Custom Grazing Steers

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I keep reading about people who custom graze stocker cattle. I am possibly interested in doing this next year but have alot of questions about this practice. How to you find people with cattle looking for pasture? Weighing points, shrink, doctoring, and deathloss would be a few of the considerations. There is lots of land available to rent cheap in my area which grows plenty of grass. I would like to look at the particulars of custom grazing to see if it would pencil for me. Thanks Dave
 
Dave":10feqnvz said:
I keep reading about people who custom graze stocker cattle. I am possibly interested in doing this next year but have alot of questions about this practice. How to you find people with cattle looking for pasture? Weighing points, shrink, doctoring, and deathloss would be a few of the considerations. There is lots of land available to rent cheap in my area which grows plenty of grass. I would like to look at the particulars of custom grazing to see if it would pencil for me. Thanks Dave

Dave, \

I hope you are close to me ? Where are you located? I would be interested in working with you when you get started>
 
This is as they say a blast from the past. I posted that question almost three years ago. Nobody answered it at that time. I am in SW Washington. We grow great spring and summer grass but it is a terrible place to winter cows because they end up in mud to their bellies by spring. I think that has something to do with our soils and the constant rainfall in the winter. I have been slowly moving forward on the custom grazing idea but I have yet to get it really up and running.

Dave
 
Dave":3kg90yc1 said:
I keep reading about people who custom graze stocker cattle. I am possibly interested in doing this next year but have alot of questions about this practice. How to you find people with cattle looking for pasture? Weighing points, shrink, doctoring, and deathloss would be a few of the considerations. There is lots of land available to rent cheap in my area which grows plenty of grass. I would like to look at the particulars of custom grazing to see if it would pencil for me. Thanks Dave

Have your Attorney draw up a contract form. Collect grazing rent in advance. Ensure there is good tight fencing. Check with your Insurance agent about your legal liability.
 
am I not following this correctly? You are looking for folks who would want to graze their cattle on your land, right? Then you say that you have great grass in spring/summer, but it becomes a mudpit in the winter. Question: isn't the winter time when most folks would need to outsource their grazing? I know here in Texas, we also have great grass in the spring/summer, so if I was going to custom graze, I would need somewhere to send them in the winter, when we normally have to feed them hay. So are you going to spend the money to upgrade your pastures to help them stay dryer, and the grazing income would help offset some of this cost, or how would you winter graze other cattle, when your pastures are also wet/muddy? Being new to the cattle/grazing business, am I mising something here?
 
The object is to get stocker cattle (500 lb steers) in the spring. Graze them through the spring and summer. Put on some cheap gains on grass. Then send them on to the feedlot to be finished. A person can do this on your own but it cost a lot of money to buy a couple hundred steers and there is the risk involved. Custom grazing reduces the risk and the capitol needed. My original question involved the wiegh points, shrink, etc. Also ideas for potential sources of cattle.

As for improving my pastures for the winter. Some of my most productive pasture (and cheapest rent) is a duck hunting club in the winter. The cows would need to have web feet to survive there in the winter.
Dave
 
Dave":2mplfpag said:
I keep reading about people who custom graze stocker cattle. I am possibly interested in doing this next year but have alot of questions about this practice. How to you find people with cattle looking for pasture? Weighing points, shrink, doctoring, and deathloss would be a few of the considerations. There is lots of land available to rent cheap in my area which grows plenty of grass. I would like to look at the particulars of custom grazing to see if it would pencil for me. Thanks Dave

Contact Stockman Grass Farmer Mag 1-800-748-9808 They have a good book by Greg Judy - NO RISK RANCHING about exactly what you are wanting to know. Have talked to Greg - good ideas and sound advice.
 
I have read the book. It has some good ideas in it, in fact I think I would recommend it to someone starting out. But it is also reasonably localized to MO or at least that general part of the country. The issue that I am dealing with Greg apparently doesn't have. That is where to find people who have cattle, in numbers, looking to have someone else graze them. I will probably have to go outside my area to find the cattle. I am working on moving this idea forward but I still have my original questions about how to find these people, wiegh points, shrink, etc.
Thanks
Dave
 
Anonymous":28y9f95z said:
I have read the book. It has some good ideas in it, in fact I think I would recommend it to someone starting out. But it is also reasonably localized to MO or at least that general part of the country. The issue that I am dealing with Greg apparently doesn't have. That is where to find people who have cattle, in numbers, looking to have someone else graze them. I will probably have to go outside my area to find the cattle. I am working on moving this idea forward but I still have my original questions about how to find these people, wiegh points, shrink, etc.
Thanks
Dave

Here in Wisconsin we too have bad winters, so many grazers will contract with southern cattlemen to either buy calves at weaning in the fall and keep them in the south until the following spring and move them to WI to graze our cool season grasses. Some will buy in on shares with southern owners or just agree on a grazing contract as you are talking about. On the grazing contract they usually get paid on the pounds gained so they are weighted on arrivial and weighted when sent to the harvester or feed lot. Any medical cost is agreed on by both parties and can change from contract to contract. The health program the producer had in place when they sent the calves to graze should be considered when an agreement is made. Also consider costs of any hand feeding of supplemental feed that may be desired by the customer.

To find producers that would like your service I would contact breed associations to find out the bull sellers and then contact them for leads to producers that buy their bulls that may benefit by your services. This might give you an all one brand group instead of a put together group from a sale barn which could increase your management time. I am sure there are others that can help you with contacts as well. Start with your local sale barn or extension service. Advertise in the cattle papers that cover your area and branch out. Don't forget to cover your advertising costs. Good luck.
 
I am in North West Washington. Several people truck cattle over from Eastern Washington for late spring/ summer grazing. The reason they do this to to avoid watering pastures or the hay the fields and then turn the cows out for clean up. You may want to try and market to that area.
 

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