Is this a good idea?

[JustSteve]

Hello to everyone. The name is Steven and I'm considering a slightly early retirement and I'm thinking cattle. I'm not the kind of person that would sit by the fireplace and read a book, so I'll find something to keep me active.

The idea has been stuck with me for a while, but I'm not sure if it's a good one and I'm definitely not sure where to start. I tried searching through the forum, but this place is a lot bigger than the other forums I'm a member of so I either suck at searching or I'm not finding what I need.

I'd like to point out that I'm not 100% onboard with this and if I do get 100% on board, it will be a few years before I do it. I have plenty of time for preparation, learning etc, but I'd need some guidance from you. Maybe a thread that have everything a beginner would need? Or maybe someone that can point me in the right direction?

Thank you in advance!

 

[bird dog]

Welcome Seven, First of all, where are you at? You need your location in your profile, not just US. Second, do you own land?

Give us those two answers to give us a idea where to start.

 

[Travlr]

Hello to everyone. The name is Steven and I'm considering a slightly early retirement and I'm thinking cattle. I'm not the kind of person that would sit by the fireplace and read a book, so I'll find something to keep me active.

The idea has been stuck with me for a while, but I'm not sure if it's a good one and I'm definitely not sure where to start. I tried searching through the forum, but this place is a lot bigger than the other forums I'm a member of so I either suck at searching or I'm not finding what I need.

I'd like to point out that I'm not 100% onboard with this and if I do get 100% on board, it will be a few years before I do it. I have plenty of time for preparation, learning etc, but I'd need some guidance from you. Maybe a thread that have everything a beginner would need? Or maybe someone that can point me in the right direction?

Thank you in advance!

Yeah, a lot of the answers you will need are location dependent. Water, grass, and weather are all factors of location. If you are in the desert south it's different than in the moist south. The same for the north. Different conditions mean different cattle, forage, and even disease. All management issues depending on where you are.
Welcome to the forum. To give us some idea of what you'd like to know, ask a few questions.

 

[TCRanch]

Welcome, Steve. What @bird dog and @Travlr said. Also, what are your goals? Cow-calf? Stockers? Just keeping a few to feed out? Strictly pets/yard art?

"Retirement" is subjective. We retired early, bought the ranch and jumped right in starting with 33 bred cows. There's a lot to learn! And you need to establish a relationship with a large animal vet.

 

[4hfarms]

We were the opposite of TC. We started with 3 bred cross cows for yard art mowers. A bull rented a couple years later and we started business. Being new like you, we started small after retirement. It literally grew on us! We know our animals from birth to harvest.

 

[jltrent]

With the cost of everything, inputs, machinery, cattle, land, fertilizer, feed, etc. if you are not in the cattle business right now would need to start out slow and grow the business. We always had 80-100 cows all my life, other than about ten years ago and recently not a lot of money in them.

 

[sstterry]

With the cost of everything, inputs, machinery, cattle, land, fertilizer, feed, etc. if you are not in the cattle business right now would need to start out slow and grow the business. For myself my family has been in the cattle business all my life and other than about ten years ago a short time and recently it was a good hobby and hoped to break even. We always kept 80-100 cows and put out several acres of tobacco, and I always had a full-time job and at least one hobby I could make a little on. On the hobbies I worked on electronics for a few years, had a Federal Firearms License sold and repaired guns and/or a small engine repair shop, helped my dad build houses, plumbing and electrical work with dad, worked on highway construction, factory building furniture, bank branch manager, Facility Supervisor over a state youth development center to name a few.

@jltrent is the Board's Jack-of-All-Trades.

 

[jltrent]

As most have said above tell a little about what you want to do and a lot of knowledge here to help.

 

[Dave]

I am retired and own a ranch. I very often tell people that this is an oxymoron.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Welcome @JustSteve to CT
@TCRanch and @Dave what is this retirement thing you speak of? I don’t even find time to take an afternoon off

 

[Travlr]

I am retired and own a ranch. I very often tell people that this is an oxymoron.

