I'm out

[kenny thomas]

Do you think this is this a cattle cycle thing, or due to input prices?

One difference in this area is almost nobody lives off the cattle. It's all a sideline. For years everyone grew tobacco and the cattle were there to keep the rest of the farm clean. The tobacco paid for everything. Now the tobacco is gone, no profit in the small cattle farms. Population dropped 10% in the last census. Older people get tired of not making money. $900 fertilizer and $5 diesel fuel broke the camels back. $1 slaughter cows may finish lots more.

 

[shaz]

Cause….it's so carefree. . All you will miss is the work.

Blasphemy!

 

[hurleyjd]

Most of us have been subsidizing the beef industry for a few years.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Three months.
Problem is getting hay my hay man and fishing partner is 74.
He's the young fellow bailing.

I buy half my hay. My hay man is 71 and bought a new JD baler last fall. He called two weeks ago to tell me he has stage 3 cancer...

I spoke with another hay man who keeps his high school aged kids busy during the summer. He said that even with the high hay prices currently it is too much labor for most. Much easier to sign up for crop insurance.

 

[Stocker Steve]

One difference in this area is almost nobody lives off the cattle. It's all a sideline. For years everyone grew tobacco and the cattle were there to keep the rest of the farm clean. The tobacco paid for everything. Now the tobacco is gone, no profit in the small cattle farms.

About 40% of the ground here is good for row crop. The rest used to be mostly hay. The hay men are dying out so the land is either converted to pasture or CRP or going to brush for deer hunters.

Hard to make cow calf a centerpiece enterprise that pays all the OH, but rented pasture can provide a cattle profit if it is a decent sized piece. Do you have that in your area?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Just got the cows back from the neighbors. Snow drift broke down a fence, the cows thought it was nice weather for a holiday, and they could smell baleage...

What would I have done with the morning if I had not been herding cows with a snowmobile?

 

[hurleyjd]

Three months.
Problem is getting hay my hay man and fishing partner is 74.
He's the young fellow bailing.

Is your fishing boat leaking

 

[Ferd]

I need something to do all the time. Bad part is I have so much to do that it's hard to get away from home. Not sure what I would do without cows

 

[kenny thomas]

About 40% of the ground here is good for row crop. The rest used to be mostly hay. The hay men are dying out so the land is either converted to pasture or CRP or going to brush for deer hunters.

Hard to make cow calf a centerpiece enterprise that pays all the OH, but rented pasture can provide a cattle profit if it is a decent sized piece. Do you have that in your area?

We have 0 cropland and any Hayland is small areas 5-20 acres, sometimes steep. No CRP that I'm aware of. A fair amount is growing up but not really for deer hunters. Average farm is probably 40-50 acres.

 

[chaded]

I started 3 years ago and already sold out and quit once. The wife and I was driving down the road and saw the neighbors calves running around and we decided to get more cattle. It was then that I knew I had caught some kind of sickness.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Is your fishing boat leaking

Nope be on Rayburn in the morning .

 

[Stocker Steve]

I started 3 years ago and already sold out and quit once. The wife and I was driving down the road and saw the neighbors calves running around and we decided to get more cattle. It was then that I knew I had caught some kind of sickness.

Have you gotten any treatment?

 

[farmerjan]

Nope be on Rayburn in the morning .

The reference was to the spelling of "bailing" as opposed to "baling".

 

[simme]

I started 3 years ago and already sold out and quit once. The wife and I was driving down the road and saw the neighbors calves running around and we decided to get more cattle. It was then that I knew I had caught some kind of sickness.

It is a chronic condition with flareups and mutations. No effective vaccine, no cure, some expensive treatments, and sometimes terminal. Terrible withdrawal issues for most that try to kick the habit. Some try to wean themselves off slowly and some try to go cold turkey. Some hoping that the stimulus checks will show up soon.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Nope be on Rayburn in the morning .

I

The reference was to the spelling of "bailing" as opposed to "baling".

I don't pay a lot of attention to the auto correct anymore.
Some people just like to stir.

 

[farmerjan]

Being the granddaughter of an english teacher, I still tend to look at the spelling of words and wonder if people realize that their spelling completely changes the meaning of the word. So, I try to use mostly correct spelling so the meaning is correct, and I notice things like that alot. Some times I have trouble with how people spell things, but again, that is a carryover from my childhood. I remember for years my grandmother would get on our case when my brothers and I would use the word "ain't". It was not in the dictionary at the time. She would always tell us "ain't isn't in the dictionary". When it was added to the dictionary, we took lots of ribbing when we showed her and she said, "well, it is not a proper word." I also do not have auto correct on anything at this time. Probably a good thing.

 

[MurraysMutts]

It is a freak of nature sickness.

I sold all my lil projects/feeders, and here I am looking for more now!

 

[Buck Randall]

So, I try to use mostly correct spelling so the meaning is correct, and I notice things like that alot.

Speaking of something that ain't in the dictionary...

 

[farmerjan]

Yes, I know... alot is my signature word of bucking up against the establishment... Only have had 3 people take me to task on it in years and years..

 

[wbvs58]

This thread has caused a stampede out the door.

Ken