just getting started...advice???

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S17 Rodeo Co.

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Joined
Oct 28, 2009
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19
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Oregon
Looking to get started. I live in a wet moderate climate. I was thinking of raising black baldies and then putting an angus back on them...not sure though what I would like to do. Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Find out what does best in your local market. It varies across different regions.

There is a host of information about getting started all through these threads. Some of the advice is excellent. You might want to pay close attention to posts by Bez, Caustic Burno, Dun etc. There's many more and there is some old ones that are not with us any more.

Much of this advice way back in the threads is in this beginners section. If you can learn to use the search features at this site it might help. Pay close attention to anyone who posts do's and don't from your climate. My climate differs from yours.
 
I've got some baldies that are with a Black Angus bull. About half of them turn out with the baldie look, the others turn out to look like the angus. Very well pleased with the results.
 
I was just looking at Registered vs. commercial...what is most popular. you can sell for show, club calves, meat with registered stock...you can sell for meat and (club calves?? ) with grade commercial stock...such as black baldy cross. which is easier to sell in the North Western states?
 
As someone who is fairly new to cattle myself I like that you want to start out with F1 cows. I would come back on them with something completly different though for the 3way cross. The first few years I recommend just running a terminal operation till you get some feel for the business and then you can change from there.

Walt
 
S17 Rodeo Co.":ihd88fzo said:
I was just looking at Registered vs. commercial...what is most popular. you can sell for show, club calves, meat with registered stock...you can sell for meat and (club calves?? ) with grade commercial stock...such as black baldy cross. which is easier to sell in the North Western states?
Click to expand...

I'd think commercial stock is always easier to sell than registered. My suggestion is that the very FIRST thing you do is decide what your end market is (sale barn, show ring, purebred consignment, or meat) and start with cattle that will fit that market. Of course, you can take any of them to the sale barn, but you won't take as large a loss if you're aiming for the sale barn from the git go instead of investing a lot of money in registered stock that wind up at the sale barn. Good luck....
 
Thank you that is very helpful. how about black baldies or grade angus cows with a registered angus bull. Or maybe even start out with hereford cows with an angus to produce black baldies...I really like brindle colored cows with a beefmaster build (brahman influenced) but not sure how they sell. (the priefert catalog has a herd of cattle that are very eye appealing to me...look like possible beefmaster type cattle) I know I don't see any of those around these parts. mostly just angus and crossbreds of different sorts (non-brahman influenced)
So can you sell unregistered cattle as club calves?
 
Is there any market in your neck of the woods for brahman influence? The biggest selling point for them down here is heat tolerance. I don't imagine that'll be a concern in Oregon. Have you thought about going to some sales in your area to see what's in demand?
 
Heat tollerance isn't a concern here, do they make a breed that is boyant? lol we get a ton of rain! I've gone to some sale barns/auctions. Most are angus crosses, some charolias crosses, most are hard to tell. A lot of culls I haven't even gone to an actual breed sale yet. But the Buhcanans Angus ranch is not too far away, they raise some great stuff, calves with weaning weights of 1000# and that is just off there mama and pasture...no creep feed. I know they have a bull sale in Feb. was thinking of maybe looking at getting a bull, but I have to figure out my plan first, before I get ahead of myself.
 
S17 Rodeo Co.":3ttlqc8p said:
Heat tollerance isn't a concern here, do they make a breed that is boyant? lol we get a ton of rain! I've gone to some sale barns/auctions. Most are angus crosses, some charolias crosses, most are hard to tell. A lot of culls I haven't even gone to an actual breed sale yet. But the Buhcanans Angus ranch is not too far away, they raise some great stuff, calves with weaning weights of 1000# and that is just off there mama and pasture...no creep feed. I know they have a bull sale in Feb. was thinking of maybe looking at getting a bull, but I have to figure out my plan first, before I get ahead of myself.
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like they're selling a lot of BULL.

Start with a few of the best quality cows you can afford. Get into the business gradually. May not seem as rewarding in the short term but in the long run you'll be better off.
 
okay may be a stupid question but what is high quality to you... confirmation, milking ability, muscling, EPD, is registered cow/bull a high quality specification....or would I be alright to buy some good looking, good producing cross cattle?
what about foundation cows...
black baldies, santa gertrudis, beefmaster...crossed with angus? what breeds did you start out with ...and why?
 
Is this going to be a full time job or do you have an off farm job? Have you been around cattle much? I think its exciting for some one to be getting into ranching, I am a beginner myself, but I grew up on a farm, row-crops and cattle, I also have an off farm job. How much land do you plan on running these cattle on, do you have access to any equipment. I have asked a lot of questions on these forums and have been given some excellant advice. Good luck and God bless.
 
dun":2gea31on said:
Sounds to me like they're selling a lot of BULL.
Click to expand...

