GMN
Well-known member
Its all about debt load, the less the better, the more money you get to keep for yourself and improvements.
GMN
GMN
1982vett":2u8x58h0 said:rustyb":2u8x58h0 said:i know how producing organic veggetables is more intensive....but organic meat ?
please explain...
...how is organic beef more intensive with labour ?
Would not anything you fed the beef need to be "organically" produced? Same problems that plague organic produce will most likely apply to organic forages. It would seem logical if forage growth or production was hindered or weight gain was slowed for any reason attributed to organic farming, labor cost for the unit as a whole would increase.
Something like more $ for fewer pounds of beef may = more $ per pound but less pounds produced = higher labor cost per pound produced. I don't know, maybe I'm just full of organic material.
backhoeboogie":2m31ma6t said:Thinking out of the box is exactly right.
You mentioned hay. I actually have people stop and ask me where I buy my hay. It is funny in a way because there is only 16 acres here where the house is. These people don't know what I have going on elsewhere.
There are people who bale hay on the halves and do quite well. Especailly those who have contracts with the dairy. Fuel prices are coming down and fertilizer prices should follow the dropping natural gas rate etc.
You could run nurse cows like the widow I was telling you about. 8 to 12 calves could be raised on each cow. If you pick up beef split calves at the sale barn for $100 or less, you could do really well. $200 or less and you could still come out.
You could lease some pasture as someone else mentioned.
Each and every one of us started out one way or another. I didn't have a silver spoon in my mouth.
Where you are in 20 years is going to be where you put yourself. If cattle is idea, it does not have to be the main stay income immediately. Go slow and keep everything paid for.
If every kid read all the negatives in this thread and made a decision based on an average of the replies and information, cattle will become extinct eventually because they will do something different.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Figure out what works for you on your ground.
People in this very forum tell me to add lime to my soil over and over. I sit on an accumulative 138 foot thick limestone (in layers) just feet undergound. The last thing I need is lime. These people mean well but they just don't know. I run soil tests and the only thing I need is nitrogen. Minerals and lime leach right out of the hills around me.
You dad knows that ground. Run some soil tests and get started. Keep doing things that work for you in making extra nickels.
rustyb":2wt9f9km said:i saw u mentioned.... 8 to 12 calves per cow ? , how the heck do you do that,
backhoeboogie":1rh8xtn3 said:rustyb":1rh8xtn3 said:i saw u mentioned.... 8 to 12 calves per cow ? , how the heck do you do that,
They are milk cows. Then have their natural calf and then you graft three others onto them. They nurse 4 at a time with no problem. Some beef calves usually wind up with more milk than what they would have received from their natural mother.
You wean those calves at 3 months and graft 4 more onto the cow.
I have a crate the cow goes into for feed. I shut her in and turn the calves out to her getting each hooked up to a teat. They get their fill. Then I turn in a clean up calf from the last nurse cycle to clean the cow out completely. It usually takes a week to get the calves good and grafted. Then I can turn them out to pasture.
Some folks run 3 nurse cycles on the cow each year. That would be 12. I usually just go with two cycles which involves the cow's natural calf and 7 purchased calves.
My nurse cow gets more feed than the rest of the herd. But she puts out more profit than the rest of the herd.
When I retire, I may run several nurse cows along with my other endeavors.