cow/calf or stockers

[J]

Just wanted some opinions as to which one I should start with?
I have 13 acres of which about 9 is in good coastal the other 4 is a mix of native grass and weeds. I grew up in the registered cattle side of things and it never fails you spend years developing a uniform herd and when you finally get that the market falls off and you take a whipping at the sale. OPTION #1: I would like to run as many 3-4 or 4-5 weight calves as my pasture will allow and then sell them around 5-6 or possibly 6-700 lbs. That way if my pasture gets behind or the market drops I can sell and not have a load of money invested. Or just sell when they get to the right size and turn around and buy more lightweight calves. I know with stockers you have more work/medical/risks. OPTION #2: Buy some bred cows or pairs that way I can get the calves (not run through the sale barn). My uncle or my neighbor would probably for a minimal charge let my cows run with one of their bulls, then I could sell them back as bred or as pairs. then take that money and maybe buy more calves. This way seems to me like I could build my numbers faster.(With this one I know its alittle more longterm and I have to consider grass)
OPTION#3: Just be a cow/calf producer
Opinions welcome

 

[bigbull338]

your best bet would be go with cow/calf.running feeders youll be dring and selling them ever 120 days.where as you can get 5 cows an bull . an have them making money at weaning time.less headaches an work.scott

 

[kaneranch]

Well I have found that cows are pretty fun to have around. I was told that to make alot of money with steer they have to be bought and sold in large numbers. But, I would bet that if you shopped around you could do fine. BUt I would still go with the cows. Kaneranch

 

[TXCOWBOY]

Cow/calf is the way to go. You will have the best opportunity to make more money per head. You will spend a bunch of money on feed and tear up 13 acres quickly running stockers.
You are also looking at only about 3 to 4 pairs capacity.

 

[1848]

Stockers will prevent you from having cattle on your place the entire year, and perhaps even let you bale some hay. Might even be able to overstock since they are only seasonal so you can supplement with hay. There is always a market for them, and if you buy them cheap and have good grass they will get fat and give you profit without too much cost involved. Buy in the fall, and sell in the spring.

 

[J]

Stockers will prevent you from having cattle on your place the entire year, and perhaps even let you bale some hay. Might even be able to overstock since they are only seasonal so you can supplement with hay. There is always a market for them, and if you buy them cheap and have good grass they will get fat and give you profit without too much cost involved. Buy in the fall, and sell in the spring.

That was kind of what I had in mind. Not having cattle all year so I can fertilize and bale it and possibly improve my pasture. (if they don't tear it up to bad)
But I still am not set on it more opinions please!
Not in it to make alot of money either (was told a long time ago you can't make a living with cattle on my size property, hopefully I can buy the 8 acres next to mine soon)

 

[Bama]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

 

[Jake]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

Rent another pasture and make the cow calf part worth it. Stockers could run fine on that acres especially with supplemental feeding.

Keep around 2.5 to 3 years money around you incase something goes horribly wrong.

 

[J]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

Rent another pasture and make the cow calf part worth it. Stockers could run fine on that acres especially with supplemental feeding.

Keep around 2.5 to 3 years money around you incase something goes horribly wrong.

Just starting out, don't have that kind of cash on hand thats why I am considering stockers so much because I have the grass and some hay for supplementing. Worried about cow/calf because its year round and like I said money situation is set right now so if something were to happen I could sell. Does that sound reasonable or am I missing something?

 

[Bama]

Buy a couple of bred cows and then some stockers to fill out your carrying capicity. Then after selling them determine where you made the most money. Next year get more into where you made the most.

 

[Jake]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

Rent another pasture and make the cow calf part worth it. Stockers could run fine on that acres especially with supplemental feeding.

Keep around 2.5 to 3 years money around you incase something goes horribly wrong.

Just starting out, don't have that kind of cash on hand thats why I am considering stockers so much because I have the grass and some hay for supplementing. Worried about cow/calf because its year round and like I said money situation is set right now so if something were to happen I could sell. Does that sound reasonable or am I missing something?

The whole thing would be I'd go with Cow calf because there is always a market for breds, and you have the calf to liquidate along with it. Stockers could be a big pain for a beginner because of the fact that they often attribute more work, and problems with disease and death.

 

[J]

Buy a couple of bred cows and then some stockers to fill out your carrying capicity. Then after selling them determine where you made the most money. Next year get more into where you made the most.

So far thats the best advice I heard.

 

[dun]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

Rent another pasture and make the cow calf part worth it. Stockers could run fine on that acres especially with supplemental feeding.

Keep around 2.5 to 3 years money around you incase something goes horribly wrong.

Just starting out, don't have that kind of cash on hand thats why I am considering stockers so much because I have the grass and some hay for supplementing. Worried about cow/calf because its year round and like I said money situation is set right now so if something were to happen I could sell. Does that sound reasonable or am I missing something?

