southoftheriver
Member
I'm new to the board. I'm from Kansas, raised on a farm. I'm a HS teacher and coach at that moment. I like teaching but my heart still lies in farming and the rural life. I grew up on a farm but due to reasons beyond my control I could never farm fulltime. I am fortunate to be part of a trust with my 3 brothers and sisters in which we still own 300 connected acres of crop ground (120 irrigated and 180 dryland) and also 80acres of pasture with good fenses and pathway under a hiway that leads to a 5 acre feedlot with cement bunks and floor and a good pen and a chute.
What I want to do is teach and hopefully farm on the side (it doesn't hurt my brother is seed dealer) and/or have a small herd of cattle. With 80 acres and probably 80-100 acres of stalks in the winter along with alot of waterways that i could bale, what size of herd could I probably maintain? 20?
I want to start small. Probably 3-5 with 1 bull. What will this cost me? What do cattle typically run? Whats the best buy or strategy?
What breed should i go with? Or should i stick with just some crossbred cows? I am partial to polled herefords since we used to raise them but are they worth the money? I wouldn't mind having about 5 and the rest crossbred or whatever and then having 1 polled hereford bull to breed all my cows.
I am renting a farm house from a friend's father and he has 50 head. He says its t oo much for him working another job so i was thinking maybe I should buy some from him. He'd probably let me use his pasture and feedlot if I didn't want to take away the pasture of ours from the farmers who rent it.
What kind of strategy do i need to build a herd starting from scratch and 3-5 cows??
I also have a brother and brother in law with a lot of cattle experience and have expressed interest in going in together.
Any info is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!
What I want to do is teach and hopefully farm on the side (it doesn't hurt my brother is seed dealer) and/or have a small herd of cattle. With 80 acres and probably 80-100 acres of stalks in the winter along with alot of waterways that i could bale, what size of herd could I probably maintain? 20?
I want to start small. Probably 3-5 with 1 bull. What will this cost me? What do cattle typically run? Whats the best buy or strategy?
What breed should i go with? Or should i stick with just some crossbred cows? I am partial to polled herefords since we used to raise them but are they worth the money? I wouldn't mind having about 5 and the rest crossbred or whatever and then having 1 polled hereford bull to breed all my cows.
I am renting a farm house from a friend's father and he has 50 head. He says its t oo much for him working another job so i was thinking maybe I should buy some from him. He'd probably let me use his pasture and feedlot if I didn't want to take away the pasture of ours from the farmers who rent it.
What kind of strategy do i need to build a herd starting from scratch and 3-5 cows??
I also have a brother and brother in law with a lot of cattle experience and have expressed interest in going in together.
Any info is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!