How many do you think youd need to break even or even make a profit? Assuming you had accsess to good fenced property at no cost. Im Kinda curious, because the winters are pretty mild and you could overseed with rye during the winter.I figure all grass forage during the summer with a mineral block and hay during the harshest winter months.
How many cows to make money in florida?
- Thread starter Jlane
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
xbred
Well-known member
1, buy low sell high
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Jlane":1ka1vixo said:
Most of those mineral blocks are 98% salt. There's not enough mineral in them to meet the needs. Providing loose mineral is vital to a healthy reproductive herd.
A
Anonymous
You can make a profit on one cow or calf if you do it right
Jogeephus
Well-known member
Low stocking and low inputs would surely yield a profit but you have to consider if its worth being shackled to the herd and giving up your freedom. Cows tend to only get out when you are 70+ miles from them. They are attracted to asphalt. They also love to get out on holidays. Other than that, it ain't rocket science unless you choose to make it such.
Any insight as to how to do it right? I understand sell high and buy low, but would marketing it to the consumer or at the (in the case of a calf) or buying a cow at a low price and seling it at the market. I may have some access to more than enough grass for a couple cows, but id prefer to start with one and try to make some money to get my feet wet.hooknline":18aadjgp said:
A
Anonymous
If you follow Jogeephus' advice. Keep it stocked low enough to nt have to put any suppliments in front of them. Use a good loose mineral. Keep and work them calm. Maybe put a little feed out I them just so they get used to you and will come to you. Then sell at the auction or sell as freezer beef
Jogeephus
Well-known member
I wouldn't have just one. Cows are herd animals and can jump fences to find company. Get at least 2 or a cow and a goat. I think for real small operation you could insure a good profit by buying two six weight heifers and letting them do your mowing for you then put them on feed when they hit about 800 lbs and then finish them. You could then sell halves to your friends and neighbors. If you don't have working facilities it would be wise to buy your cattle from a local cattleman or ask the sale barn to vaccinate and worm them before you take them home. This way you could reduce your risk of getting some sickness or disease that you have to doctor. Doctoring without facilities can be aggrevating if not dangerous. You should be able to at least break even and have a side of beef in your freezer as profit and judging from the price of meat in the stores this isn't a bad profit on your investment.
Thanks guys. The place I may be able to get has facilities, head gate, loading chute catch pen ect. and the cow would be pastured with some companions, horses and ~1yr old bull. At this point i need to see if I can get this place, and if so if I should do this. It doesnt sound too hard to make some small gains with low stocking rates.
Gators Rule
Well-known member
I'm in Florida, and I would certainly say you received good advice regarding the loose mineral. I keep loose mineral year round, and a mineral block available, especially during the hot months. I would also advise that you have a conversation with your local County Extension agent as to what deficiencies the local soil might have. You will want to make sure the loose mineral contains those minerals. I would also send soil samples to your local university so you can have an idea what fertilizer makeup is needed.
The trick to handling cattle in Florida (as well as other hot/humid states) is to keep your cattle as calm/cool as possible. While I love working cattle with horses, I resist the urge when it is hot, and just carry a bag of feed into the pens and they come running... My cows are "bucket broke"...
Another tip is to know your sale barn. Not all are created equal, and I will say that I just caught a $400 error where the auctioneer said one of my steers was blind, which made the 500 lb steer sell for .75 per pound. After a quick call to let them know the steer got off my trailer with perfect vision, they pulled up the video of the calf's auction, and he stood perfectly calm and when the gate opened out to let him out, he simply walked through it as would any other calf. The sale barn's owner apologized and send an additional $400 to me. My mistake was not sitting for the sale, as this was the first time I had used this sale barn.
I'm in south central Florida, so another issue that will rob your cattle of weight is the presence of flies/mosquitos. Personally, I like to use rubs with the face flaps hanging down. I keep them damp with an oil based fly spray.
While the winters are mild, the grass typically quits growing in late October (depending on the variety of grass), so hay is still necessary. Know your hay growers, and I would suggest buying from them. If you let them load you in field, they typically reduce the charge per roll. I buy by the trailer load direct from the farm so I know the pasture my hay is coming from...
