auctionboy
Well-known member
I think he was talking to the poster? Good luck Roger.
Looking at the business
- Thread starter Rogerwilco
- Start date
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backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Rogerwilco":hj8tkskb said:
Yes it is very similar. If you can limit your risks you are better off. No different than any other business decisions.
At the same time, the more risk you take, the more you stand to profit. e.g. some folks buy sick cattle at bargain prices, nurture them, bring them around. You need to know your capabilities before you ever attempt any such thing.
There was some very good advice offered already. Heed it. I learned some things the hard way. I wouldn't have anything without the ability to medicate it. You need good working pens, and a head gate as a minimum, if nothing else for parasite control. Parasites eat away your profits and dwindle the health of your animals. This is a very bad year for flies and everything else.
Central Fl Cracker
Well-known member
A great book that gives some valid advice.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...&v=glance&n =283155&tagActionCode=cattletoday
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...&v=glance&n =283155&tagActionCode=cattletoday
Bama
Well-known member
Running stockers is one of the riskiest ways to make money on cattle. It can go great one year and terrible the next. I've been doing it a while and I still have some that I miss judge as being good gainers. Not to long ago I posted about making about 4 dollars on one in perticular. Some you will loose on some you will make good on. So as far as what you can expect in profit it would be between -$450 to +$250. I ain't being a smart elic thats just the way it is. Buying stockers you will need a means of doctoring them. You can get a load and wind up spreading some really bad bugs that can affect your whole herd.
A
Anonymous
Rogerwilco":1fd2k4yr said:
Not similar at all...as a contractor...you have a figured price...if you underprice something...you can make another bill to the homeowner...so it doesn't cost you money from your own pocket...also as a contractor...you dont have to worry about the wide variety of diseases that cattle can catch...and as a contractor, you can hire people to put the foundation, framing, and all the interior and exterior designing...which you can charge to the homeowner as their expense...in stockers...it's hard enough to make money when you dont have to hire other men to help do your work, plus the feed, lease on land, and visits to the vet...read Bama's post...even him, with experience raising stockers...seems to have a hard time making money on them sometimes...a newbie as yourself Rogerwilco...not to try to put you down, but I would think in your situation, you would have much more a chance to lose money than gain it...just trying to let you know this before you actually do go out and buy some stockers...but you could make some money...it's all a chance...depends on if you willing to take the chance or not...it would not be a chance I would be willing to take though
Take care
memanpa
Well-known member
auctionboy":q0ipf0ez said:
it would also depend on if that LOCKER beef is inspected or not! liability issues there!
what if only 1/2 of it is sold? freezer space available? what if the other 1/2 does not sell and freezer burns?
where is any profit!
it all sounds great and looks good on paper but it does not always work our as we put on paper!
i know, i sell packages of beef that i raise, ASK susiedave they do too, usda inspections county state federal inspections if it was only as simple as you state!
not saying you are wrong just saying you are not presenting all the facts
memanpa
Well-known member
oh and do not forget the insurance needed and the licenses needed to sell to the public
been there and done that and own the T shirt
susiedavid???? you are probabally more into it than i am as i know you are now working the farmers markets with small packages
been there and done that and own the T shirt
susiedavid???? you are probabally more into it than i am as i know you are now working the farmers markets with small packages
Herefordcross
Well-known member
PROZAC!!
auctionboy
Well-known member
Here you don't need a licence to sell halves a quarters, but you can't set up shop and sell out of the home. I sisn't recomened he become retail. All lockers in this state have to get the usda stamp. I just wish I would have gotten started earlier, but heard the same things. Anyway I'm going to go get some prozac if I have to answer questioning of my answers. Please stop saying been there done that own the t-shirt!
