Is this scenario possible

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rustyb

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ok the situation. im in my last year of highschool and study rural operation and ag science.
my family owns a 40 acre farm. my dad grows veggies on the place and sells to the wholesaler
i have some cattle out there , not that many, but numbers are slowly growing.

is it possible to run a decent cattle bussiness in this scenario, at first for an income that may pay bills, fund some farm equipment for the future, and hopefully with time expanding. Note: it would be treated as a secondary income for a while until built up enough, but is it possible ?...i have the tractor, the implements ect, all the fences

My plan
basicly a small cattle farm which can supply its own feed
our property is organic and certificates back that....
growing organic forage corn as feed, choping it, storing it ect along with pastures which will be improved eventually.
also using sprouting fodder as feed
selling organic steers.... i cant be bothered typing it all up but look forward to your thoughts and any questions you want to ask , thx
 
I look at the dollar for acre that can be brought in.

A cow and a half to an acre and a half here.

That ain't much money.
 
I envy you if you have everything (equip and storage capabilities)! We are trying the same thing. Bad thing is you can never predict weather, thus hay and pasture is an issue. Depends where you are at can do a cow an acre here with feed and hay. If you can get a customer and organic cert well then maybe. We sell our beef to private customers who are not neccessary requiring organic, but want animals that are not hormone implanted or reguarly feed antibiotics, they usually pay over market prices. IMO when I sell my animals at the market (sale barn), and I have, someone else is making my profit. Get a customer base. Good Luck!
 
Wewild":mk6ohhtg said:
I look at the dollar for acre that can be brought in.

A cow and a half to an acre and a half here.

That ain't much money.

ye but with the use of sprouting fodder , the carrying capasity can be raised quite a bit , i dont know if you have heard of it before....
 
rustyb":3ccpxsoz said:
My plan
basicly a small cattle farm which can supply its own feed

How can your farm provide it's own feed? Please don't give theory - theory doesn't pay bills. my guess is that you would clear abour $100 profit per cow (from the sale of it's calf), and some would argue that's too high. Where are you located?; that will have a serious affect on your carrying capacity. There are places in this country that can carry more than one cow per acre to places that struggle to carry one cow per hundred acres.
 
See this question so much - folks want to do it and figure they can - truth is they cannot and will never on small ground do this with livestock

So, hate to rain on your parade

Nope.

Not enough return per animal - if you even see a true return.

If you managed to get 50 animals through your place - which by the way would push your expenses way up - and you actually saw a profit of 100 bucks an animal - do not plan on it - plan on 10 - 30 today - if you are well managed and have the experience - you would only see 5 grand.

I bet you see a loss for your first three to five years.

Not enough cash flow to sustain your place - even at top profit margins and it would take away from the veggie market you have going

Chickens is your best bet for a place that small - livestock will kill your wallet - it pays out once a year - chickens provide cash flow - big difference

Bez+
 
How much land will you actually have for your cattle? How much of your acreage is in crops and how much is in pasture and don't forget to deduct the acreage that your home is on.

I'm afraid that you do not have enough land to raise enough cattle and crops to be a much of a second income. You would do well to break even.
 
The short answer is no.

Studies over the past 30 or so years have indicated that the breakeven point for a farm/ranch operation has steadily increased from around 200 acres to somewhere around 400+ acres. Of course there are exceptions but overall it takes more than ten times as much land as you have to get even. I don't mean to rain on your parade and I wish you all the best in your efforts.

Have you thought about some niche market like, say, truffles? (Hold on there folks, don't dismiss this out of hand.) I don't know where you're posting from but maybe you live in an climate that will support something like this and at over $100/pound selling price ...... I guess what I'm saying you need to think out of the box on this. You don't have enough land to support a profitable cow/calf operation and even organic vegetables wouldn't produce enough money to call a "profit" of any significance.
 