As far as top dressing your pasture with ryegrass, you would be well served by researching what variety of rye grass to plant. Personally, I am a fan of "Prine Ryegrass" as I have had great results, as long as we get some rainfall. I'm blessed to have one of the developers of Prine Ryegrass as one of my clients, and I follow his planting instructions to the T. In the past, I have roto-tilled the pastures I planted in Rye, though this year I am thinking of top dressing, as I just planted those pastures with Tifton 9 bahia and brown topped millet. The millet was just to provide shade from the sun to the young bahia sprouts as they came up.
The breed of cattle will also play a HUGE part in your success. You don't have to have ear'd cattle to be successful, but you'd better have cattle that have adapted well to this climate. I have Simmental that flourish here, but I have also culled fairly heavily because some really suck in this heat. Same with my Limo crossed commercial cows..
Good luck
The trick to handling cattle in Florida (as well as other hot/humid states) is to keep your cattle as calm/cool as possible. While I love working cattle with horses, I resist the urge when it is hot, and just carry a bag of feed into the pens and they come running... My cows are "bucket broke"...
Another tip is to know your sale barn. Not all are created equal, and I will say that I just caught a $400 error where the auctioneer said one of my steers was blind, which made the 500 lb steer sell for .75 per pound. After a quick call to let them know the steer got off my trailer with perfect vision, they pulled up the video of the calf's auction, and he stood perfectly calm and when the gate opened out to let him out, he simply walked through it as would any other calf. The sale barn's owner apologized and send an additional $400 to me. My mistake was not sitting for the sale, as this was the first time I had used this sale barn.
I'm in south central Florida, so another issue that will rob your cattle of weight is the presence of flies/mosquitos. Personally, I like to use rubs with the face flaps hanging down. I keep them damp with an oil based fly spray.
While the winters are mild, the grass typically quits growing in late October (depending on the variety of grass), so hay is still necessary. Know your hay growers, and I would suggest buying from them. If you let them load you in field, they typically reduce the charge per roll. I buy by the trailer load direct from the farm so I know the pasture my hay is coming from...
As far as top dressing your pasture with ryegrass, you would be well served by researching what variety of rye grass to plant. Personally, I am a fan of "Prine Ryegrass" as I have had great results, as long as we get some rainfall. I'm blessed to have one of the developers of Prine Ryegrass as one of my clients, and I follow his planting instructions to the T. In the past, I have roto-tilled the pastures I planted in Rye, though this year I am thinking of top dressing, as I just planted those pastures with Tifton 9 bahia and brown topped millet. The millet was just to provide shade from the sun to the young bahia sprouts as they came up.
The breed of cattle will also play a HUGE part in your success. You don't have to have ear'd cattle to be successful, but you'd better have cattle that have adapted well to this climate. I have Simmental that flourish here, but I have also culled fairly heavily because some really suck in this heat. Same with my Limo crossed commercial cows..
Good luck
A
Anonymous
Good advice guys
Thanks guys. The place I may be able to get has facilaties for working them, head gate, catch pen ect. If get one itll be pastured with a couple horses and a bull so it wont be lonely. I guess at this point its a matter of calving a heifer, or simply raising one for market. Seens liks the market would be the best for a small operation. edit* sorry about the double post, i didnt think the other one went through.
ga.prime
Well-known member
Forget all that and plant a 4 or 5 acre pick your own persimmon orchard. Japanese tourists love that sort of thing. It'll be obscene the money you make.
Karin
Well-known member
Everybody else has some good points and good advice. I just want to add my two cents in this as well.
You said in your last posts you wanted to stock the place with a couple of horses and a bull, and yet it sounds like you're still playing around with the idea of having a small cow-calf herd or some feeders/stockers. Naturally, and surprising I didn't see this at all in this thread, how many animals you can keep on your land without providing extra supplementation depends on how many acres you have or will have access to in the future, should you settle on that place that you're looking at right now.
IMHO if you want to make money off of cattle, you might want to consider skipping the horses because they're nothing more than just hay burners or grass mowers unless you are going to use them for something that will help you make an extra buck.
Also, I'd probably ditch the thought of having a bull too. Bulls also cost money to retain and are worth half the herd; most on here would consider having a bull if they had a cow herd of over 10 or more cows or heifers. Bulls can be a real pain because if there's no "ladies" to take care of, he'll most likely try to mow down your fences in pursuit of other females that are requiring his services. And that's even if you're just wanting to keep him for a short time before throwing him in the freezer. So if you're just going to have one or even two females, don't get a bull. Instead, consider artificial insemination or leasing a bull to breed her, IF you want a calf out of her and IF you decide on going the small-time cow-calf route.
