Lee VanRoss
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2020
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- 2,392
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TR> Any response I give on these pages are based on my own experiences, observations, prejudices flavored by love, rejection, egotism,I think I'm happier not understanding the cattle business and being new to the business...my costs would never encroach 1$ a day per head. I have no steel, no equipment, i don't include my labor...i don't over tax the land (cows/acreage). Quick calculations I'm around 75 cents a day for feed alone and then add in the vaccines, dewormer, minerals and other...so ok, I'm right at $1. So, I'll be the controlled "test subject farm"...let's see if my costs increase or I go out of business. You maybe correct Lee. I don't buy steel other than barb-wire, so there's almost no fuel, fertilizer and equipment costs to speak of. I sold my old vintage 1946 Avery Model-V last year. My Ranch probably looks like something out of the 1930's to 1950's, complete with wooden head gate (literally 1954 design i hand built for $120.) I might be too cheap for my own good...but I love the land and cattle.
self doubt and hopefully a modicum of common sense. My life time batting average in this game of life is .001 with a BOB (base on balls) of maybe 500 which means I make safe to 1st base when I walk about half the time!
I would commend you on not letting iron and oil come between the sun and the ground. Nothing wrong with a wooden head gate
although I do detest a 3 wire gate. It would be my position that it is not so much what you spend on your cattle (common sense a
given) but how much of the cattle income one spends on self that determines the outcome. While it is on my mind you mentioned
lambs quarter. That and ragweed are a bane to me as well. My approach is to put as many hooves as possible in the smallest practical
area and have them eat and tromp it into oblivion. Do this while it is still small and hit it again as often as practical plus a little weed
killer as well. I put on a S-pot of fertilizer last year and got one cutting of hay and good grazing in places until it dried up. No way am
I spending $1000+ for nitrogen. I moved the cows 74 times this past year and should have done it more often. More moves
often equates to more palatable grazing over a longer period of time. On barb wire, not sure if you use it to cross fence but you may
think about barb for perimeter and electric and rope for cross purposes. The size of my paddocks can change by the day as the season
progresses and the grazing pressure increases from the calves. I never had the privilege of running an Avery. I guess that would
put you in league with WWII aviators! Observe, read, study, learn and keep on doing what works for you and never consider town.
You wouldn't like it,