Looking at the business

[msscamp]

He will make his own decision. I am only giving advise. Is it not as bad for you to discurage him when it could be a good thing for him and raise his quality of life via $ gain or joy of having cattle. I recommend buying stocker over breeding cattle or buying bottle calves as less risky and needimg less teaching.

Yes, he will and I'm trying to do the same thing. Since you put it that way - yes, I would have to agree, however, it was not my intent to discourage, I'm simply trying to point out a few facts about the stocker business for him to consider before he gets in too deep. I agree with you 100% on the bottle calves aspect, but I'm not sure I agree with you on the breeding cattle depending on what age he may be looking at - 4 year olds or older tend to present very few problems - sure the occasional cow has a mal-presentation, but it doesn't happen often enough to cause major problems, usually. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this, btw, I appreciate it very much.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Sorry I was typing with the lights off. How often do your cows die MSS? I have bought a lot from auctions and as Caustic said Auctions are not these evil places, but where people go to buy and sell cows. Don't let them scare you off, there are risks and you realize that. If you could get someone in that farming family to go with four eyes are better then two.

A few posts up you were advocating no working facilities. Now you are asking about cattle mortality?

Exactly how many cattle have you raised? How many head are you running right now?

Back to the business point. Cattle are traded just like any other commodity. There is equity, value equity, and junk. If you are buying at auction, the first thing to know is the differences.

 

[3MR]

Cattle are traded just like any other commodity. There is equity, value equity, and junk. If you are buying at auction, the first thing to know is the differences.

I'm not getting in this little discussion, you guys basically agree with each other anyway, just from different perspectives....

...... but I do think the above quote has merit to stand all by itself outside this thread. I have never heard it put like this before and I think everybody would agree it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Bama]

Cattle are traded just like any other commodity. There is equity, value equity, and junk. If you are buying at auction, the first thing to know is the differences.

I'm not getting in this little discussion, you guys basically agree with each other anyway, just from different perspectives....

...... but I do think the above quote has merit to stand all by itself outside this thread. I have never heard it put like this before and I think everybody would agree it makes a lot of sense.

backhoes statement is right on. Add to that some of the animal you get at acution have came from many states away and the bugs they bring with them are much differant than the ones you have in your area. Buying at auction is not bad its just more challenging. I buy all my calves at auction, thats where the deals are, thats also where you can loose your butt.