But in my opinion probably the best way to make money is to buy and sell stocker calves. Buy a potload of calves, plan out and manage an intensive grazing system, graze them on that and when they're old enough, sell them. You could go the route of finishing them up and direct selling the meat to friends, family and neighbors, but remember the cheapest way to feed cattle is grazing them on grass; you get money to buy feed to fatten them up you've just lost your opportunity to gain some extra money. Just get some weaners, plant posts and graze them during the growing season, and when your pastures run out or the grazing season is done or when they've reached a good size (~800 to 900 lbs), sell them. Nine times out of ten you won't need to purchase any hay to hold them older during your mild winter season because you'd already have sold them and are preparing for the next group of calves to come in, graze then sell again.
Ideally in a perfect world this would be the ideal solution to make some extra money. But this is not a perfect world and things don't work out the way you want them to. However, it IS something worth thinking about and something that is worth doing.
You said in your last posts you wanted to stock the place with a couple of horses and a bull, and yet it sounds like you're still playing around with the idea of having a small cow-calf herd or some feeders/stockers. Naturally, and surprising I didn't see this at all in this thread, how many animals you can keep on your land without providing extra supplementation depends on how many acres you have or will have access to in the future, should you settle on that place that you're looking at right now.
IMHO if you want to make money off of cattle, you might want to consider skipping the horses because they're nothing more than just hay burners or grass mowers unless you are going to use them for something that will help you make an extra buck.
Also, I'd probably ditch the thought of having a bull too. Bulls also cost money to retain and are worth half the herd; most on here would consider having a bull if they had a cow herd of over 10 or more cows or heifers. Bulls can be a real pain because if there's no "ladies" to take care of, he'll most likely try to mow down your fences in pursuit of other females that are requiring his services. And that's even if you're just wanting to keep him for a short time before throwing him in the freezer. So if you're just going to have one or even two females, don't get a bull. Instead, consider artificial insemination or leasing a bull to breed her, IF you want a calf out of her and IF you decide on going the small-time cow-calf route.
But in my opinion probably the best way to make money is to buy and sell stocker calves. Buy a potload of calves, plan out and manage an intensive grazing system, graze them on that and when they're old enough, sell them. You could go the route of finishing them up and direct selling the meat to friends, family and neighbors, but remember the cheapest way to feed cattle is grazing them on grass; you get money to buy feed to fatten them up you've just lost your opportunity to gain some extra money. Just get some weaners, plant posts and graze them during the growing season, and when your pastures run out or the grazing season is done or when they've reached a good size (~800 to 900 lbs), sell them. Nine times out of ten you won't need to purchase any hay to hold them older during your mild winter season because you'd already have sold them and are preparing for the next group of calves to come in, graze then sell again.
Ideally in a perfect world this would be the ideal solution to make some extra money. But this is not a perfect world and things don't work out the way you want them to. However, it IS something worth thinking about and something that is worth doing.
A
Anonymous
Only problem with that plan is that 6-7cwt are bringing dollar for dollar the same as 3-4cwt
Fl is not a stocker, backgrounding, or feedlot type state. Too far removed from the corn belt and cost efficient feed.
Best thing we have going here is cow/ calf ops.
Fl is not a stocker, backgrounding, or feedlot type state. Too far removed from the corn belt and cost efficient feed.
Best thing we have going here is cow/ calf ops.
Karin
Well-known member
Well it was just an option I thought I'd bring up.
A
Anonymous
And a good option most of the time. Just not with prices the way they are now.
Karin
Well-known member
Understood.
fitz
Well-known member
hooknline":3pk4mqu5 said:
I'm sure it's relatively simple for most on here but I can't grasp the term. What does it mean?
fitz
A
Anonymous
Last I heard, since the state isn't funding reports again, is this: let's say a 3 -4 cwt brought a check for 800.00
A 6 cwt brought 800.00 also.
Just rough numbers but I verified it about a month or so ago via the reports
A 6 cwt brought 800.00 also.
Just rough numbers but I verified it about a month or so ago via the reports
