Living off cattle?

[mossy_oak23]

Do any of you guys actually make all of your income off of cattle? If so how many head do you run and what type of operation is it?

 

[jedstivers]

No, I spend all my income on them.

 

[1982vett]

No, I spend all my income on them.

I though you spent it on irrigation equipment and tractors.......

 

[jedstivers]

No, I spend all my income on them.

I though you spent it on irrigation equipment and tractors.......

Well, there is that habit also.

 

[Howdyjabo]

We make all of ours(what little there is ) off cattle.
We contract precondition, feed out calves, background calves,background cows.
Have to be adaptable and find an edge on the competition.

 

[kenny thomas]

I don't and do not know of anyone in this area that has no other income of any type. Even the biggest operators have either a SS check or a wife working so they have insurance. Our biggest operations are only 600-700 head total though. I keep about 150 head and both I and my wife work off farm jobs.
I have too many toys I guess. :lol: :help:

 

[Beef11]

I live off of the Animal Industry and mostly the Cattle Dog and Horse Industry to be more specific.

 

[shaz]

The guys around here that do also do odd ag jobs. Bush hogging, spraying ect..

My goal was simply to beat the stock market. I have beaten the stock market with ease :lol2:

 

[SRBeef]

I think many of us COULD live off of cattle if we had to but prefer a different standard of living. Unfortunately cattle don't come with health insurance. Jim

 

[Howdyjabo]

Its the health insurance and medical costs that are killing us. When we were younger it was manageable but now its our major hurdle.
I am thinking about putting the farm in trust to the kids and just doing without.
What really irks me is that you an live in a mansion filled with diamonds and drive a Bently, and they can't come after any of it ,if you build up medical bills- but they can take the farm away.
I have always been for paying my own way- but when an unavoidable 30 min ER visit runs $3,ooo(15 yeRS AGO IT WAS $300- 10 yrs ago it was $500) and fixing a broken finger costs $13,000 I'm thinking that I am having to pay for way too many other people too.

Fifteen yrs ago I had a nice small place out in the country I could go to for $50 and they did almost anything you needed- set simple bone breaks, stiched things up, they even had a nurse practitioner that stayed late and a Dr on call that would come in for emergencies.
They went out of business because of insurance- they were too small to get good rates--- Sounds familiar, I'm too small to get good rates.

 

[bigbull338]

i wasnt going to answer this q.but i decided what the heck.ive never had an off farm job in my life.so the farm supports me an i support it.an thats fine with me.if you can live on less an pay for your needs then a farm can support you.im an old bachlor so i can do things others cant.i dont have a wife or kids.as that idea was given up years ago.because the farm has always came 1st an still does.an i hope 1 of my nephews feels the same way i do about the farm 1 day.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Its the health insurance and medical costs that are killing us. When we were younger it was manageable but now its our major hurdle.
I am thinking about putting the farm in trust to the kids and just doing without.
What really irks me is that you an live in a mansion filled with diamonds and drive a Bently, and they can't come after any of it ,if you build up medical bills- but they can take the farm away.
I have always been for paying my own way- but when an unavoidable 30 min ER visit runs $3,ooo(15 yeRS AGO IT WAS $300- 10 yrs ago it was $500) and fixing a broken finger costs $13,000 I'm thinking that I am having to pay for way too many other people too.

Fifteen yrs ago I had a nice small place out in the country I could go to for $50 and they did almost anything you needed- set simple bone breaks, stiched things up, they even had a nurse practitioner that stayed late and a Dr on call that would come in for emergencies.
They went out of business because of insurance- they were too small to get good rates--- Sounds familiar, I'm too small to get good rates.

I know the feeling all to well
My wife and I don't make all our living from cattle but 95% of our income is from farm related work
baling hay , building fences and pipe corrals,brushogging, and dozer work for other farmers also

I have learned tho not to go to Arkansas to build fence it doesn't pay to well :lol: :lol:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Our cows are not our sole source of income either. My husband and I have off-farm jobs. Mine is on another farm, considerably larger than mine. My husband works in landscaping.

Howdyjabo makes a very good point regarding health costs. I remember a time when a quick trip to the ER was about $100.00. Not anymore. My first set of shots for rabies was $1,600.00 back in 1999 for the immunoglobulin, rabies and tetanus. Took me 10 months to pay off that bill. The rest of the shots in the series were administered at the health dept. on a sliding scale basis. At that time we had no health ins. and the hospital would take a payment plan with no interest. Has anyone been to a dentist lately? I remember when a filling was $60.00. Not anymore. If either my husband or myself need any kind of dental work I think we'll need to take out a loan. :lol:

Katherine

 

[Stocker Steve]

An experienced operator can make a living off stockers on leased pasture...

but I got weak and I bought cows and I bought land and I bought more cows and now I'm still paying

 

[tncattle]

An experienced operator can make a living off stockers on leased pasture...

but I got weak and I bought cows and I bought land and I bought more cows and now I'm still paying

I agree with the first statement and I've started that venture but am going to take it slow. I would like to making that living within 4-6 years from now, time will tell.

 

[melking]

What are stockers?

 

[Stocker Steve]

An experienced operator can make a living off stockers on leased pasture...

but I got weak and I bought cows and I bought land and I bought more cows and now I'm still paying

When the wife asked how much profit there is in the cows I always point out all the manure we are getting to improve our soil!!! Hard to eat that though.

 

[cowboy43]

What are stockers ?
Calves are purchased 300 to 500 lbs. , they are raised for weight gain on grass or winter grazing , they are kept about 6 months then sold as feeders, your profit is on their weight gain, the price paid and selling price is also a factor if any profit is made. managing pasture, animals, costs and markets plays a key role in determining the level of profit producers can expect.

 

[cowboy43]

What are stockers ?
I forgot to mention the biggest factor in profit is the weather. Buy calves with good grazing and go into a drought and have to start feeding their goes the profit and you go in the red. learned from experience.

 

[GMN]

i wasnt going to answer this q.but i decided what the heck.ive never had an off farm job in my life.so the farm supports me an i support it.an thats fine with me.if you can live on less an pay for your needs then a farm can support you.im an old bachlor so i can do things others cant.i dont have a wife or kids.as that idea was given up years ago.because the farm has always came 1st an still does.an i hope 1 of my nephews feels the same way i do about the farm 1 day.

I know from your previous posts that you liked dairying etc.. but do you really mean that your farm came first above all else in the world? Say you would have met someone got married, they still would have been second and the farm first?

GMN