Cost of cow per day?

[mobgrazer]

Angus Cowman I have been told the same thing.

SRBeef When I first started this post I thought it would be helpful to people to see that there are was to thin out some of your cattle expenses. I kept seeing post of people wasting money some wanting help with it and some couldn't see that it could be done cheaper. It would also give me something look at to help remember more about someone setup before I posted something to try to help them.

Instead I ended up learning a lot more about my farm and some of the waist that we have that needs to get addressed. For example my wife drawing payroll for doing the family company books when we have an off site CPA to help her out. There's so munch more involved with the cash flow that I did not know was happening that I need to get a control on.

She's telling me trucks and tractors are 10 years for us.
The shop addition was 20 years.
We put in water pumping system; instillation of 3 large gravity ram pumps, a utility building that has 20,000 gallon storage for a basement, piping to feed water to 1000 acres not as irrigation but as hydrants for animal water, a 220 pump for supplying water where gravity would not work, close to 3 miles of 4" metal pipe and 3 miles of 3" plastic piping. Part of it was for 10 years and part was for 20 years.
Our fertilizer and lime silos were 7 year.
One of the large parts of deprecation would be where your farm is now and where you will be in 10 years. Long term planning on other large purchases should also be looked at.
I was told in 2008 that I had to spend X amount of money on a shop expansion, farm truck, tractor, or a third fertilizer silo. I went with a new truck and I know it has something to do with taxes and the deprecation schedule but that's it.

 

[1982vett]

Mobgrazer, It is a good thread. Everyone should know what they are spending to keep a cow. I had not broken it down to a per cow basis, usually just look for red or black. I was happy to find that I had not spent myself into the red this year as I had actually expected.

 

[IGotMyWings]

My little herd is on rent free (due to the well going bad-and the owner has no idea where it is to begin figuring out why!) ground which, this time of year has little or no valuable grass on it, so I'm feeding hay everyday. I figured it the other day, using my cost per bale and I'm running about .83 per day in hay. I have a free choice mineral block with them that lasts about a month between them and the elements, so there's .30 a day to replace that. Due to the well issues, I'm hauling water once a day from the home place, so there's .67 a day (at today's pump price) in fuel to feed/water them. I feed "sweet feed" every few days partially for the protein, etc., but also they have a thing for that white bucket which makes them really easy to move and load. So figuring my daily cost plus the every few days of the sweet feed, and I end up about $1.88/cow/day. Has anyone seen where my backside went? I seemed to have lost it!

My costs will even out once I get my pasture finished and they are here. I've got $200 in seed (so far), $48 in having it drilled, and $300 worth of Locust fence posts piled up out back. My brother-in-law is going to take his dozer and clear the fence rows of unwanted trees, etc. before we start setting the new fence which will cost me about $50/hr. Factoring all of that in makes my backside more lost than ever! I am starting to think it took my mind with it! :dunce:

**EDIT**
My math was a little askew. I forgot to divide the fuel for each animal...when I did that, I end up at $1.20 or so which is more in line with what everyone else is showing. :dunce: :dunce:

 

[Nesikep]

well, I don't know all the nitty gritty stuff too well, but if you figure a cow eats about 1/3rd of a $6 bale of hay a day, she's at $2 a day... our cows would be perfectly fine eating cheaper hay, but last time I checked someone doesn't go out of their way to make bad hay... we could sell our hay, and buy worse stuff, but we don't like to import anything onto the farm, so we're stuck with 20 cows we pay $14600 a year to feed, and get about $7000 in return

Yes, during the summer she eats grass, which means we don't have to go through the expense of baling, etc, but she eats twice as much as she needs to