The only person I know who produces a lot of calves on that small of a piece is an old widow lady running nurse cows. She has been at it for years and is well known in this area. She gets things like free martin calves or orphan calves for nothing at times. She'll raise an orphan for a fee. She is very adaptable to any situation and she works her tail off. So to answer the question, yes, it can be done, over years of work.
 
Don't let the pessimistic ones get you down. You could always strike oil and just sell the cows and vegetables :D.

Someone posted this same questoin awhile back on the beginners board. People supplied alot of math in backin up what they said if you want to look for it.
 
The key phrase in your post is "treated as a secondary income until....." Until will most likely never come. Not trying to be pessimistic, but just truthful. If you dont already have your equipment, land, cattle, paid for.. its a very tough road indeed. Plus, with only 40 acres, would make it even tougher.
 
Earl Thigpen":1vpzekso said:
The short answer is no.

Studies over the past 30 or so years have indicated that the breakeven point for a farm/ranch operation has steadily increased from around 200 acres to somewhere around 400+ acres. Of course there are exceptions but overall it takes more than ten times as much land as you have to get even. I don't mean to rain on your parade and I wish you all the best in your efforts.

Have you thought about some niche market like, say, truffles? (Hold on there folks, don't dismiss this out of hand.) I don't know where you're posting from but maybe you live in an climate that will support something like this and at over $100/pound selling price ...... I guess what I'm saying you need to think out of the box on this. You don't have enough land to support a profitable cow/calf operation and even organic vegetables wouldn't produce enough money to call a "profit" of any significance.


actually the veggies do fetch a fair bit of money, im just not fully interested in carrying on with growing veggies
 
cypressfarms":1908r9k4 said:
rustyb":1908r9k4 said:
My plan
basicly a small cattle farm which can supply its own feed

How can your farm provide it's own feed? Please don't give theory - theory doesn't pay bills. my guess is that you would clear abour $100 profit per cow (from the sale of it's calf), and some would argue that's too high. Where are you located?; that will have a serious affect on your carrying capacity. There are places in this country that can carry more than one cow per acre to places that struggle to carry one cow per hundred acres.

im located in south east queensland australia , i dunno how much you pick up per head, the price now here is about $1.96 a kilo, and with a 300kg plus steer, thats over 600 bucks that could be picked up at the yards, i think i would pick up more than $100 profit, remember , organic , so no need for drenches, injection ect, we dont have any cattle health problems, my dad hasnt and he has had cattle on the place for the last 30 odd years
 
Limomike":2zlpflv9 said:
The key phrase in your post is "treated as a secondary income until....." Until will most likely never come. Not trying to be pessimistic, but just truthful. If you dont already have your equipment, land, cattle, paid for.. its a very tough road indeed. Plus, with only 40 acres, would make it even tougher.


.... but i do have the right equipment, we are still buying gud stuff wen we see it , like at next years ag show , dads gunna buy me a new you beaut cattle crush
 
backhoeboogie":37w7pe5x said:
The only person I know who produces a lot of calves on that small of a piece is an old widow lady running nurse cows. She has been at it for years and is well known in this area. She gets things like free martin calves or orphan calves for nothing at times. She'll raise an orphan for a fee. She is very adaptable to any situation and she works her tail off. So to answer the question, yes, it can be done, over years of work.

ye there is a guy down the road from us who has a lot of cattle , but not really much land , i dunno wat he does with them exactly , he gets hay and grain in for them, so hes not feeding them all for nothing, he has a large number of calves in a nursery like pen he has made, always full of calves.
 
its not all over red rover lol , dad told me he is willing to buy one of the neighbouring properties once they come on the market. so if i got one of those places, heck i would be laughing , but that was part of the plan too once i got some money,not all from the farm, but from another job aswell, well ye the plan weas also to purchase more property, nothing overly large or expensive, a couple of hundred acres, ive actually been looking through the paper at the ones i like and think to myself if i would buy it , some arnt as expensive as i though

at leasts a lot of yas are putting some imput into it , thx , keep it coming
 

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