Forsaking income for contentment

[cross_7]

I believe I was just insulted by Cross7

I have seen how you guys do things,(the one with the deer hung in the tree) so I didn't mean like that.
I apologize if I offended you.
Oh and the guy driving around with the white F-250 with Texas plates that looks like me, ain't me so don't shoot

 

[denvermartinfarms]

900 cows to be full time and make a living? Guess I don't have high living standards.

 

[Bigfoot]

Fixed cost would vary so much from place to place it would be hard to say how many cows would constitute a living. For me, I don't think I could ever make a living off of cattle.

 

[cross_7]

I know some folks that could make it on a dozen head and some others that couldn't make if the were given the king ranch

 

[Redhides]

If you need 900 cows to be profitable you should stick to 25.... Preserve your time and seek your investment opportunity elsewhere. Clearly cattle does not constitute your highest and best use of Land. Land in our part of the world is probably the most overpriced, over speculated segment on the market. In the end land is only worth the income it drives plus some stooge's willingness to pay for going concern. Locally, fools hang to the myth that appreciation is king and will surely outpace the sum of interest, ad valorum,and exposure.

 

[skyhightree1]

For me, I don't think I could ever make a living off of cattle.

I know I couldn't .... But I do like the money when I make some to buy my toys. This year I have only had 2 bull calves that I am going to sell and all other were heifer calves that I will keep to increase the herd. I know its on me for not selling the heifer calves and make some $$ .

 

[Caustic Burno]

If you need 900 cows to be profitable you should stick to 25.... Preserve your time and seek your investment opportunity elsewhere. Clearly cattle does not constitute your highest and best use of Land. Land in our part of the world is probably the most overpriced, over speculated segment on the market. In the end land is only worth the income it drives plus some stooge's willingness to pay for going concern. Locally, fools hang to the myth that appreciation is king and will surely outpace the sum of interest, ad valorum,and exposure.

One of the best statement's on land I have read.
Hear it all the time here.
The one's that get me is I sold for 3000 dollar's an acre and I only paid a 1000.
When did you pay that 1000? Thirty year's ago. With taxes and cost they have more than 3000 dollar's an acre in it when they sold it and they are convinced they made money.
Hear the same thing on a house, someone at sometime did a great job of brain washing and BSing people and they bought it.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

If you need 900 cows to be profitable you should stick to 25.... Preserve your time and seek your investment opportunity elsewhere. Clearly cattle does not constitute your highest and best use of Land. Land in our part of the world is probably the most overpriced, over speculated segment on the market. In the end land is only worth the income it drives plus some stooge's willingness to pay for going concern. Locally, fools hang to the myth that appreciation is king and will surely outpace the sum of interest, ad valorum,and exposure.

One of the best statement's on land I have read.
Hear it all the time here.
The one's that get me is I sold for 3000 dollar's an acre and I only paid a 1000.
When did you pay that 1000? Thirty year's ago. With taxes and cost they have more than 3000 dollar's an acre in it when they sold it and they are convinced they made money.
Hear the same thing on a house, someone at sometime did a great job of brain washing and BSing people and they bought it.

Beats the heck out of paying $3,000 an acre and selling for $1,000 though don't it?

 

[Redhides]

If you need 900 cows to be profitable you should stick to 25.... Preserve your time and seek your investment opportunity elsewhere. Clearly cattle does not constitute your highest and best use of Land. Land in our part of the world is probably the most overpriced, over speculated segment on the market. In the end land is only worth the income it drives plus some stooge's willingness to pay for going concern. Locally, fools hang to the myth that appreciation is king and will surely outpace the sum of interest, ad valorum,and exposure.

One of the best statement's on land I have read.
Hear it all the time here.
The one's that get me is I sold for 3000 dollar's an acre and I only paid a 1000.
When did you pay that 1000? Thirty year's ago. With taxes and cost they have more than 3000 dollar's an acre in it when they sold it and they are convinced they made money.
Hear the same thing on a house, someone at sometime did a great job of brain washing and BSing people and they bought it.

