Hobby farmer

[Bez?]

I have said this before and I'll say it again and I'm digging my heels in this time!! I'm a hobby RANCHER Dangit!

And my 2004 HD2500 has a dent, so time to buy a new one to haul Libby, Lilly, Ashely, Rose, Annie, Patty, Sqeeze, Lady, Blaze, Daisy, Clover, Sweetie, Tweetie, Won't go, Retard, and Da Bull with.


Alan

Fine with me - you can be a rancher - no skin off my nose

 

[Bez?]

You can tell its sat. nite. Yous guys are all drunk. Good nite!

I can assure you this is not the case.

Bez?

 

[vbd]

I have no idea where I fall in the equation of hobby / part-timer. I know I was fortunate enough to have met and married a wonderful woman raised on a dairy and had been around cattle all her life. Me, I thought the only beef of interest came medium-rare! However, I have come to love working with the cattle...banding, giving shots (which by the way for me is a real accomplishment as I was one of those kids that actually fainted when poked with a needle :shock and I really enjoy the satanic sale barn on my Friday off! As with any endeavour I have undertaken in my life, I work hard both at it and learning all I can about it, but that is just me. I maintain a full-time job fifty miles from the house and manage to assist Alice of an evening when it takes more muscle than brain.

All that aside, today I am a hobby fence builder as I have rented a jack-hammer to dig post holes in this hard, dry, caliche (SP) with so Alice will have a place at the new house to let the "rat" out.

After thirty-plus years in aviation, it is very enjoyable to learn about something new. I have a name for every animal on the farm. I want bother telling you the name for the snake at the barn as it would just come out "be nice"! I make to apologies for that...it is the only way I can keep them readily identified when talking to Alice about it.

In aviation, we have pilots (hobby / pleasure) and we have pilots (professional). If the hobby / pleasure crowd just sold their aircraft, quit asking dumb questions, and went away, the industry would collapse. I wonder how the cattle industry would be if the <25 head crowd just quit?

Just my view from the cheap seats...

On the the jack-hammer!

Van

 

[Alan]

I know what you mean by using names to identify animals when speaking with ones wife. My problem is my wife has Boar goats and she keeps changing their names. She may come in a say something about "Trouble", who's Trouble? I ask, oh that's Spider, who's spider, It use to be Magic...am I expected to keep up?

Alan

 

[Lammie]

Lammie

It says rancher under your screen name

I didn't choose that! I am a donkey and chicken rancher right now! I just play around. I'll admit it. All my calves had names and I recognized them in the pens at the sale barn. Now that's love! :heart:

 

[Alan]

Lammie

It says rancher under your screen name

I didn't choose that! I am a donkey and chicken rancher right now! I just play around. I'll admit it. All my calves had names and I recognized them in the pens at the sale barn. Now that's love! :heart:

You mean you are suppose to sell the calves How, How could you, I could never sell, Duke, Mike, Davis, Manly, Charles, J.D., Arnold, G.W., Whiskey ......

Alan

 

[milkmaid]

That was a really good post, Bez. It's because of folks with attitudes like yours that I'm even at where I'm at now. I've bought and sold quite a few calves by now and there's been extremely generous folks that sold me calves for waaaay less than they were worth and then shelled out much more then they should have buying calves from me. Been vets that doctored my animals and charged next to nothing or else told me not to worry about it. I'm growing up a little too much now and getting a little too old -- have had some hefty bills at the vet's lately -- guess the favors done when I was younger are becoming fewer and farther between as it becomes obvious I'm an adult and have the money to pay my bills without going bankrupt.

Neighbor who's now my boss sold me my first calf when I was 10 and later bought her back from me...made enough money off that deal to buy another. And another and another and another. I try my best never to forget the favors done for me, and maybe someday I'll be in a position I can do the same for some other kid that's just starting out.

 

[jw]

While living in Hunt county TX, I knew personally only one operator that had( according to rumor) about 3,000 head.

Hey Bud in Lower Ala -

Where in Hunt County is there room for anyone to have that many head?

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

Well I started out as a pure "hobby farmer" if there is such a thing. But for a lot of reasons I have migrated to the more serious side of the business over the years. Even if it was a hobby, I got tired of not making money at it. Here's what's changed since the beginning:

-Started out with only Longhorns...now crossbreds that I can make money on or at least break even.

-Began with pretty fences...now just use a strand of hot wire.

-Named all the calves and took lots of pictures...now they have a number branded on the butt, some still have names.

-Bought lots of hay...now mostly drill my own seed and and put in my own irrigation pipe.

-Had the vet out to do all the work...now I palpate, vaccinate, AI...still haven't pulled a calve yet.

-Bought new tractor to get started...don't buy anything new anymore, just search the auctions for whatever I need or borrow from neighbor.

Knew nothing in the beginning...learned a lot from hands on and you guys...Thanks by the way.

I don't know how this happened but it did and I enjoy working the land and livestock anyday over sitting behind a desk...

 

[Bud In lower Ala]

While living in Hunt county TX, I knew personally only one operator that had( according to rumor) about 3,000 head.

Hey Bud in Lower Ala -

Where in Hunt County is there room for anyone to have that many head?

