Farm background, but sort of new to cattle. Wanting to start

[southoftheriver]

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!!!

 

[Hawk]

I also have a brother and brother in law with a lot of cattle experience and have expressed interest in going in together.

You asked a lot of good question, but most of them can best be answered by cattlemen in your local area, so I won't try to address them. I do have one bit of unsolicited advice for you however, based on experience, and that would be to avoid going into business with your relatives if at all possible. I'm sure that there are examples where this type of partnership was been very successful, but there are many more that turned into business failures, family feuds and life long grudges. My advice is to never mix business with family. Best of luck to you.

 

[Rockin' J Longhorns]

[quote=


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?

It depends on what breed you go with and what your plans are. If you just want a few cows to take care of and to sell the calves off once a year at a sale barn then I would say go with a cross. If you want to market your cattle private treaty then I would go with purebred. I raise Reg. Texas Longhorns here in Kansas and I have a good market for my cattle. I sell most of my cattle to people out of state. I am planning on selling longhorn lean meat here in Kansas. I have had a lot of interest in it.

As for prices I'm not sure on other cattle but I am getting $1,500 - $5,000 on my longhorn heifers and $500. - $3,500 on my bull calves. My cows vary to much in price. On my smaller horned steers I just get what ever the market price is for other cattle. Longhorns are not your sale barn cattle though so if your going to raise them you have to have the higher quality cattle to sell to other longhorn breeders.

 

[southoftheriver]

Yeah sorry for all the questions.

I know the old saying about going into business with your relatives but I'm not picturing us going big time in the cattle business. Its just kind of hobby farming/ranching. Its just a family thing we'd like to do.

 

[southoftheriver]

So starting out it probably wouldn't be the smartest economically wise to begin with say a registered breed like Polled Herefords? If I did that would be the breed. I was kind of thinking of just starting with whatever I can get at the cheapest or atleast at a good price and then branching off and starting a small herd for showing and just to kind of reminisce the old days when we used to raise them.

 

[Caustic Burno]

So starting out it probably wouldn't be the smartest economically wise to begin with say a registered breed like Polled Herefords? If I did that would be the breed. I was kind of thinking of just starting with whatever I can get at the cheapest or atleast at a good price and then branching off and starting a small herd for showing and just to kind of reminisce the old days when we used to raise them.

Longhorn's are a niche market you need a name to sell a profitable line. You will loose your britches if you think you can enter the biz and play with seedstock producers (any breed).
Anyone that tells you different is peeing on your leg and telling you it's raining. Again you can not compete with real reg seedstock operations. Your calves are going to end up at the salebarn, you might as well raise black baldies something you will be able to get the best price for.
Buy a red cow put a Homo black bull on them and make some money.

 

[southoftheriver]

So starting out it probably wouldn't be the smartest economically wise to begin with say a registered breed like Polled Herefords? If I did that would be the breed. I was kind of thinking of just starting with whatever I can get at the cheapest or atleast at a good price and then branching off and starting a small herd for showing and just to kind of reminisce the old days when we used to raise them.

Longhorn's are a niche market you need a name to sell a profitable line. You will loose your britches if you think you can enter the biz and play with seedstock producers (any breed).
Anyone that tells you different is peeing on your leg and telling you it's raining. Again you can not compete with real reg seedstock operations. Your calves are going to end up at the salebarn, you might as well raise black baldies something you will be able to get the best price for.
Buy a red cow put a Homo black bull on them and make some money.

I think you're right. What I really think i'm goign to do is buy 3-5 black/white faced cows from a friends dad and either rent his bull or buy one myself and build from there.. I'll probabbly do the former. He actually might be able to show me the ropes since I haven't done much with cattle since I was a kid. I think he'd give me a good deal and help me out. What type of cow should i start with and what should offer him to get started?

I've got the pasture, the feedlot, pen, chute, etc. Its a very good setup. And again i'm just going to be a "hobby" farmer/rancher for a while. I've got enough cash to carry myself and pay things off so I think I'd be setting alright if I start out small and slow. Who knows maybe if it makes me money i might expand. I think I'd have some good options around here in NC Kansas.

Oh here's probably a stupid question but why are red cows cheaper than black cows? I've heard that. Is it true and whats the reasoning?

 

[backhoeboogie]

Who knows maybe if it makes me money i might expand.

Oh here's probably a stupid question but why are red cows cheaper than black cows? I've heard that. Is it true and whats the reasoning?

Plan to make money. It is a business. Plan, Plan, Plan. Failure in planning is planning to fail.

Red cows don't seem to fetch as many nickels at the sale barns. Around this area anyway. White and solid black do well. Black baldies do very well too. Hang out at many of the local auction barns in your area and just watch what goes on. Your bull is 50% of your herd. If you line breed he is 75% on the second generation. If you can buy quality cows at the best prices, your bull will make you money.

 

[boone]

Beware of what the nonfarming siblings have on their agenda. My neighbor's mother passed away and suddenly his nonfarming sisters became very involved , even to the point of making them liquidate their hogs because they "looked bad". Be open and unafraid to inquire as to their feelings. Boone

 

[dac1]

welcome and some good questions looking forward to reading the responses :lol: