Feeder Steer Operation

[CARancher]

I recently have aquired the grazing rights to a large peice of land here in Northern CA. The problem is, I have never even owned a cow before. I would like to run feeder steers from the fall until the spring. But I honestly don't even know where to start. Any advice?

 

[backhoeboogie]

Any advice?

Find a mentor in the feeder business. You are essentially asking him to teach you to be his competition. So it would be best to find someone who is retired and his kids chose another life.

 

[Bez+]

I recently have aquired the grazing rights to a large peice of land here in Northern CA. The problem is, I have never even owned a cow before. I would like to run feeder steers from the fall until the spring. But I honestly don't even know where to start. Any advice?

Yeah and you will not like it.

Sub-let the land out - you know nothing about cows - you will find out the hard way that those stupid old farmers in beat up pick ups really do know their stuff and raising / grazing cattle is more than buying them and putting them on the land and walking away.

Learn first - then spend your dollars.

Besides - you will probably clear more money on a reasonable sub-let when you factor in your ZERO time and effort.

Have fun learning - do NOT spend any money until you know a little more than you do now.

Regards

Bez+

 

[CARancher]

I konw that "grazing cattle is more than buying them and putting them on the land and walking away." The reason I posted my question is because I would like to learn what else there is to running steers. Could you be a little more specific?

 

[Bez+]

I konw that "grazing cattle is more than buying them and putting them on the land and walking away." The reason I posted my question is because I would like to learn what else there is to running steers. Could you be a little more specific?

Entire books have been written on this subject - entire lives have been spent doing it - and almost all will admit that it is not only a huge risk it is a struggle - and no one knows enough to consider themselves the single expert - it is a continual learning experience.

My advice was indeed quite specific and I believe it to be sound.

Sub-let the land - go and find some work around cattle, or on a farm, or on a ranch, for about 5 years and then perhaps you can strike out on your own.

Go slowly or go broke.

Never borrow to do this unless you have the cash income from somewhere else to cover the payments - and then I would still say - sub-let the land and go learn before starting.

You will do as you see fit and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors,

Bez+

 

[CARancher]

Bez,

I appreciate the response. I guess what I am asking is not whether I should take on this endeavor, but rather how best to go about it. I already have the land, and have the cash to buy the steers up front. With that information, is there any other advice that you could add?

Thanks

 

[grannysoo]

With that information, is there any other advice that you could add?

Thanks

Start small, start slow, and keep plenty of cash reserves.

I've often heard it said that you can make a little money in the cow business if you start with a lot...

 

[Howdyjabo]

Buy preconditioned calves from one source-- skip the salebarns.
Make sure you have good fences , a good catch pen and working chute.
Make sure you have adequate feed- amount and quality. Calves won't grow on weeds or wore out pasture even if its green and plentiful(had a neighbor starve a set of calves in knee high junk-- never could convince him they were starving).
Find an experienced neighbor willing to hire out to help you problem solve and pay him REAL well when you use him.
Before you buy line up where you are going to sell-- its easy to buy calves selling is where the money is though and it takes more effort.
Think about using a buyer to buy the calves for you with the condition of him finding a sale for them too.
Buy disability insurance.


BEZ gave you good advice- stand back and think twice. Even The Pros are having a hard time turning a dime right now

 

[backhoeboogie]

BEZ gave you good advice- stand back and think twice. Even The Pros are having a hard time turning a dime right now

Times are different right now that I have ever seen them. It is simply the effects of feed prices and fuel, drought and consumer demand. Most everyone's operations and facilities are set up for a different scenario.

Packer bulls are bringing $68 to $74 at the sale barn.

4 weight steers are bringing $110 or about $440 a head.

7 weights are bringing $103 or about $721 per head.

If the market held to what it is now, it would make sense to just buy 4 weights and pasture them until they were 7 or 8 weights. Maybe even hold them until next spring and sell them even bigger if you have the hay and the forage. You have to have good forage or grass.

I am not familiar with what grows in CA and certainly not a judge of pastureland there, even if you describe it to me perfectly. I am not familiar with what breeds fare well in that climate. I'd be asking and looking if I were entering the business there. I would probably watch the sale barns to see what sells and what doesn't. Talk to some of the buyers/sellers there. Maybe meet some folks who know the area and the markets.