Now I didn't say that all his cattle were in Hunt County, and I also said that rumor had it. I do know that He had a bunch more than most folks in the church I pastored. I need to be careful here. There might be someone still out there who knows who I'm talking about and who remembers me I still have friends in that part of the country and I sure don't want to alienate them now after all these years!
Bud

 

[Texan]

I learned a new way to splice multi strand wire from my hobby neighbour today - so easy I cannot believe it.

Well?

 

[Beefy]

I learned a new way to splice multi strand wire from my hobby neighbour today - so easy I cannot believe it.

Well?

me too.

 

[jw]

jw wrote:
Quote:
While living in Hunt county TX, I knew personally only one operator that had( according to rumor) about 3,000 head.


Hey Bud in Lower Ala -

Where in Hunt County is there room for anyone to have that many head?


Now I didn't say that all his cattle were in Hunt County, and I also said that rumor had it. I do know that He had a bunch more than most folks in the church I pastored. I need to be careful here. There might be someone still out there who knows who I'm talking about and who remembers me I still have friends in that part of the country and I sure don't want to alienate them now after all these years!
Bud

I know the man that leases the 1500 acres that surround my 67 acres also has 1000 more acres split in two other areas close by and he brings a bunch in from Oklahoma to fatten up each year. He also preaches at a Cowboy Church that he started on his land.

Reckon we're thinking of the same feller??

He is about the only one I know who has enough land, but he only brings about 150 head down each year. He runs about 40 or so mama's on it year round.

His father owns the main ranch in Oklahoma.

 

[Bez?]

I learned a new way to splice multi strand wire from my hobby neighbour today - so easy I cannot believe it.

Well?

me too.

All right guy - have to show you - but to put it simply - split the wire and tie it back on itself.

Yeah need as camera and few less beers tonight to show you. Company has just left.

Cannot believe I did not discover this method years ago.

Bug about it later - I will get back to you.

Bez?

 

[Lammie]

Lammie

It says rancher under your screen name

I didn't choose that! I am a donkey and chicken rancher right now! I just play around. I'll admit it. All my calves had names and I recognized them in the pens at the sale barn. Now that's love! :heart:

You mean you are suppose to sell the calves How, How could you, I could never sell, Duke, Mike, Davis, Manly, Charles, J.D., Arnold, G.W., Whiskey ......

Alan

Don't forget Norman!

 

[alabama]

I learned a new way to splice multi strand wire from my hobby neighbour today - so easy I cannot believe it.

Well?

me too.

All right guy - have to show you - but to put it simply - split the wire and tie it back on itself.

Yeah need as camera and few less beers tonight to show you. Company has just left.

Cannot believe I did not discover this method years ago.


Well do tell?

Bug about it later - I will get back to you.

Bez?

 

[Hasbeen]

I pretended to name mine at first. Called them Lorie, Beth, Mary etc. Never kept up with which was which, just named them because it amused my friends and my wife. After finding out just what a pain in the butt they were and all the hard work envolved, I renamed them. Now they are BigMac, Quarterpounder, Whopper, Arby, Rax etc.

In other words, I came to realize they make lousy pets. Their purpose is to make money and provide food.

Bez. Like everyone else I want to see the fence mending technique.

 

[Bud In lower Ala]

jw wrote:
Quote:
While living in Hunt county TX, I knew personally only one operator that had( according to rumor) about 3,000 head.


Hey Bud in Lower Ala -

Where in Hunt County is there room for anyone to have that many head?


Now I didn't say that all his cattle were in Hunt County, and I also said that rumor had it. I do know that He had a bunch more than most folks in the church I pastored. I need to be careful here. There might be someone still out there who knows who I'm talking about and who remembers me I still have friends in that part of the country and I sure don't want to alienate them now after all these years!
Bud

I know the man that leases the 1500 acres that surround my 67 acres also has 1000 more acres split in two other areas close by and he brings a bunch in from Oklahoma to fatten up each year. He also preaches at a Cowboy Church that he started on his land.

Reckon we're thinking of the same feller??

He is about the only one I know who has enough land, but he only brings about 150 head down each year. He runs about 40 or so mama's on it year round.

His father owns the main ranch in Oklahoma.

Jw, I'm sure this person is dead by now. He was a good man but certainly not a preacher. As i said, it was rumored that he ran 3000 head. I was ignorant about TX cowboys when we moved there from Ala.and I didn't know better than to ask how many head he had. He told me very kindly that in TX you didn't ask. He turned the question around and asked me how much money I had, and then said to ask a cattle man how many head he had and how much land he owned was as personal as asking about your personal finances. At the time I had 35 acres and about 15 head and felt like a bigtime cowboy. The old man laughed and said,"Boy in TX that aint even considered a good garden spot.'' We becme friends ,but he never came to church. If I say more I"m afraid I will identify him. I"m sure he still has relatives in that part of TX.
BUD

 

[jw]

Bud,

Definetly not the same person - I can understand your feeling like a true cowboy with just a few head. Been there, done that. Come to think about it, I'm still there doing that!!

 

[Bud In lower Ala]

Bud,

Definetly not the same person - I can understand your feeling like a true cowboy with just a few head. Been there, done that. Come to think about it, I'm still there doing that!!

Hey JW. I still have just a few head, and with the hay situation down in LA, I'll probably have a lot less than I do now by the time winter gets here. We still try to keep between 25/30 mommas. With every thing else my wife does that is about all she can care for. I keep pushing her but she just want budge :lol: