, as I have several neighbors who run more than one pair per acre. I currently have 5 pairs on about 18 acres and still have to brushhog the pasture every month or so. I know my neighbor across the street has at least 150 pairs on his 220 acres. And several neighbors on smaller tracts like mine are running at least one pair per acre, many of them are running 2-3 pairs and a couple of horses.

As far as cutting the check when it comes time, we have lived well below our means for many yrs before we bought this place and built this house. We lived in a small 3 bdroom house in town while all of our friends were buying new cars and buying bigger houses. I kept telling my wife to just hang in there and someday we will find the place of our dreams and then we'll make the move. We got lucky and found this place just outside of a gated community where 5 acre lots sell for $275k, at least when they had some left! We got our place because the city made the developer put in a new road to the gated community, and the man across the street who sold part of his 300 acres to the developer didnt want to put up a fence, run water and such for a small amout of land. So he sold it to us for a very good price. We bought the land almost 3 yrs ago, got it paid off and then built the house last yr. Paid cash as we went, and now own this place lock stock and barrell! I honestly am not tryijng to brag or show off, just trying to show people that you dont have to spend every bit of your paycheck as soon as you get it! Live below your means for awhile. Just because you neighbor buys a new truck, doesn't mean you have to buy one also.

 

[txshowmom]

If we keep our pastures rotated and fertilized and we get rain at the right times we can run about 1 head per 2 acres. We have a little over 100 acres.

Sorry I forgot a 0 we have a little over 1000 acres.

 

[CopeMan]

I dont get why people get offended by that question. I wonder if its just a regional thing b/c around here its like asking where someone is from. God forbid someone try to make conversation.

I agree beefy, In the South, it is like asking where you from, or what kind of truck do you drive? ive asked many of old farmers how many head they have. They never got offended, they were happy to answer the question, and brag a little on there herd. I have never had a rude reply to my question. I think your right, its a regional thing because you cant forget are Southern Charm and Politeness, alot better than other places in the this Nation. Id say the reason why alot of "Ole Timey" ranchers dont give a direct answer is because they probably have no idea either on how many head they have. I mean my god theyve got those 100,000 acre ranches and they probably rarely even check on them so how would they know? And anyway how can knowing how many head of cattle you have be a personal question? I mean what you think? That a bunch of rich people sit around and discuss and gossip about how many cows someone might have, in relation to money? Maybe someone can explain to me why this is?

 

[Campground Cattle]

No offense taken Chuck....Actually I was considering the worst case scenario. Seems I read on here somewhere that most of you guys consider anything less than 90%-95% calving success somewhat of a failure. Heck, I was figuring about a 50% calving success rate. Couldnt you pretty much count on at least one calf out of three being for profit?

Maybe we do have good grass down here, as I have several neighbors who run more than one pair per acre. I currently have 5 pairs on about 18 acres and still have to brushhog the pasture every month or so. I know my neighbor across the street has at least 150 pairs on his 220 acres. And several neighbors on smaller tracts like mine are running at least one pair per acre, many of them are running 2-3 pairs and a couple of horses.

As far as cutting the check when it comes time, we have lived well below our means for many yrs before we bought this place and built this house. We lived in a small 3 bdroom house in town while all of our friends were buying new cars and buying bigger houses. I kept telling my wife to just hang in there and someday we will find the place of our dreams and then we'll make the move. We got lucky and found this place just outside of a gated community where 5 acre lots sell for $275k, at least when they had some left! We got our place because the city made the developer put in a new road to the gated community, and the man across the street who sold part of his 300 acres to the developer didnt want to put up a fence, run water and such for a small amout of land. So he sold it to us for a very good price. We bought the land almost 3 yrs ago, got it paid off and then built the house last yr. Paid cash as we went, and now own this place lock stock and barrell! I honestly am not tryijng to brag or show off, just trying to show people that you dont have to spend every bit of your paycheck as soon as you get it! Live below your means for awhile. Just because you neighbor buys a new truck, doesn't mean you have to buy one also.

I can't speak for the big boys on the board, Eric through the years my math has worked out this way. In good years 3 calves out of five are profit bad years 2 out of 5. Pray you don't lose one or two cause you are really digging into the profit.

 

[Texan]

And anyway how can knowing how many head of cattle you have be a personal question?..........Maybe someone can explain to me why this is?

CopeMan, its just like a stranger coming up to you and asking you how much money you make and how much money you've got in the bank. Surely your impulse would be to tell that stranger that it is none of their business.

You can talk about your "Southern Charm and Politeness" all you want to, but its really not that difficult to understand. Do you want to share with all of us the financial details of your life such as net worth, income, assets, liabilities, etc? In my opinion, real "Southern Charm and Politeness" dictates that you don't ask!

 

[cattle_gal]

I thought I'd put down a 10 year sale yards summaries of all sellers and ranch data that I have filed in notebooks. I've got charts back to 1977. this would give Eric a good look at what's been happening.

I wonder if our neighbors to the north on the board would be willing to show us a sales summary on what the markets have been like up there inyears past. It would be interesting since I've never seen any market reports from Canada.

1994
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.83 Summer Contract Oct delivery
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.74- .77 October
Culls Average: $.35.8
Butcher Bulls:$.46.6


1995
2 year old bred commercial Angus and AngusX Feb calving 2 year olds:$680
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.62
Culls Average: $.33 - .36
Butcher Bulls:$ .45

1996
2 year old bred commercial Angus and AngusX Feb/Mar calving:$420 - 460
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.59
Culls Average:$.28
Butcher Bulls:$.38

1997
2 year old bred commercial Angus and AngusX Feb/Mar calving: no data
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.89 summer contract Oct delivery
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.76 Nov
Culls Average:$.29
Butcher Bulls:$.38

1998
2 year old bred commercial purebred Angus Feb/Mar calving:$650
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.73
Culls Average:$.23
Butcher Bulls:$ no data

1999
2 year old bred commercial purebred Angus Feb/Mar calving:$no data
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.83-.90
Culls Average:$.30
Butcher Bulls:$ no data

2000
young bred commercial purebred Angus purchase in Dec for Feb/Mar calving:$825
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$1.03
Culls Average:$.31
Butcher Bulls:$.no data

2001
young commercial Angus pairs:$1025
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.85
Culls Average:$.35
Butcher Bulls:$.45

2002
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.85 Summer Contract Oct delivery
Steers 500 - 600 lbs: $.80 October sales
Culls Average: $.31
Butcher Bulls:$.43

2003
2 year old bred commercial purebred Angus Feb/Mar calving:$no data
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.1.00
Culls Average:$.43 (up to .52 for 1510 lbs)
Butcher Bulls:$.53

2004
2 year old bred commercial purebred Angus Feb/Mar calving:$1000
Steers 500 - 600 lbs:$.120 so far
Culls Average:$.50
Butcher Bulls:$ 68

Steer 10 year ave:$. 93
Cull cows 10 year ave:$.37

 

[TLCfromARK]

We carry about 30 head though the winter with about 20 of them being momma cows.
;-)

 

[Copenhagen & Shiner B]

I have 9 head total at the moment, but I am expandin' the herd as I convert clearcut land into pasture. I have 2 Longhorn cows with 2 half Angus bull calves. I have 2 bred Charolais heifers. I have two young Beefmaster heifers.