cow-calf operation

Help Support CattleToday:

thank you for your kind and generous advises from all the board's members. i am a newbie and i am all ears for advises. I am humble to accept your generous inputs. I am glad that i was able to generate some excellent points. My plan in the next two years was to have 50 bred-cows and wanted to make sure that i have sufficient feed for winter from november to end of march. with 50 cows, i am looking around 4000 cut of two string bale hay (60-75lbs).

with two sections, i could easily generate 4000 cuts for my winter feeds. If i was short, i would easily get a second cut of 1/2 to 3/4 amount of the first cut on one section. I have irrigation pipes under each section and property is next to a large river(a year round). Still, i would be able to use the two sections(hay production with proper irrigation) for grazing.

Thank you for your sincere advise, Jeanne, i did not think about Johne's disease. I will ask my friend, the dairy man. if so, I would glad to use chicken manure.

I am very fortunate that we have a forum like this and humbly accept any inputs and advises. After practicing each day, i can't wait to see the cows in the pasture and seeing outdoor. thanks once again from the board's members. uscangus :clap: :)
 
just wanted to say hi usc angus,glad to here you are a dentist. I owned a dental lab for 42 yr.and retired and bought a small place we only have 6 1/2 ac. but we love it, we are beginner also to cattle .we only have 2 Herford cows that are bred and 1 angus bull. just can't wait until the calfs are born.
we only have the cow for a hobby.and i want to tell you i read alot about cows but this web site has been more help to me then anything../
I read some post almost every day. i dont post to often because i cant type very well. I am 70 yr old and my wife is 69yr yes it keep us active. but we love it. Glad to here from a dentist.,
and i want to thank all of the ones on this board for all of there help and info.
thanks ran
 
NORMALLY, a farmer/rancher talks about how many cattle his acreage can support year round, regardless of how the feed is harvested. This is true in any part of the country. Otherwise I could put 30 cows on a 5 acre piece for a day and a half and I guess my ground can support 6 cows per acre.
 
smallrancher":jgx656u4 said:
NORMALLY, a farmer/rancher talks about how many cattle his acreage can support year round, regardless of how the feed is harvested. This is true in any part of the country. Otherwise I could put 30 cows on a 5 acre piece for a day and a half and I guess my ground can support 6 cows per acre.

You must do math the same way I do :D
 
Brandonm22":1f6nj60x said:
backhoeboogie":1f6nj60x said:
Mine get rotated regularly. It must be a real high stocking rate around here when they are in the smaller pastures. :D There is other pasture dedicated to hay production. This sustains the same cows.

You put it all together, and that's how many acres it takes to sustain the amount of cows you are running. No matter how you manage your rotation, you have X number of head on X number of acres to sustain the herd for a year. Be it hay or grazing or whatever.

Still it is a lot more intensive to have 50 cows on a 100 acres that is also producing 50 acres of hay, than it is to run 50 cows on a 100 acres and buy your hay.

They get rotated over 4 to 5 pastures depending on rainfall. Usually it is 5. There has been a lot of advocation for mob grazing on this forum with electric fencing or tape. I am no where near that intensive.
 
kypops":2tz2zsxq said:
just wanted to say hi usc angus,glad to here you are a dentist. I owned a dental lab for 42 yr.and retired and bought a small place we only have 6 1/2 ac. but we love it, we are beginner also to cattle .we only have 2 Herford cows that are bred and 1 angus bull. just can't wait until the calfs are born.
we only have the cow for a hobby.and i want to tell you i read alot about cows but this web site has been more help to me then anything../
I read some post almost every day. i dont post to often because i cant type very well. I am 70 yr old and my wife is 69yr yes it keep us active. but we love it. Glad to here from a dentist.,
and i want to thank all of the ones on this board for all of there help and info.
thanks ran
congratulations-"kypops"-it is a big difference living in the rural country compared to the city. everyday, i can't wait to get home to see the bred cows (grazing and running around) and hoping and waiting for them to calve. it sure beats drilling teeth, root canal therapy or extracting teeth. i am doing this as hobby and hopefully my children can appreciate the rural life and responsibilities. I hate them to be a typical couch potatoes. I have another 10 years to practice and hopefully my knowledge and practical experiences in bred-cow operation will have augmented. I have all black angus. did you do crown and bridges or removable prosthetics or all. :)
 
hi, yes my children and grandchildren love living in the country. .I hope you all the luck in your adventure on the farm.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. It will the best thing for your children to see what the country has to offer them .that they cant go to the malls every day.or to the store a few times aweek,That hay just aint weeds and cows will become stakes on the table.
I had a crown and bridge lab..I know the rat race you are in but when you can retire i know you will love it.
thanks ran
 
How are you going to breed your cows?

Do you have any hay rings to feed out of?

Will you feed minerals?

How will you get your calves to market?

Will you let your cows have the whole pasture at once or rotate them by dividing it with electric fence?

What about hardware... nails, bolts, chains for gates?

Gas for the chainsaw?

Headgate, corral, chute?

Might be surprised by the expenses that you find you have.
 
thank you for responding-KMacGinley- i will breed these mature cows from 4-7 years old to a black angus bull from a closed friends who has 50 angus black bull at no charge because of barter and free dental works. the person who has 50 black angus has a cattle trailer. he was the one who transfer my cows at $50 per carriage. also, he is the one who banded, dewormed, and vaccinated my cows or calves. once my herd is large enough, i will make a chute with corral, along a maternity section for near calving.

again, i will sell them at the auction. last year, my steers were sold at late october at 0.80 per wt. i was newbie and purchase spring steers of black angus around 400wt and sold them at 900-1000wt. they grazed 50 acreage as lawn mower. i was newbie and did not know the fluctutation of price changes. after being at the auction 2-3x per month for the whole year, i know the lowest price to buy and highest to sell. bcs of those steers were 7-8 with great conformation and temperament. i bought them as a group and knew that it would not be a big change.

last year, i had an electric fence with four points barbs wire but was not secure. this year, i rectify and removed the electric fence and place 4-5 layers of four points barbs wires with railroad tyes and t-post(7 ft and ten feet apart). secure each four sections with gate. i did this changed to secure my mind or peace mind while I practiced.

in regard the hardwares, i secure the fence prior to acquiring the steers last year. i made three sections of pathway for the cattle to enter to the barn for water and minerals blocks during hot summer(so they wont burn energy and wt). i was my booth camp in farming with my children who help me. my neighbor help us place the t-post and railroad tyes with his front loader and pole digger with his pto. i used the brushhog to even the pastures before the steers.

usually, in summer, they are in the pastures grazing. during winter, they eat in the barn where we place winter feed in the manger. there are over 50-60 manger slot per cows. Once the cow have calves, i will separate only the calves to another section of the bard for winter feeding. i have started feed for calves. so far today, the second calf drop at 1:00pm during seattle's time. the first dropped at 2:00pm something yesterday.

thank you for your response, remember, i am still a newbie but have read a lot of articles in the internet from each vetenerian's schools, uscangus :)
 
Well good luck to you and best wishes, you sound to me like a guy that has his act together. I would get that corral and headgate done ASAP, 1 head is enough to have one.
 

Latest posts

Top