You got that right CB. It was one of the chief culprit's in the housing boom...along with a whole litany of bad government subsidies. I remember a few years ago the single greatest metaphor for this phenomenon was the condo craze on the Gulf Coast. Developer would start up with a high rise condo, and these units would trade hands 5 times before the final fool decided to live in the thing, or throw the bank the keys, or filed bankruptcy. I asked my buddy, who was engaged in this, "Is your business model really that a greater fool will come along behind you?" "No.....Real Estate always goes up, some just faster than others". "Oh...OK". If you are a fiend for that kind of action the Bellagio will give you a top floor room, limo ride, a date, cigars, brandy, and a steak if you're willing to plop down a half million bucks for a single hand of blackjack.

For emphasis these things would start at 150K and trade on up to 5 or 600K. The monthly rent you could expect in a year straight out of the Saturday Evening Post...averaged out to about $700 per week over the 52 week year or (31K/Year). That's assuming it stayed leased most of the year. Condo dues were $800 per month, primarily because institutional heavies wouldn't write it so it required some private fund. And that's just your contribution to the umbrella policy....you still haven't insured your unit. And you still haven't paid your taxes or put a stick of furniture in the place. And that's if you sleep in the parking lot so that you can collect your rent. MGMT companies at the time were anywhere form 3-10% of the gross rent. $5000 grand in revenue, maybe, on a half million dollar investment.....that you can't use because it's rented 52 weeks out of the year.....you hope. :bang:

Meanwhile, back here in the land of pine trees and bass boats, you can rent land from $20-$50 per acre on $2000-$7000 an acre land. Why the hades would you ever buy? There is a little value in appreciation and there is certainly value in the assurance that your improvements to property remain your enjoyment. But not that much........

 

[Richardin52]

I know some folks that could make it on a dozen head and some others that couldn't make if the were given the king ranch

The guy that can make a living on 12 head is the guy we all need to learn from.


About twenty years ago a guy told me that it's always a good idea to invest some money into something that would bring in money whether you work or not. He was talking about stocks but they seemed more like throwing dice or a pyramid scheme than an investment to me.

At the time I was a a builder and was planning on buying equipment to do mill work. He said that's great but you have to work every day you make money and if you don't work for one reason or another you make no money.

I got to thinking about that sold my saw mill and decided to build an apartment house instead. Then I built another one. Because I cut all the wood off the farm and did all the work except the plumbing and elec. they were cheap to build. It took me a couple years to build each one in my spare time and they paid for themselves in about four years.

Now I pull in about $3,200. every month from them. That was some of the best advice I ever got.

 

[GreyGus]

The guy that can make a living on 12 head is the guy we all need to learn from.


About twenty years ago a guy told me that it's always a good idea to invest some money into something that would bring in money whether you work or not. He was talking about stocks but they seemed more like throwing dice or a pyramid scheme than an investment to me.

At the time I was a a builder and was planning on buying equipment to do mill work. He said that's great but you have to work every day you make money and if you don't work for one reason or another you make no money.

I got to thinking about that sold my saw mill and decided to build an apartment house instead. Then I built another one. Because I cut all the wood off the farm and did all the work except the plumbing and elec. they were cheap to build. It took me a couple years to build each one in my spare time and they paid for themselves in about four years.

Now I pull in about $3,200. every month from them. That was some of the best advice I ever got.

If you start early in your working career, the US stock market is one of the safest and most profitable investments you can make. In its history there has never been a ten year period when it didn't increase in value. When I was 22 years old, I picked up a friends copy of "Money" magazine and read an article on mutual funds. In a nutshell, it said forget individual stocks, buy a mutual fund that mimics the Dow or the S&P. And how early you start is more important than how much you invest. Compounding is your friend. I took those two things to heart. I found a Vanguard fund that I could buy into with a $500 initial investment. I set up an automatic deposit of $50 a month into the account. (My annual salary was about $12,500 at the time) I was 100% in stocks during the market crashes of 1987 and 2008. In both instances I had completely recovered in less than one year. I stayed all in until shortly before I retired in 2011. Now that I am older and no longer have an annual salary, my investments are more conservative and the interest and dividends nicely supplement SS, and supports my new career as a farmer.
Another calf yesterday. Four down, hopefully two to go.