Well i don't have as much life to go back over as some, but so far i can say this, I think it would be very hard atleast starting out to go all cow/calf, it is the way to go but i think it's best to background as many calves as posible along with the cow/calf operation. I don't care how stable of a lease you can get i don't ever want to have to rely on rented land for my cattle, but i would never pass up renting more land either, as long as i could fill atleast half of it and make it work out money wise. If you borrow more or less means money, i sure wouldn't have anything without borrowing, i can't agree with anyone who says you should never borrow money, sometimes the bank will give out more than you need but i just watch that and do okay. I also really recommend dealing with a good small local bank over the FSA. Another thing i will add that you didn't ask but is a personal choice i have been happy with, is baling my own hay, we started out buying hay then having it baled, but investing in equipment and doing it myself has been a good move for, but it was hard taking that money that could have bought more cattle to buy the equipment.