tmaygspeara
Active member
hello everyone, i have been reading on this forum for a while and this is my first post. I have been reading alot of cattlemen on here talking about the cost associated with rasing cattle and how it cost a dollar a day and you only make $100+ a head when selling cows. This confuses me because i have been in the cattle business for a few year after helping my dad and taking over because of his age. I live about 1.5 hours away and i visted the farm 3-4 time a week, i have 15 cameras set up to where anytime of the day i can look on my laptop and view every inch of the farm. My question is how do some of you come up with the cost you associate with rasing cattle.
In our situation we have 220 acres of land, and about 250+ head of cattle. we have 5 ponds and water is never a issue. i refuse to cut and bail hay, because all my life i seen my dad do it and i dont think it is worth all the time and effort cutting and bailing to save a few pennies when you can buy it. i think its it better to let the cows have the pastures for grazing instead of taking the land try to grow hay. so i say we spend about $10,000-$15,000 a year buying hay for the winter. we will worm out cows once a year if we think about it, but we have never had a problem with worms. i refuse to call the vet and if we do that cows with be at the sale barns after she drops. this year out of 200+ calves this year we only pulled 2. even though it has been dry in louisiana we have been bless enough to where our cows are spead out enough to where they still have enough for grazing. my only other cost is diesel for the new john deere tractor (paid cash) i wasted money on because all our land is cleared and it belongs to the cows, and i really have nothing to do with it.
we rasie commerical cows and 90% of our herd is black we usually take to the sale barn about 200 calves per year (500-700 lbs).
My dad always taught me how NOT to spend money and i have made that rules to live by. We dont spend any money on our cattle beside hay and mineral blocks so if we can get by with how we are making it, i wonder why so many cattlemen say it is hard to make money.
In our situation we have 220 acres of land, and about 250+ head of cattle. we have 5 ponds and water is never a issue. i refuse to cut and bail hay, because all my life i seen my dad do it and i dont think it is worth all the time and effort cutting and bailing to save a few pennies when you can buy it. i think its it better to let the cows have the pastures for grazing instead of taking the land try to grow hay. so i say we spend about $10,000-$15,000 a year buying hay for the winter. we will worm out cows once a year if we think about it, but we have never had a problem with worms. i refuse to call the vet and if we do that cows with be at the sale barns after she drops. this year out of 200+ calves this year we only pulled 2. even though it has been dry in louisiana we have been bless enough to where our cows are spead out enough to where they still have enough for grazing. my only other cost is diesel for the new john deere tractor (paid cash) i wasted money on because all our land is cleared and it belongs to the cows, and i really have nothing to do with it.
we rasie commerical cows and 90% of our herd is black we usually take to the sale barn about 200 calves per year (500-700 lbs).
My dad always taught me how NOT to spend money and i have made that rules to live by. We dont spend any money on our cattle beside hay and mineral blocks so if we can get by with how we are making it, i wonder why so many cattlemen say it is hard to make money.