Three years from now the market may flop back to the old ways, or it may evolve even farther away from what we know. It all depends on several input variables. Big operations here are backing out gently. Hay growers are now stocking pastures. What effects will this have long term?

What I know right now are what the market reports say from the last sales. Those reports generally change week to week but they have been holding steady for quite some time now. It all looks radical to me.

I don't see grain prices falling any time soon.

I don't have a crystal ball.

 

[dun]

Packer bulls are bringing $68 to $74 at the sale barn.

I couldn;t beilve it but last weekend 1600-1800 lb bulls were selling for $86. I'm womdering if someone is putting togehter a bunch of bulls to sell as breeders.

 

[CARancher]

Thanks for the advice guys! Keep it coming

 

[Howdyjabo]

Markets are also regional-- in California you might have to deal with what we do.
Shipping is getting so high that theres not a big demand for the heavy weights-- once they get over 600lbs the price/lb nosedives.
So there is very little money in backgrounding here-first time I have ever seen that.
Closer to the feedlots theres a better market than ever for backgrounding .

 

[SRBeef]

Good Fences, Good Water, Corral/Working facility, Access, Does your land have these? I don't see how you can think about putting cattle on a large piece of land without these. Maybe there have been cattle there before? I would also agree with the suggestion above that you find a good cattle buyer/seller and work with him even though it will cost you a bit of $$. Talk with knowledgeable neighbors before you do anything.

Best of Luck.

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

Talkin about radical changes in the marketplace...last week I attended a conference on incorporating legumes. Several hundred ranchers showed up. All the talk was about legumes and native grass...puttin down fertilizer and baling hay just aint cutting it this year.

 

[ScottP]

CArancher

Here's a site with a bunch of videos about raising cattle. We don't have anything up yet specifically to what you want, but the information is there spread across a lot of different videos.

http://www.24-7agtv.com

Here's one that I would start with:
Forage Quailty
http://www.24-7agtv.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&Itemid=0&id=67

 

[wstevenl]

CARancher,
All these replies are making it pretty clear to me that you can't just do what everyone else is doing and make money at it. If you have land then you need to make money off grazing, you don't have some supper-excellent animals to sell seed stock from, so the grass is your capital. I'm looking forward to raising grass fed beef and have recently watched some excellent videos from Gene Sollock on feeding/finishing on pasture. These videos are on youtube.com, just search for his name on there.

Even if you don't want to direct market beef like he does, his grazing methods (and others that do MIG or other rotational grazing) will help alot in putting weight on animals that your are going to sell live.

Good luck

 

[Third Row]

Don't listen to anybody who give you advice the guarantee will work over the next year.

As the prices listed on the previous page imply, the basic economics behind raising calves has changed dramatically over the past year. Everyone can guess what will happen over the next year but nobody knows for sure.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Markets are also regional-- in California you might have to deal with what we do.
Shipping is getting so high that theres not a big demand for the heavy weights-- once they get over 600lbs the price/lb nosedives.

Fall calves were high here in 2007 but early spring 2008 calves were cheaper. This is not typical.

I sold 6 wt. heifers off grass for $107 last week. They were much lighter than normal but I could not justify any grain supplement. The value of gain between 600 and 750 is $0.72 per pound here.

So the 2008 opportunity was to buy light heifer calves and put them on quality pasture. The safest approach for 2009 would be to custom graze preconditioned yearling steers or cows.

No guarantee.

 

[S&S Farms]

If you want guaranteed income off of the land then rent it out to someone else who can take the risk.

Bez gave so good advice. Watch someone else for a year or two. I know that is not the sexy thing to do. I have no idea what you do as a professional but I am guessing you went some where to get trained and did not jump into your work with both feet from day one. It is easier to walk after we have crawled. I have been working on our farm /ramch since ai I was ten (that was 31 years ago)and I learn new things all the time from my elders both related and in the community.

I can tell you that cattle can be an expensive education. Been there done that I survived but would love to have my first invesment in cattle back to do it over.

Jeff

 

[325abn]

Packer bulls are bringing $68 to $74 at the sale barn.

I couldn;t beilve it but last weekend 1600-1800 lb bulls were selling for $86. I'm womdering if someone is putting togehter a bunch of bulls to sell as breeders.

Your talking $86/100lbs correct?