Just wondering

[syork]

I dont have a big cattle operation but i do know my cows. I lost alot with my divorce dont want to go into details. I am trying to figure out how to git back on my feet. I have been reading alot on this forum to wonder where should i go as in raising bottle calves and selling them at 4 to 5 hundred pounds. But what has me worried is the price of grain. I am on a limited budget no thanks to my ex husband but any how with the price of grain so high I wonder about my profit if i was to buy 15 calves bottle calves and raising them thru the winter and sell them about 2 weeks after the grass comes in so they can gain more weight then running them thru the sale. The point im getting at is that from what I read on here the light weight calves are not bringing near as much as the heavies are cause the feed lots dont want to buy light weight calves cause of the cost of grain. If I was to sell the calves at 4 to 500 pounds would i be losing my A$$? I am wanting to make enough profit so I can put a down payment on a farm and get a car since mine caught on fire. What do you guys think? I hope I at least made some sense.

 

[msscamp]

Call your local salebarns and tell them what you're looking for - they should be able to direct you to the person who can tell you the best weight/time of year to get the best prices. Another option would be to call your local radio station to see if they carry market reports. I don't know what area you're in, but around here the market reports are broadcast on the local radio station every day, and they would provide you a means of tracking prices according to time of year/weight/etc. A 3rd possible option would be to check out publications like the Fencepost - it usually carries the results of past auctions at various salebarns/various types of animals, and could possibly help you figure out the price/market trends. I'm not sure if this is really helpful but, hopefully, it gives you a place to start.

PS In the future, you might want to consider posting these types of questions on the beginner's board. You'll likely get a lot more responses. :)

 

[GMN]

I dont have a big cattle operation but i do know my cows. I lost alot with my divorce dont want to go into details. I am trying to figure out how to git back on my feet. I have been reading alot on this forum to wonder where should i go as in raising bottle calves and selling them at 4 to 5 hundred pounds. But what has me worried is the price of grain. I am on a limited budget no thanks to my ex husband but any how with the price of grain so high I wonder about my profit if i was to buy 15 calves bottle calves and raising them thru the winter and sell them about 2 weeks after the grass comes in so they can gain more weight then running them thru the sale. The point im getting at is that from what I read on here the light weight calves are not bringing near as much as the heavies are cause the feed lots dont want to buy light weight calves cause of the cost of grain. If I was to sell the calves at 4 to 500 pounds would i be losing my A$$? I am wanting to make enough profit so I can put a down payment on a farm and get a car since mine caught on fire. What do you guys think? I hope I at least made some sense.

What kind of calves, male or female, what breed, Holstein or other? I'm not sure you would get rich enough to put a down payment on a farm or buy a car. Seems you would be best to raise holsteins heifers, and keep them either until they are ready to be bred or bred within 2 months of calving, and then sell them. Still this would be a longer time, and more feed/hay, etc... with the grain being as it is, hay being as it is, and who knows with the market, a private seller could be a better option for you.

Just things to think about.

GMN

 

[Nowland Farms]

....buy 15 calves bottle calves....raising them thru the winter and sell them....at 4 to 500 pounds....I am wanting to make enough profit so I can put a down payment on a farm and get a car...

At 4 to 5 weight calves, figure to get about $545 dollars each for calf at the sale barn. That this $545 per calf, suntractwhat you paid, say on the low end $50 each and you have about $500 per calf not including time and other expenses to raise bottle calves.

$500 per calf times 15 valves equals $7500 IF none of the calves die, which is likely with bottle calves.

Not to rain on your parade but around here $7500 would not buy much of a car or make much of a down payment on a farm.
Sounds like a lot of work and risk to me.

Good luck if you try it, hope it works for you.

 

[bigbull338]

you do not want bottle calves they will eat your lunch biggtime.an the deathlosses will wipe you out completely.you be better off taking the $1200 an trying to buy weaned calves for $250 to $325.an putting them on grass an 4lbs grain a day till fall.then put them on hay an feed an sell them in the spring or when they reach 800lbs.dont know how much profitt youd make though.you might have todo some doctoring though.

