Long Term Investment

[xbredcattle]

Looking for some insight from some veterans that have farmed for several years. What are your thoughts on a young farmer pulling the trigger on a quality set of f1 cows...signed a long term lease and will have adequate pasture for the potential cattle. Good F1's are expensive. Real Expensive. If the goal is to have a terminal system, is buying a set of 75-100 first calf f1 heifers a good idea?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Looking for some insight from some veterans that have farmed for several years. What are your thoughts on a young farmer pulling the trigger on a quality set of f1 cows...signed a long term lease and will have adequate pasture for the potential cattle. Good F1's are expensive. Real Expensive. If the goal is to have a terminal system, is buying a set of 75-100 first calf f1 heifers a good idea?

That's an awful lot of heifers to manage at one time especially fresh out of the gate.

 

[M-5]

I presume you have a horse and a rope.

 

[xbredcattle]

You bet. Horse, rope, and catch pen. Just tossing around some ideas on whether buying a full pasture now, early on, is a good idea. Another option could be to buy half the total and pick/chose a few heifers to keep back each year.

 

[TCRanch]

Have you calved out a lot of heifers before? And do you have a lot of help? Good F1's are expensive - and there's absolutely no guarantee they'll all successfully calve or mother-up or not prolapse or step on it because they're young & stupid . . . the list is endless. Personally I would either go with proven cows or a much smaller herd. Good luck either way.

 

[Bestoutwest]

Just go out to one of these big Angus sales, wait until a cow hits $50,000 and then pull the trigger. Guaranteed money maker right there.

 

[Cross-7]

Maybe I'm missing the point but what's the reason for spending a bunch a expensive cattle ?

With that said there was a guy on here awhile back that was buying loads of angus heifers from express ranches and calving them out
That was when cattle prices were rising but it looked to me like he did very well when he sold them

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have bought every kind of female and lived to tell the tale.
Starting out - - pairs are often worth the price premium.
Growing the herd - - old cows may be a way to get good genetics deal, but you have to have the right kind of feed to keep them going for a couple years.
I like calving cows on pasture, but heifers are a big risk and may not be profitable. We have moved to syncing and calving heifers in confinement, and having the cows calve on pasture a month later.

 

[wbvs58]

75-100 would cost a lot of cash. Do you have the money or do you need to see the bank? You would need a good business plan to put to the bank manager. I would think that with the expense of the lease as well you would need everything to go right in that business plan and from my limited experience with farming things seldom go right or as planned. I think heifers make things just that bit more fragile.
Ken

 

[RiverHills]

I'm definitely not a veteran but like others on here have posted seems to be a lot of RISK. I don't know if I could get past spending $150,000+ :shock: at one time unless I had the money or even most of it.


Depending on the setup i would maybe try buying a few cows or heifers and running stockers for someone to get the numbers you need. You could work your way up every year adding more breeding stock. This is more of a suggestion from a financial standpoint.

On the other hand if you have the money and want to be in it for the long haul good hiefers would be a great start. You also would need help from someone experienced and good working facility. Also a lot of time when those heifers start calving.

 

[Bigfoot]

The only people that hit it big, made a big risk getting there. The convers is....... the people that go broke, did so from a big risk. I guess you need to ask yourself do you feel lucky? High priced heifers, tons of things that could go wrong. That includes losing your lease, and having a pot and a half of high priced heifers to take somewhere. I can tell you, that's not a risk I would take. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The only people that hit it big, made a big risk getting there.

Taking a number of small risks works better for most.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Idk if I just got some exceptional heifers last yr but I bought and calved out 65 head. Never calved out anything in my life. Ended up losing 2 calves, 1 doa and 1 that just had no will to live. I think if you can get the financing in order for the F1s then go for it. Don't be scared away by the heifer comments.

 

[talltimber]

Idk if I just got some exceptional heifers last yr but I bought and calved out 65 head. Never calved out anything in my life. Ended up losing 2 calves, 1 doa and 1 that just had no will to live. I think if you can get the financing in order for the F1s then go for it. Don't be scared away by the heifer comments.

Thanks for that post. If x doesn't appreciate it, I do. I've got my first 9 hd of them to calve this fall, but I've been told the horror stories, not so much the success stories.

 

[M.Magis]

Idk if I just got some exceptional heifers last yr but I bought and calved out 65 head. Never calved out anything in my life. Ended up losing 2 calves, 1 doa and 1 that just had no will to live. I think if you can get the financing in order for the F1s then go for it. Don't be scared away by the heifer comments.

In all fairness, that's probably the exception. It's certainly not the rule. People need to be aware of the potential train wrecks that can come from calving out heifers, in hopes that they'll be partially ready.

 

[gizmom]

We purchased 90 bred commercial heifers back 17 years ago, that almost put us out of the cattle business. We had the land but not facilities, we had cattle at the time and felt we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Truth was we were not ready for that number of heifers we lost a bunch of calves, several heifers and the experience almost put us out of the cattle business. The buyers told us that the heifers had been vaccanited but we saw blackleg for the first time. Jumping in with heifers is not for the faint of heart. I would never recommend it to someone trying to get started in the cattle business. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Gizmom

 

[RiverHills]

I would like to add that calving heifers is not always a trainweck!!! But you better have all your ducks in a row. If I was going to buy that many I would be very selective on who I buy them from. The majority of them better be AI bred to highly proven bulls and the heifers pass pelvic exam. I would make sure I have nothing major going on when they start. Being close by and knowing when to intervene can be a key to success.

To be honest tho I would be more comfortable with a group of around 20.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have that much experience running heifers they have no experience !
do you have feed and pasture ,facilities for the time of year you plan on calving
what is reputation of the people your buying from
do you have good vet and health program in mind ,there can be train wrecks and you could come out on top
when calves hit the ground will you and help be there 24/7 heifer has no experience !

 

[Muddy]

Heard too many horror stories of newbies calving out a group of heifers without any facilities, not too many success stories.

 

[cfpinz]

I'd suggest you start off with roughly half the number of cows you'd like to end up with, and build the rest from within. The knowledge you gain through selection will be priceless, and I'd suggest you stay away from heifers if you're not experienced. A good group of middle-aged straight bred cows is what I'd be looking for, and make my own F1's. Why let someone else get the benefits of the first cross?

In case I missed it, what breeds are you looking into? That would play a big part in cow/bull selection.