Finally got a lease

[tnwalkingred]

All,

Well I was finally able to find a lease. I've been looking for over a year now and as luck would have it I found one right across the street from my house. It's 90 acres of good pasture with 3 ponds and a barn on it. The great thing about it being so close is that I will be able to store all the hay needed for the cattle on the lease in my new hay barn at the house and simply take it over on the tractor when I need to feed it out. I plan on buying 20 bred heifers in the next month or two to put on the lease. I signed the lease on a 3 year contract but I imagine it will last alot longer than that. Now that I have secured a place to put the cattle on it's time to go into cattle shopping mode! What are bred heifers due to calve in the fall bringing in your area? Looks like around here I'll be paying between 1800-2000 dollars a piece. Outside of making sure the heifers are bred to a calving ease bull what other recommendations do you have? All suggestions are well appreciated.

Kyle

 

[Hook]

Buying into this game right now is crazy. Do you have any heifers of your own you can put on there and grow them?

 

[shaz]

Yeah, it's crazy right now. I'm only going to buy enough cows to maintain herd numbers. Seeing some bred cows for 1500.

 

[HDRider]

I plan on a buy in about 2 years and I would hate to buy in at this rate.

I am happy about your luck, if it is good luck.

 

[Bez__]

All,

Well I was finally able to find a lease. I've been looking for over a year now and as luck would have it I found one right across the street from my house. It's 90 acres of good pasture with 3 ponds and a barn on it. The great thing about it being so close is that I will be able to store all the hay needed for the cattle on the lease in my new hay barn at the house and simply take it over on the tractor when I need to feed it out. I plan on buying 20 bred heifers in the next month or two to put on the lease. I signed the lease on a 3 year contract but I imagine it will last alot longer than that. Now that I have secured a place to put the cattle on it's time to go into cattle shopping mode! What are bred heifers due to calve in the fall bringing in your area? Looks like around here I'll be paying between 1800-2000 dollars a piece. Outside of making sure the heifers are bred to a calving ease bull what other recommendations do you have? All suggestions are well appreciated.

Kyle

You might consider buying a few less cattle and selling some hay - it does two things.

Reduces the risk of calving out heifers and brings some cash flow - which you will need.

Not sure about how you are set up - but one loss will kill a lot of profit in a hurry.

If you pare down the price on your hay by a couple dollars you can guarantee to sell it quick meaning you can have the cash in the bank if and when you need it.

Cheers

Bez

 

[J&D Cattle]

It seems there is never a good time to get into the cattle business unless they are given to you. Something can go wrong at the drop of a hat and usually does. A very enjoyable business none the less. Good luck!

Fall calving heifers will be $2,000 and up here in MO. Make sure they have the proper vaccinations and health checkups as well. Think a few years out and how you will be marketing your calves and what will sell the best. Breed, color, etc. What are your goals?

Personally I would look at older proven cows to get started if I was jumping in. Again, good luck!

 

[cow pollinater]

Personally I would look at older proven cows to get started if I was jumping in. Again, good luck!

Very good advice. :nod: I'll buy a solid mouth bred cow with some milk left so that I know she did her job this last year over an unproven heifer any day. It's a much safer investment.

 

[B&M Farms]

Buying into this game right now is crazy. Do you have any heifers of your own you can put on there and grow them?

I still think it's cheaper to buy a 2000 dollar bred cow that will drop a 2.00 dollar calve than raise a heifer up to dropping a calve unless you have really good stuff. Its all relative to the price of calves and I don't see much difference in a 2000 dollar cow dropping a 2.00 dollar calve than I did 1000 dollar cows and .90 cent calves when I started. I still got to get 3 calves to pay for her. I guess they could go down but that's a gamble we all take when we buy cows. I probably wouldn't be looking for heifers though.

 

[js1234]

Buying into this game right now is crazy. Do you have any heifers of your own you can put on there and grow them?

Relative to calf prices and supplies moving forward, I don't think bred cow prices are crazy at all. I see the most value with the most frequency in bred stock right now of the 3 segments I'm involved in.

 

[tnwalkingred]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been looking at bred cows as well. The prices are at a all time high right now but who knows how long they last. If they drop then I'll just be out of luck I suppose. If they stay like this for two or three years then I'll be glad I made the decision to expand. If I had found a good lease a year ago I would have expanded then but I didn't so it is what it is.

Kyle

 

[bird dog]

Kyle whatever you decide you might want to ease into it. Buy a couple now and few more later on. They tend to get a little cheaper when the weather gets hot and the grass gets thin.

 

[torogmc81]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been looking at bred cows as well. The prices are at a all time high right now but who knows how long they last. If they drop then I'll just be out of luck I suppose. If they stay like this for two or three years then I'll be glad I made the decision to expand. If I had found a good lease a year ago I would have expanded then but I didn't so it is what it is.

Kyle

I'm always looking at things in a diverse way. If it was me, 8 proven bred cows, 2 bred heifers. Leaves room to have more than enough food first year even with drought, retain some heifer calves every year. And not going from 0 to 20 in a blink of an eye leaves you room short term to take advantage of a deal you can't pass on or a change in the market in your favor, for the next 12 months or more.

I'd hate to be calving all first timers the first go round unless your an easy going guy with a ton of time on your hands?!?!

Good luck to ya!!

 

[tnwalkingred]

I think I should tell everyone that I will not be going from 0-20. I've been in the cattle business for a few years now running a cow/calf and feeder operation. I currently have 13 females that will calve this year. I'm merely looking to expand my operation not start from scratch. 20 head is the minimum number I want to raise to make the lease payment make sense.

Kyle

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Here a fall calving 1st period heifer won't bring over about 1400$ for a pretty nice one. But that's about the last thing I would recommend buying.

If it was me with a new lease for 20 cows, I would go buy older heavy bred cows, alot less problems and you will have calves to sell half a year quicker. I can buy good calf raising heavy bred cows here for 1250$ to 1500$ about every week, some older cows and some younger ones.

2000$ for a short bred heifer just isn't something I could reccomend to anyone.

 

[tnwalkingred]

Thanks Denver. I've decided to buy either heavy bred cows or pairs. I should be able to get either of these for less than $2000. What are you recommendations when looking at older cows? Should I arrange to have a vet check them at time of pick up?

Kyle