:clap: :clap: :clap: Well said dun!

Don't start out trying to buy all of that super expensive stock. That's a sure-fire means to the poorhouse.
 
rowdyred":2te08njc said:
Is this going to be a full time job or do you have an off farm job? Have you been around cattle much? I think its exciting for some one to be getting into ranching, I am a beginner myself, but I grew up on a farm, row-crops and cattle, I also have an off farm job. How much land do you plan on running these cattle on, do you have access to any equipment. I have asked a lot of questions on these forums and have been given some excellant advice. Good luck and God bless.
Click to expand...


well I currently raise bucking bulls. so yeah I would say I have some experience, especially around the high headed, hot tempered cattle. I currently have 10 head of bucking stock 5 head of horses and 4 head of sheep(hopefully the sheep will soon be gone lol) right now I live on 6 acres. my bucking stock is dry lotted all year...there is some feed costs for ya. but the farmers lease there fields out to run beef stock during the fall-spring. of course I can't run my bucking stock on the fields...it take a 7 foot guardrail fence to keep one of my brahma bcuking cross cows in. anyway. I have access to some equiptment and work at a feed store after my college classes. I realize how much time and care they take. I wake up around 3-4 every morning as is. not because I HAVE to, just because I want to make sure eberything is taken care of in a quality manner. cheap start up costs would be great...should I try to find some cheaper, healthy cows that are bred and sell the calves, breed the cows back, sell off the ones that don't produce, keep some replacements, use the money off of the ones I sell to purchase more cows and slowly start building a herd and getting better and better blood in there? where should I go to get the initial cows....private breeders tend to be more, but is it worth the risk to try and buy some good ones at the sale barn? if so when is the best time of year to go to the sale barn to buy??
Thanks!
 
S17 Rodeo Co.":dypt2gg9 said:
okay may be a stupid question but what is high quality to you... confirmation, milking ability, muscling, EPD, is registered cow/bull a high quality specification....or would I be alright to buy some good looking, good producing cross cattle?
what about foundation cows...
black baldies, santa gertrudis, beefmaster...crossed with angus? what breeds did you start out with ...and why?
Click to expand...
A little older cow that has raised decent calves before, bred back on time, maintained decent condition for the management conditions, good solid feet and legs, sound udder, deep bodied, good topline and moves easily and has a decent disposition. Sounds like a lot but it really isn;t.
Good crossbred cows would be the best way to get started. 5-8 year old cows would be my choice. For a bull depending on if you plan on keeping replacments I would want a bull that has daughters that calve easily and has calves that are born easily, close to the breed average for milk, WW and YW. Other then the udder, all of the same kinds of physical characteristics as a cow. Just substitute scrotum and penis for udder.
I wouldn;t play the seedstock/registered game with the cow herd for starters
 
If you are working at the feed store and know some farmers around there who lease pasture, those would be the folks you should talk to.

Here is something for you to think about.

My nurse cow is 6 years old. She has raised 39 calves. Most of these calves were beef splits.

People sell cow/calf pairs with an aged cow. The cow is old and will only go for slaughter. The ring man will split the calf and sell it separate.

When I am looking for calves to graft, I try to get a split that has a dry naval. It has already had it's fill of colostrum. A week old calf is perfect.

My nurse cow is an F1 holstein/jersey cross. Once the calves have nurse on her for around 5 days, I can turn them out to pasture. I do supplement her with a little feed twice a day. Right now I am only running three calves on her.

If you have 6 acres of pasture, you could easily produce 16 calves a year on it with two nurse cows. There is not a HUGE profit margin in that, but there is a sure profit. Lots of cattle folks are in the red. You'd be in the black. It wouldn't take you a lot of money to get started either.
 
dun":1ks6gbp1 said:
S17 Rodeo Co.":1ks6gbp1 said:
Heat tollerance isn't a concern here, do they make a breed that is boyant? lol we get a ton of rain! I've gone to some sale barns/auctions. Most are angus crosses, some charolias crosses, most are hard to tell. A lot of culls I haven't even gone to an actual breed sale yet. But the Buhcanans Angus ranch is not too far away, they raise some great stuff, calves with weaning weights of 1000# and that is just off there mama and pasture...no creep feed. I know they have a bull sale in Feb. was thinking of maybe looking at getting a bull, but I have to figure out my plan first, before I get ahead of myself.
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like they're selling a lot of BULL.

Start with a few of the best quality cows you can afford. Get into the business gradually. May not seem as rewarding in the short term but in the long run you'll be better off.
Click to expand...
1000# weaning weights are not unheard of a guy down the road, over the hill, and across the river weans 1000#ers every year.
 

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