The stocker route would be my recommendation. Not in it as deep money wise and you can learn as you go without the worys of getting the cow rebred or calf sickness. Plus you can get a better feel for just how much grass you really have and how good the quality is. And you don;t have the year round work involved. The stocker market isn;t near as volitile around here as the cow market is.

dun

 

[Conagher]

J, I was facing a similar situation a couple of years ago and like you was heavily leaning toward the stocker end, and even tried it for a year. My reasoning was I needed to get my pasture in shape, plus I didn't want to feed (buy hay and supplement, or winter pasture) through the winter. I lost money. Here's a couple of things I learned in my experience: Since I did not want to feed through the winter I bought in the spring and sold in the fall - pricess are typically lower in the fall. I bought from a cattle jock that did the vac's, implanting, delivery, etc. - this was not free. I could only carry about a dozen head so my market place was pretty limited - back to the sale barn (with travel, commissions, etc.).

Thus, IMO and experience, go with cow/calf, better yet 3-in-1.

Good Luck.

 

[J]

Do what I do. Both. Then you can follow the money. If you make more on one get more heavy into it the next year. That way you're one year behind the most money at worst. I don't know your grazing capibilities but maybe you can pick up that extra 8 acres.

Rent another pasture and make the cow calf part worth it. Stockers could run fine on that acres especially with supplemental feeding.

Keep around 2.5 to 3 years money around you incase something goes horribly wrong.

Just starting out, don't have that kind of cash on hand thats why I am considering stockers so much because I have the grass and some hay for supplementing. Worried about cow/calf because its year round and like I said money situation is set right now so if something were to happen I could sell. Does that sound reasonable or am I missing something?

The stocker route would be my recommendation. Not in it as deep money wise and you can learn as you go without the worys of getting the cow rebred or calf sickness. Plus you can get a better feel for just how much grass you really have and how good the quality is. And you don;t have the year round work involved. The stocker market isn;t near as volitile around here as the cow market is.

dun

So Dun do you recommend steers or heifers? I know heifers won't gain like a steer but they are alittle cheaper. Should I implant? If I go with steers/bull calves, should I castrate or not? I'm thinking its not really worth it in the long run. :idea:

 

[dun]

So Dun do you recommend steers or heifers? I know heifers won't gain like a steer but they are alittle cheaper. Should I implant? If I go with steers/bull calves, should I castrate or not? I'm thinking its not really worth it in the long run. :idea:

When we messed with them we just bought whatever struck our fancy, good looking, healthy animals with growth potential was our only criteria. Some were steers, some bulls we ctu, some bulls we left intact cause they were too darn ornery for me to want to fight with, but most were heifers. Other then the intact bulls, the profit margin was the same on the steers as the heifers.

dun

 

[Bret]

J, I was facing a similar situation a couple of years ago and like you was heavily leaning toward the stocker end, and even tried it for a year. My reasoning was I needed to get my pasture in shape, plus I didn't want to feed (buy hay and supplement, or winter pasture) through the winter. I lost money. Here's a couple of things I learned in my experience: Since I did not want to feed through the winter I bought in the spring and sold in the fall - pricess are typically lower in the fall. I bought from a cattle jock that did the vac's, implanting, delivery, etc. - this was not free. I could only carry about a dozen head so my market place was pretty limited - back to the sale barn (with travel, commissions, etc.).

Thus, IMO and experience, go with cow/calf, better yet 3-in-1.

Good Luck.

I was in a similar boat. I bought stockers to learn with for several seasons to get the pasture under control. I bought from a neighbor and didn't feel I was in a position to negotiate just starting out. I bought high and sold low...what was offered. They dropped them off and I wrote them a check. They picked them up and gave me a check minus shrink and the check-off. I belive they were fair. I didn't make much if any, but it made pastusre improvements and I gained knowledge and experience.

Now we are growing our own. I will be coming back to this board to pose some questions to the financial managers here soon. Best wishes.
Bret

 

[kaneranch]

I would shop around and find some quality cows for a fair price. 3 in 1's would be your best bet, although bred cows would be good also, and they are a little cheaper. I wouldn't go with pairs though because you will have to find a good bull in the near future. THat will give you a 6-12 months to find a bull. I found a site yesterday that would be very useful to a small breeder, it was bullshop.com. IT is a site that has hundreds of breeding farms in you area. Good luck ;-) Kaneranch

 

[BC]

I agree with Dun. Since you are in the central Texas area, I would get a set of steers or heifers of similar breed amkeup and weight. I would check out the health requirements to market the calves through the San Saba pre-condition sale after I had made my gain.

If you buy bulls, they need to be castrated. They will have to be steered sooner or later and the later you wait the more dock you take on them.

 

[Dave]

I read several posts that said they used stocker to get their pastures in shape. This is probably a mistake and backwards to how I do it. Cows will do better on a togher pasture than stockers. If you need to improve your pastures I would graze pairs while improving the pastures. To get maximum gains out of stockers you should have well maintained pastures. When I rent a new field I almost always run pairs on it to chew it down. Once I have a good vegetative stage grass with a rotational program going I replace the pairs with stockers. I have only done this in a couple of fields because I always seem to have more rough pastures. Go figure

Dave