How do you....?

[borntoride]

HI! Im 14 years old and my lifes dream is to become a rancher! I wanted to ask some questions about raising cattle.

How do you set up with a meat company to sell your cattle? How do you know how to take care of them? How do you get experience raising them? (If you can ) How many cattle would you suggest starting out with? And Most of all: How awesome is it to live on a ranch and raise cattle? I Can't wait until I can have a ranch! :heart:

 

[Victoria]

Hi borntoride. It is awesome to live on a ranch and take care of cows. It is a lot of hard work though and a lot of responsibility.
To answer a few of your questions. I don't know what it is like where you are but here people can go to Alberta Agriculture and get information on how to raise cattle, what to feed them, minerals etc. New Mexico might have an Agriculture department that will help you.
Can't help you on how to get a meat department to sell your cattle. We don't do that. Our commercial animals are sold at the auction mart.
How many catttle depends on how much land you have and how good that land is.
If you want to get experience maybe you could see if there's a local rancher that would be willing to be your mentor if you'll do some work for him.
Stick around on here too. There's a lot of great posts and good information.

 

[Scotty]

Its the best life you can ever hope for. At the tops of your page you will see some numbers that say page 1,2,3,4 .... 200. Click on those and start reading. Most of what you read will answer your questions. Take ag classes in school and pay attention. Use common sence to work through your problems. Starting off have a plan. Know what you want to raise. Have a good herd heath plan. I like Pfizer Gold plan. google it. Take your time!!!! Get good stock. And make sure you take into acount mother nature and the fact that animals require a commitment of alot of time and money.


Scotty

 

[warpaint]

Hello, Borntoride.

It's always good to see young people show interest in this business.
My first piece of advice would be to learn to be patient. Bigger is not always better.
With that said, follow the advice given by the others and learn as much as you can. I'm what you would consider an old man, and I still learn something new everyday. Good luck! :cboy:

 

[cmjust0]

How do you set up with a meat company to sell your cattle?

Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you mean by "meat company"? Like Smithfield, Swift, Tyson, Armour, etc??

 

[jaydill]

HI! Im 14 years old and my lifes dream is to become a rancher! I wanted to ask some questions about raising cattle.

How do you set up with a meat company to sell your cattle? How do you know how to take care of them? How do you get experience raising them? (If you can ) How many cattle would you suggest starting out with? And Most of all: How awesome is it to live on a ranch and raise cattle? I Can't wait until I can have a ranch! :heart:

Scotty's right. Ag classes are a good place to start and learn the basics. You might also try getting into your local FFA or 4-H chapter...it's where I began, with one show calf. While show cattle are way overpampered and given much more attention than your average cattle need, you will be given the opportunity to meet experienced ranchers and quality breeders who can help you successfully get into the ranching business. Like others have said, browsing these boards is an excellent way to learn, and learn fast. There are lots of experienced cattlemen--both involved in the show scene and not--who you can learn from. Welcome to the boards and hope you find everything you need. Feel free to ask me anything...show wise or not. I don't know a whole bunch outside of showing but I can do my best to answer or refer you to someone who can.

 

[Bek]

Ag classes are definately a great idea. I've been doing ag for 4 years now(I'm in Grade 10, we started in Grade 7) and it's amazing how much you learn, and it's helped me so much, so hopefully it will help you to.

 

[borntoride]

Thanks! This was a lot of help! :cboy: :heart:

 

[TheLazyM]

borntoride, welcome. to get expernce trying looking for a farmer near you that will let you work for him durning the summer and maybe a couple hrs a weeks. i know he might not offer you much money but the knowledge is going to be priceless.
i dont know about setting up a meat company, but if its somthing you would to look into find a company in your area and call them and see about getting the info that your looking for.

 

[jcarkie]

when i was a little boy i lived with my grandparents and we had cattle and i was hooked. then i moved to the city and was not able to have very litttle contact. i would read everthing i could get my hands on. magazines and sale catalogs. at sixteen i moved back with my grandparents and farming. it is very difficult to get started, it is hard work. but don't give up on your dream.

 

[rkm]

Try to find find a local rancher who would let you help with the chores weekends or evenings. Even if you worked for little or no money the experence is priceless.