Help, just starting out!

[pruss06]

I am wanting to raise beef cattle; and I'm looking for all the suggestions and help I can get. I know a few things about cattle ( I was raised on a dairy farm ); but need lots of help with the management part of it. And have lots of questions on different techniques, feeds, breed of cattle and so on. One of my first questions is how many cattle per acre of land should you allow for? Is it more cost effective to deal with crossbred cattle or registered cattle? I really appreciate any thoughts that any of you have.

 

[Saltydawg]

Best thing to do is just read these boards for a start.

Lots of good people post here from beginners to people with hundreds of cattle and years of experience.

Those are pretty big and broad questions you asked. Try narrowing them down more to specifics and you'll likely get more replies with better answers.

 

[Australian Cattleman]

Whats your country like? Is it fertile? How much time do you have?
Colin

 

[pruss06]

Whats your country like? Is it fertile? How much time do you have?
Colin

Australian Cattleman,

The land here in Texas is very fertile in most places. I haven't purchased my land yet; still making a decision on how much and all that. I will be living close to where I will have the cattle; so I will have plenty of time.

 

[cypressfarms]

Pruss06,

Welcome aboard!

Your best bet would be to read some old posts, search for topics you want to know about, and talk to some of your local people there. On this board there are people who can run 1 cow every acre to 1 cow every 100 acres, and everywhere in between. Your local extension office can probably give you boat loads of information as well.

Good luck.

 

[brownmule]

im new to this group too , been here a couple weeks,these people can help point you in the right direction, it helps so much that some one can say"look at this post" send a link to the page and theres what your looking for! i belong to many groups {mostly mule} but you guys are just like friends, glad to help out there are a few ol cattle guys here where i live but..they are from the old school, not too fond of a newbee comming in ,let along a gal..im always taking the path less travled..because it hard makes me more determined.. {thank my long ear buddys for that i guess.} hubby says im hardheaded like my darn mules..{sometimes a litlle more colorful,LOL} which is not such a bad thing! welcome to group, good luck with your cows. Rose :cboy:

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Lots of good books, tapes & info at this link:

http://stockmangrassfarmer.net/

I highly recommend "Knowledge Rich Ranching", "Thoughts and Advice from an Old Cattleman" , "No Risk Ranching" & "Management Intensive Grazing". Each of these books have excellent business, animal husbandry, & management ideas.


Good luck & best regards

Brock

 

[buckaroo_bif]

I am wanting to raise beef cattle; and I'm looking for all the suggestions and help I can get. I know a few things about cattle ( I was raised on a dairy farm ); but need lots of help with the management part of it. And have lots of questions on different techniques, feeds, breed of cattle and so on. One of my first questions is how many cattle per acre of land should you allow for? Is it more cost effective to deal with crossbred cattle or registered cattle? I really appreciate any thoughts that any of you have.

Bad bad time to get into the cattle business. I wouldn't do it!!!

 

[TheLazyM]

pruss06 as i've said on the other thread i go with the mixed bred. i dont know how they breed in texas but i imagion its the same every where. they cross to make a better animal hoping to captilaize on traits from the 2 breeds being crossed. i cant tell you what would be a good cross for texas as i've never been there. as far as how many head to acre that does depend on the land. but i bet that with some work you can raise a head per 2 acres easy. if you buy bred cows and sell everything at weening and buying back it knocks down on how much your land has to previde for.i had to change up 2002 and 2003 cause my land wasnt doing so good on putting on grass i had to lyme and fertilise then resew grass sead. i mean it got bad. them 2 years i bought heavy bred cows in feb. they calved in march and april then sold out in october. i did pretty good. i do better money wise buying cows mid term between nov. and jan. jan is the best farmers grass is gone and they've done gotten way past tired of feeding and dont demand as much plus the cows have a lower bcs but it dont take me long to shape them up.

 

[pruss06]

pruss06 as i've said on the other thread i go with the mixed bred. i dont know how they breed in texas but i imagion its the same every where. they cross to make a better animal hoping to captilaize on traits from the 2 breeds being crossed. i cant tell you what would be a good cross for texas as i've never been there. as far as how many head to acre that does depend on the land. but i bet that with some work you can raise a head per 2 acres easy. if you buy bred cows and sell everything at weening and buying back it knocks down on how much your land has to previde for.i had to change up 2002 and 2003 cause my land wasnt doing so good on putting on grass i had to lyme and fertilise then resew grass sead. i mean it got bad. them 2 years i bought heavy bred cows in feb. they calved in march and april then sold out in october. i did pretty good. i do better money wise buying cows mid term between nov. and jan. jan is the best farmers grass is gone and they've done gotten way past tired of feeding and dont demand as much plus the cows have a lower bcs but it dont take me long to shape them up.

LazyM,
thanks for all the info. have a question for you... If I have the resources do you think I could make a larger profit if I had beef/dairy cross cows and put 3 or 4 calves on them each; sell all the calves at weaning and so forth???

 

[buckaroo_bif]

:shock:

 

[MikeC]

You probably could. When I was a kid we'd take an old broke down bag milk cow and make a nurse cow out of her. We might put 5-6 calves on one cow. Thing about it is................

You gotta feed her. Lot's of feed. Hundreds and hundreds of lbs of feed.

I still think it paid off though.