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HOW BIG A HERD TO MAKE IT A FULL TIME JOB??
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<blockquote data-quote="agmantoo" data-source="post: 932895" data-attributes="member: 8973"><p>Isomade</p><p></p><p>I read of cattlemen in Canada that manage to reduce their dependence on hay. Others here in the states manage to extend their grazing and reduce their need of high energy supplement by feeding crop residues. With all the corn fodder from ethanol production there has to be cheap feed. Did you read about lacing corn fodder with lime to make it more digestible? I survived the last big drought here by feeding cotton gin waste. Others forfeited several prior years worth of savings by buying out of state hay. I only have 16 days worth of stored feed but I have decided to remain in the cattle business so I am now in the process of locating a used recyclable metal building to use to store hay that I hope to never use. I will buy the hay as it is cheaper than making it. Admittedly I am not in the position to best determine what you can do to create a competitive edge but you are! Approach the task from a non conventional manner and you may find the answer if more obvious than you first imagined. Here are a few things I was told that would not work...I only worm young cattle and cows that show evidence of coarse hair or lack of thriftiness....I calve year round...... I never wean calves, I just send them to market and wean on the trailer, buyers will not pay for conditioning........I do not sell calves seasonally, I sell ~4 times per year, the cash flow is better and I never sell all the calves when the market is low or high, I should get an average for the year......my herd is closed, I do not vaccinate, this could be a mistake......I buy no commercial fertilizer, use chicken litter instead.....I do not use a vet, If I cannot correct the problem, I bury it....If a cow has a problem calving, regardless of the reason or the value of the cow she is culled. I run one mature bull on 100 females......the bull remains with the herd, all animals are in the same herd ........ no supplement is fed, grass and clover only.......I get by on 1.4 acres /cow and her calf all year, was told I would have to have hay......etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="agmantoo, post: 932895, member: 8973"] Isomade I read of cattlemen in Canada that manage to reduce their dependence on hay. Others here in the states manage to extend their grazing and reduce their need of high energy supplement by feeding crop residues. With all the corn fodder from ethanol production there has to be cheap feed. Did you read about lacing corn fodder with lime to make it more digestible? I survived the last big drought here by feeding cotton gin waste. Others forfeited several prior years worth of savings by buying out of state hay. I only have 16 days worth of stored feed but I have decided to remain in the cattle business so I am now in the process of locating a used recyclable metal building to use to store hay that I hope to never use. I will buy the hay as it is cheaper than making it. Admittedly I am not in the position to best determine what you can do to create a competitive edge but you are! Approach the task from a non conventional manner and you may find the answer if more obvious than you first imagined. Here are a few things I was told that would not work...I only worm young cattle and cows that show evidence of coarse hair or lack of thriftiness....I calve year round...... I never wean calves, I just send them to market and wean on the trailer, buyers will not pay for conditioning........I do not sell calves seasonally, I sell ~4 times per year, the cash flow is better and I never sell all the calves when the market is low or high, I should get an average for the year......my herd is closed, I do not vaccinate, this could be a mistake......I buy no commercial fertilizer, use chicken litter instead.....I do not use a vet, If I cannot correct the problem, I bury it....If a cow has a problem calving, regardless of the reason or the value of the cow she is culled. I run one mature bull on 100 females......the bull remains with the herd, all animals are in the same herd ........ no supplement is fed, grass and clover only.......I get by on 1.4 acres /cow and her calf all year, was told I would have to have hay......etc. [/QUOTE]
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HOW BIG A HERD TO MAKE IT A FULL TIME JOB??
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