Don’t tell people what you know, KEEP THEM POOR!

[callmefence]

If you are scratching your head and wondering why things are going wrong for you and your operation, or you feel like you are being left behind, then here is some excellent advice, and it certainly can be applied to the cattle business.

Think about this next time you say, "I can't afford to feed my cattle" or "I can't afford that better bull" or "I'm not going to buy the expensive semen, give me the cheap stuff" and the list goes on and on. You know who you are, and you know where it has gotten you in life. But the good thing is that it's never too late to change, and today is as good a day as ever to do it!

http://bit.ly/2H7KgrR

I didn't read through the whole thread.
Please pardon.


I'm not much on the self help guys.
But I read his book Rich Dad , poor Dad. About 12 years ago.
One statement in that book changed the way I look at everything.
Poor people look at something and say " I can never afford that"
Rich people look at something and say " how can I pay for that" or " HOW CAN I MAKE THAT PAY FOR ITSELF"

example...I can take a 700.00 a month tractor and make it make it's own payment in 1 day.
Lots of implements people rent. Can be completely paid for in one job.

 

[bigbluegrass]

I believe in what Jim Gerrish wrote "The more iron and oil you put between the sun and a cow's mouth, the less profitable you will be."
I buy all my hay. IMO if you can find a reliable supplier providing good quality hay, it has much more pros than cons to go for it. If the supplier is specialized in forage production, he can invest in all new machinery with high productivity, will use it as many hours per season as possible, produce big volume of rolls and his unit cost of production will be lower. Such people are also knowledgeable about how to quickly fix smaller issues. And they use winter time to have their machinery ready for the new season - preventative maintenance.
One other aspect is that when buying hay you normally feed the cattle more than once. First feeding is with the hay itself, but then it comes out as a manure on the pastures and improves them.

I am just finishing "Kick the Hay Habit". While I don't agree with everything Jim Gerrish has to say, I do think he makes some great points and get's people thinking.

I also buy all my hay. You need to know where you are vulnerable and compensate accordingly. I buy my hay early and talk to my hay suppliers over the summer to see how things are going. I had a hay supplier get sick last year. It was good to know that he wouldn't have enough hay so I could find someone else.

Everyone needs to work their own pencil and calculator.

 

[Dave]

A few years back I went to a workshop. One of the speakers was a retired extension agent. He talked about how he had encouraged farmers to expand and get bigger better equipment. He moved to another part of the state and was gone for some years. Fifteen years later after his kids were gone and he retired he went back to see some of those farmers. He said literally every single farmer who had followed his advise had gone broke.
I am not afraid to use credit or to expand. But bigger and newer is not always more profitable.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Just think how good that R series Deere will look pulling that new green baler. Branded you need 3 of them, no need in having to hook and unhook.

 

[bigbluegrass]

In the linked video, he asks some good questions but doesn't really provide any answers. I think that is the point. Everyone needs to answer the questions for themselves. You need to ask yourself the "why" and "how". Don't just take the easy way out and say "this is what so and so told me to do, and they have what I want". The important thing is you need to ask the questions to yourself and provide your own answers. If you looked at the answer key, I think you would see "answers may vary" on many of the questions.

 

[Dave]

Just think how good that R series Deere will look pulling that new green baler. Branded you need 3 of them, no need in having to hook and unhook.

I knew a dairy farmer who said a successful farmer had a tractor for every implement. And he had that many. He went broke 5-6 years ago.

 

[bball]

In the linked video, he asks some good questions but doesn't really provide any answers. I think that is the point. Everyone needs to answer the questions for themselves. You need to ask yourself the "why" and "how". Don't just take the easy way out and say "this is what so and so told me to do, and they have what I want". The important thing is you need to ask the questions to yourself and provide your own answers. If you looked at the answer key, I think you would see "answers may vary" on many of the questions.

:clap: great post.
You hit the nail square on the head. I have read his rich dad book a few times over the years. Plenty of food for thought. Many questions, few answers. One key element is having the ability to recognize opportunities for financial gain, where the vast majority see nothing; then take action. The other principal that was paramount; making each dollar generate more dollars. There are no concrete answers as to how to do that. Have to constantly be assessing for opportunities and thats the very challenging part. Think outside the box, critically think and evaluate while maintaining creativity. Hes correct about one thing: public education system does not teach about acquiring or maintaining wealth. Teaches how to be part of the pack.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Just think how good that R series Deere will look pulling that new green baler. Branded you need 3 of them, no need in having to hook and unhook.

I had thought about that, but now that you have suggested it as well, hmmmm.

 

[CattleMan1920]

Hes correct about one thing: public education system does not teach about acquiring or maintaining wealth. Teaches how to be part of the pack.

Our state is way ahead of the nation when it comes to crapping on it's teachers and education, so Kentucky must be aggressively heeding his advice.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Just think how good that R series Deere will look pulling that new green baler. Branded you need 3 of them, no need in having to hook and unhook.

I had thought about that, but now that you have suggested it as well, hmmmm.

Lot of time gets wasted hooking and unhooking. Get some help and you can get a lot more done in a smaller time window.

 

[bball]

https://youtu.be/IHlXgCaJvR4
Skip ahead to about 7 minute mark. He breaks it down; simple chapter and verse.

 

[callmefence]

Just think how good that R series Deere will look pulling that new green baler. Branded you need 3 of them, no need in having to hook and unhook.

I had thought about that, but now that you have suggested it as well, hmmmm.

Lot of time gets wasted hooking and unhooking. Get some help and you can get a lot more done in a smaller time window.

In the past decade equipment has become cheaper than help.
And way more dependable.

 

[CattleMan1920]

I had thought about that, but now that you have suggested it as well, hmmmm.

Lot of time gets wasted hooking and unhooking. Get some help and you can get a lot more done in a smaller time window.

In the past decade equipment has become cheaper than help.
And way more dependable.

Never has a truer word been spoken!

One person can now do the work that once took MANY. Factor in that you no longer need that labor expense and things start penciling in quickly.

I've been heckled about my cow's "pretty necklaces" but I no longer have to do heat checks throughout the day. A pop up on the phone tells me that old Bessy is ready for romance and a LOT of time is saved. Spread that over 50+ cows, 100+ cows, or 200+ cows and that amounts up to a tremendous amount of time.

Nobody on here has really mentioned the VALUE of THEIR time, with the exception of you Fence. One's time is worth a lot, worth more than money.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I have not seen the equipment get cheaper. Paid more for new last year than a few years ago. But the wife and the grandsons like the new tractor. They spend more time in it than I do so they are the ones that counts.

 

[CattleMan1920]

So what some of you guys are saying on here is that achieving this (link below) with old worn out equipment is possible?

Please tell me how, I would love to know AND LEARN.

http://bit.ly/2tIpPd5

 

[alisonb]

Just for interest sake, what does it cost to produce a round bale of dry hay and one of baleage(including one's labor)?

 

[Ryder]

Cheap, old, versus new and expensive are opposite ends of the same heavy and cumbersome stick.
Some of these comments are really good and I think shows some posters understand that.
Those that think it is just one way or the highway need to read up on the principles of increasing, decreasing, diminishing returns.

I remember the time when there was good money in farming and the prevailing advice was expand and plant fence row to fence row.
Lenders were throwing money at farmers and they were buying new and expensive equipment.
I remember a picture I saw of an old farmer puttering along with his small, older, paid for tractor.
His neighbors had the latest in new equipment and their production certainly dwarfed his.
He was just an ignorant, old fashioned farmer. Or so the smart hot shots thought.

The next scene was of the "modern" farmers losing all that land and equipment at a bankruptcy sale. Suicides were up. They were devastated.
The old farmer on his small, old, paid for tractor, on his smaller farm. was still operating and making money.

My point is it is not just rich Dad or poor Dad--but sometimes frugality and common sense.

 

[alisonb]

I did a quick internet search, would this be you *************? If so you've been around cattle for quite a time

http://www.angus.org/Pub/Newsroom/Releases/052218-Branded-historic-herd-awd.html

 

[CattleMan1920]

Cheap, old, versus new and expensive are opposite ends of the same heavy and cumbersome stick.
Some of these comments are really good and I think shows some posters understand that.
Those that think it is just one way or the highway need to read up on the principles of increasing, decreasing, diminishing returns.

I remember the time when there was good money in farming and the prevailing advice was expand and plant fence row to fence row.
Lenders were throwing money at farmers and they were buying new and expensive equipment.
I remember a picture I saw of an old farmer puttering along with his small, older, paid for tractor.
His neighbors had the latest in new equipment and their production certainly dwarfed his.
He was just an ignorant, old fashioned farmer. Or so the smart hot shots thought.

The next scene was of the "modern" farmers losing all that land and equipment at a bankruptcy sale. Suicides were up. They were devastated.
The old farmer on his small, old, paid for tractor, on his smaller farm. was still operating and making money.

My point is it is not just rich Dad or poor Dad--but sometimes frugality and common sense.

One thing is for sure, nobody has thrown money in our direction. If anything the local bankers cracked jokes about what we were doing and lent to the Amish instead. That's not looking like too good of a bet now that dairy has collapsed and tariffs have set in. What looked like a sure thing is looking shaky now for the local lenders. I'm seeing more and more Amish at Angus sales, and they are bidding. It appears they see Angus as a better bet than Holstein.

Nothing we buy here at Branded is for frivolity, everything is paying off. If it cannot be used, and used to make more money, it's not purchased. Plain and simple.

A few years back we were chatting with a lender at Farm Credit, he was a genius in his own mind, he rolled his eyes and said that our plan to AI 50 cows was overly ambitious, now that number seems easy. Will I ever ask for his help again, h.ll no! I viewed him then as a piker, and now I am sure of my views.

Disclaimer, there were some gals at Farm Credit that did take us seriously and helped us immensely in the beginning. They will always be remembered and appreciated for what they did, and will get our future business when we need funding.

 

[CattleMan1920]

I did a quick internet search, would this be you *************? If so you've been around cattle for quite a time

http://www.angus.org/Pub/Newsroom/Releases/052218-Branded-historic-herd-awd.html

Yes, that's us, and yes there have been Angus walking around on our place for a long time.