Yeah, I retired to ranch too. I'm not sure if it's an "oxymoron" but it's definitely moron related.

 

[Silver]

I was considering retiring from ranching and taking up dentistry. How hard can it be?

 

[Travlr]

I was considering retiring from ranching and taking up dentistry. How hard can it be?

Hey, Neanderthals did it almost 60,000 years ago. Surely it's got to be pretty easy to do, right?

 

[sstterry]

I was considering retiring from ranching and taking up dentistry. How hard can it be?

Pulling a tooth can't be much different than pulling a calf.

 

[Dave]

Welcome @JustSteve to CT
@TCRanch and @Dave what is this retirement thing you speak of? I don’t even find time to take an afternoon off

It means I quit going to a day job 5 days a week. Instead I stay home and put in longer hours 7 days a week for less money. It is a good thing the old day job pays me to stay away.

 

[jshep]

You people are funny. Glad l joined cattletoday.com It.s a way of life to raise cattle and you need to learn about the types of grass and a lot more and yes you will have more work than hours in the day. l like it but the in laws hate me doing so that makes it all right.

 

[Brute 23]

Having cattle is like being a teacher. You can hand out a bunch of homework that generates a bunch of work for you to grade or you can take care of business with in working hours and have a life outside of teaching. You have to decide which one you want to be.

You also have to decide if you want to be the manager or get managed.

 

[JustSteve]

Wow, i was expecting to get some help, but damn, those are a lot of questions

First of all, thank you for all the comments and advice and let me try to answer as much as I can. You asked about the location and to be honest, I'm not anchored to a specific location. I am currently in Arizona and I'll be happy to move to any state, I never got married, no family to "move" with me, which makes things easier for me.

As far as the land is concerned, you can probably guess that I don't own the land, so that is probably the first thing I'll be doing after getting some pointers. Again, if there are good places in Arizona, I wouldn't mind staying here, but I also wouldn't mind moving.

Sizewise, not looking to become the largest ranch the US, something small to keep me active, which I could potentially grow.

About the dentist joke: I believe all of you started somewhere, and based on the replies I can assume some people have started from nothing, so I can assume that it's not impossible?

 

[Dave]

The reason you got lots of questions is because is because there are tens of thousands of variables involved. So to answer a question. Are there good places in Arizona? I am sure there must be. However with any area affordability is a question. Not being from that part of the world I don't have a good answer. I would think farther north would be better. You need an area which grows decent grass and not an area being run over by development. Water is key.
I have a step daughter and her husband who just sold out in southern Arizona. East along the New Mexico border. Not the kind of country for a beginner. Huge acreage, low productive, horse back cowboy country. And very isolated.

 

[Travlr]

Wow, i was expecting to get some help, but damn, those are a lot of questions

First of all, thank you for all the comments and advice and let me try to answer as much as I can. You asked about the location and to be honest, I'm not anchored to a specific location. I am currently in Arizona and I'll be happy to move to any state, I never got married, no family to "move" with me, which makes things easier for me.

As far as the land is concerned, you can probably guess that I don't own the land, so that is probably the first thing I'll be doing after getting some pointers. Again, if there are good places in Arizona, I wouldn't mind staying here, but I also wouldn't mind moving.

Sizewise, not looking to become the largest ranch the US, something small to keep me active, which I could potentially grow.

About the dentist joke: I believe all of you started somewhere, and based on the replies I can assume some people have started from nothing, so I can assume that it's not impossible?

The best value for a buck I've ever seen pertaining to the price of real estate vs the number of cattle that can be run on an acre of ground was in NW Arkansas. Great people there too. And I suspect most of the southern US is better value because that area grows more grass than anywhere else per dollar spent on ground.
Times are changing, so do your research. And there is no place that will be perfect in every way. Choose your battles.