 

[1982vett]

At 4 to 5 weight calves, figure to get about $545 dollars each for calf at the sale barn. That this $545 per calf, suntractwhat you paid, say on the low end $50 each and you have about $500 per calf not including time and other expenses to raise bottle calves.


Good luck if you try it, hope it works for you.

Nowland, don't shoot the messenger, but calves aren't bringing that right now. More like $440 - $525 and if it aint black you can knock of another $50. Hope it is the exception and not going to be the norm. But then on the otherside, good 225# calves are getting hit the hardest. Would cost you about only $225 - $275.

Syork, cattle business isn't as rosey as it once was. Breaking even is about all that can be hoped for at the moment, that and staying ahead of the tax man is a good days work.

 

[syork]

1982vett thats what im worried about not being able to break even. I am not wanting a huge farm just a small farm about 20 acres with a house. So I dont have to raise my 2 year old in the city or a town. I want to teach her the values that comes with raising her on a farm and bein around animals. I just want a decent enough car to make it from A to B.

MSSNCAMP oops I didnt know exactly where to put this post I am still new here as to where to post things. :D I live in West Virginia and I dont think we have the market reports on the radio here and it wouldnt do me no good since I am hard of hearing almost deaf and I cant hear nothing on the radio much.

I was just wanting an opinon I know how the market is right now. I know that one min you can do good when u go to the sale barn and the next the prices hit rock bottom. But the one thing that dont change is the price of sheep and meat goats they are high. They ran 15 lambs nice lambs thru two weeks ago and they brought almost 1800 dollars and I am thinking of going in that direction of raising sheep. Dad can teach me what I need to know. I know the holsteins dont bring near as much as the other calves. The angus calves are bringing 130 cents a pound here thats for the steers the heifers are brining up to 120 a pound here. The other calves are brining around 1 dollar a pound. My problem is getting enough money to git enough for what I need. I know its not a git rich quick scheme or we would all be in it I know it takes time. Nothing ever happens over nite. Right now all i want is a start somewhere in the right direction from whre my ex took so much from me i have to start over from scratch and u know as well as i do how very hard it is to git back on your feet when u start from scratch.

The bulls about 6 to 900 pounds are bringing good money. I want to git steers or bulls cause if i git the heifers I will have to keep them. I have one cow and calf and one heifer and one bull calf and I keep every good heifer I see.

 

[1982vett]

It is not nearly as hard if you already have the land. I made the committment about 16 years ago when my aunt and uncle were no longer able to take care of their place. Rented their place, 57 acres, and bought 11 of their cows and their bull. A few years later another uncle came up with health problems and I rented his 53 acres, switched from trying to raise my own heifers to buying them. My own parents were getting up in age so it was a matter of time when they would no longer be able to take care of theirs. I am now running about 115 cows on 360 acres of land my grandpa, my dad and his brothers and I grew up on. I gave up a pretty good paying job 3 years ago because I could no longer give either the attention needed and do both, but then that was in the plan 16 years ago when I started. Could I have made more money putting my efforts into the job I had? Probably, but then I would not be sitting here writing this post. My own disposition has changed remarkably, I'm no longer pi$$ed off when I wake up in the morning because I was bone tired and had to go to work while I had so much that needed doing here. No longer have to put in 14 - 16 hour days to get the essential things done. My uncle made a comment a few years ago when he was helping me bale hay, he looked across the land and said I was doing what it used to take 3 men to do (I was still working at the time). He was refering to the fact that it took him, my dad, and one of their brothers to work the land I now work. I have spent a fair amount of money in the last few years on newer equipment, rebuilding 40 year old fences and buying cattle. I wish you the best in achieving your dream, hard work and persistence is the key, throw in good weather and some luck. Yes, I inherited about half of what I have now but I also worked to get the other half. I started out a long time ago... opening gates for dad.