Rogerwilco
Member
Heritage
Similar in the fact that you can build a half dozen houses on speculation and th eprime rate will bump up and everybody will stop buying houses in the price range you are building in before you are finished and you have to turn the construction loan over and pay the mortgage on them for a year or more. Or that you can sign a contract for the price of work and a hurricane hits florida or the Chinese decide to corner the international market on steel the day before you write purchase orders and the cost of lumber or fasteners triples. Or you can hit rock where you'd never imagined it to be and not have a good standing rock clause in your contracts and rather than pay $8/cu yd for 38,000 yards of common excavation you can pay the difference of $250/cu yd for rock excavation. And if you step on your weener like that you'd better finish what you'd started because every bond you sign has the words "personal guarantor" on it so you have no corporate protection and if you default they hire somebiody else to finish it and take posession of your personal property and sell it off to pay for the job, and it's not like bankruptcy, they don't let you keep a car and the house. It's gone. This stuff really happens. All the time.
There are businesses other than agriculture that involve risk in a big way.
That said, Thank you for your concern. I really seem to get the feeling that you think I am bound and determined to go blow my money on a batch of stockers, where what I had hoped for was the chance to discuss the business with somebody in some detail and give me some idea what kind of questions I need to be asking so I can make an evaluation of whether to go into the business at all. Anybody here do that?
Similar in the fact that you can build a half dozen houses on speculation and th eprime rate will bump up and everybody will stop buying houses in the price range you are building in before you are finished and you have to turn the construction loan over and pay the mortgage on them for a year or more. Or that you can sign a contract for the price of work and a hurricane hits florida or the Chinese decide to corner the international market on steel the day before you write purchase orders and the cost of lumber or fasteners triples. Or you can hit rock where you'd never imagined it to be and not have a good standing rock clause in your contracts and rather than pay $8/cu yd for 38,000 yards of common excavation you can pay the difference of $250/cu yd for rock excavation. And if you step on your weener like that you'd better finish what you'd started because every bond you sign has the words "personal guarantor" on it so you have no corporate protection and if you default they hire somebiody else to finish it and take posession of your personal property and sell it off to pay for the job, and it's not like bankruptcy, they don't let you keep a car and the house. It's gone. This stuff really happens. All the time.
There are businesses other than agriculture that involve risk in a big way.
That said, Thank you for your concern. I really seem to get the feeling that you think I am bound and determined to go blow my money on a batch of stockers, where what I had hoped for was the chance to discuss the business with somebody in some detail and give me some idea what kind of questions I need to be asking so I can make an evaluation of whether to go into the business at all. Anybody here do that?
Rogerwilco":3uqg5mi3 said:
We don't raise stockers - never have - but even I know there is a very, very fine line between turning a profit and losing your shirt with this type of operation. Too skinny and they don't bring a good price because of the amount of feed that needs to be poured to them to bring them up to par, too fat and they don't bring a good price because the buyer can't make money off them, too young and they lose weight from the stress of being 'salebarn weaned'. I'm sure there are detractions for them being too old, too, I just don't know what they are. You're a newbie, how can you compete in this line of the business against people who have been doing it for years and know what they are doing? Are you up on all the various diseases and illnesses cattle can come down with? Do you know how to recognize when a calf is going to get sick? Do you know how to diagnose and treat them? Do you have a viable health program in place? If you have to call in a vet for anything, your bottom line just took a pretty major hit. There has been a 'discussion' of the pro's and con's, but it appears that you weren't listening. Just my thoughts.
auctionboy
Well-known member
You where on the right track with your first post, don't mind these people that try to make there selves seem so much more then they are by trying to make this look so hard. When you rent a place make sure it has a corral and head gate. besides that if you are going to sell at an auction go to it and study the prices, and remember seasonal price changes. As long as noth dies you should loose money. How many are you thinking about buying?
auctionboy
Well-known member
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.
auctionboy":28625959 said:
I can't even remember the last time we had a cow die. Actually, come to think of it, that statement is not true - the last time a cow died around here was when my next to the oldest brother was about 15, maybe sixteen years old. My next to the oldest brother died in 1973 at the age of 18, so that gives you a pretty good idea of the last time we lost a cow. I agree 100% about 4 eyes being better than two, but that still does not negate the necessity of researching ones chosen market, understanding the idiosyncrancies (sp?) of that market, knowing what works and what doesn't, and going into it with your eyes open. How can you so blithely encourage Rogerwilco when you do not live in his area and do not have a clue about the market for stocker cattle in his area? To me that is simply irresponsible.
auctionboy
Well-known member
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.
