Making a Livin'

[bball]

i sold some cows to these cows who have a 1300 hd hog barn. they built it about 10 years ago.. said it paid for itself in 5.4 years.

They get a check every month for 3900 and some change. System is automated to feed them.. the company brings the pigs and picks them up.. also brings the feed. They just walk the isle twice a day to make sure they are ok.

thats a pretty good income for doing about nothing. His neighbor has 3 hog barns and is putting up another 4,000 head barn.. he's going to have around 8,000 head.

that doesn't include the free fertilizer for the lands. that puts a big boost in income off your row crops.

The gentleman i mentioned i my previous post has a very similar arrangement on his 3 hog barns. I do the walk throughs occasionally when he goes out of town. Cull the deads and make sure feed and water is working. Not a bad gig really.

 

[bball]

I have also contemplated if i would be better buying stockers and running them on pasture all spring/summer, then selling after the first of the year. But land becomes the issue again for economy of scale to 'make a living.'

If land is limiting - - need to also run numbers per acre. Back grounding is a home run, yearling are better than cows, stockers are better than yearlings. Just need to be able to manage more health issues...

BTOs have a professional buyer who helps them, till they are senior enough the to hang out at the sales barns for the free coffee. :cowboy:

Thank you Steve. I always appreciate your posts. More food for thought.
How would you recommend going about locating a professional buyer?

 

[ddd75]

I have also contemplated if i would be better buying stockers and running them on pasture all spring/summer, then selling after the first of the year. But land becomes the issue again for economy of scale to 'make a living.'

If land is limiting - - need to also run numbers per acre. Back grounding is a home run, yearling are better than cows, stockers are better than yearlings. Just need to be able to manage more health issues...

BTOs have a professional buyer who helps them, till they are senior enough the to hang out at the sales barns for the free coffee. :cowboy:

Thank you Steve. I always appreciate your posts. More food for thought.
How would you recommend going about locating a professional buyer?

go to the stockyards. they're sittin in the back.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

If land is limiting - - need to also run numbers per acre. Back grounding is a home run, yearling are better than cows, stockers are better than yearlings. Just need to be able to manage more health issues...

BTOs have a professional buyer who helps them, till they are senior enough the to hang out at the sales barns for the free coffee. :cowboy:

Thank you Steve. I always appreciate your posts. More food for thought.
How would you recommend going about locating a professional buyer?

go to the stockyards. they're sittin in the back.

And Don't fool with the ones with their hats cocked to the side..

 

[Brute 23]

The average income for the nation is about $50,000. The "experts" put cow/calf profits at about $175 per pair. Using those figures it would take 286 cows to have an average income. The SIL sold his calves. Got over $1,000 a head of the steers and right about $800 a head for the heifers. The man I helped last winter sold his fall calves in June. He averaged a tick over $1,100 There are two young men locally that are within a year or two of 30 years old. One sold 346 calves on the video the other sold 270. Neither one as a day job. Both just jumped in and both seem to be doing fine. I wish I was in my 20's again. I wouldn't listen to those who said it couldn't be done (they were saying that back in the 70's too). I know guys who didn't listen to the naysayers and they are doing just fine now.

Gotta watch the farmers and ranchers that seem to be doing good. Things aren't always as they seem. A sure enough Ag banker will stretch it out and make a hobo look rich. Not saying this is the case all the time but probably 95%.

Its part of the sales pitch.

If some one knows of a bank that will lend a person in their 20s with nothing money to start a cattle operation please post their info. I've never come across one.

I know young guys "making it" also... for the moment. Some where some one signed some thing or put some thing up for collateral to get them started. Not saying its a bad thing... just saying its the reality.

 

[True Grit Farms]

The average income for the nation is about $50,000. The "experts" put cow/calf profits at about $175 per pair. Using those figures it would take 286 cows to have an average income. The SIL sold his calves. Got over $1,000 a head of the steers and right about $800 a head for the heifers. The man I helped last winter sold his fall calves in June. He averaged a tick over $1,100 There are two young men locally that are within a year or two of 30 years old. One sold 346 calves on the video the other sold 270. Neither one as a day job. Both just jumped in and both seem to be doing fine. I wish I was in my 20's again. I wouldn't listen to those who said it couldn't be done (they were saying that back in the 70's too). I know guys who didn't listen to the naysayers and they are doing just fine now.

Gotta watch the farmers and ranchers that seem to be doing good. Things aren't always as they seem. A sure enough Ag banker will stretch it out and make a hobo look rich. Not saying this is the case all the time but probably 95%.

Its part of the sales pitch.

If some one knows of a bank that will lend a person in their 20s with nothing money to start a cattle operation please post their info. I've never come across one.

I know young guys "making it" also... for the moment. Some where some one signed some thing or put some thing up for collateral to get them started. Not saying its a bad thing... just saying its the reality.

It's very apparent the government isn't charging enough for grazing rights.

 

[Jogeephus]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

 

[Stocker Steve]

How would you recommend going about locating a professional buyer?

Lots of buyers out there, most know cattle, and some are even honest. :nod:
A common problem is they are also buying for others - - and you as a newbe don't get the deals...
PM is you want more.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

Or most of the pigs will die from fever so sweet and sour beef demand will drive the market. :banana:

How much benefit can I put in my 2019 budget?

 

[Jogeephus]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

Or most of the pigs will die from fever so sweet and sour beef demand will drive the market. :banana:

How much benefit can I put in my 2019 budget?

I'd figure the sky is the limit since they assure us it will be good for us and have always had our best interests at heart. I'm sure your banker would agree.

 

[Stocker Steve]

A lot of export talk, but except for soybeans before the recent crash, not much action. My understanding is the US share of major grain markets is dropping. I think many other countries set a price to sell out just below the US price, and then we get to store a lot of the surplus. Good for grain bin suppliers...

Recent talk here is around shipping calves into Canada and letting them export.

 

[Dave]

Gotta watch the farmers and ranchers that seem to be doing good. Things aren't always as they seem. A sure enough Ag banker will stretch it out and make a hobo look rich. Not saying this is the case all the time but probably 95%.

Its part of the sales pitch.

If some one knows of a bank that will lend a person in their 20s with nothing money to start a cattle operation please post their info. I've never come across one.

I know young guys "making it" also... for the moment. Some where some one signed some thing or put some thing up for collateral to get them started. Not saying its a bad thing... just saying its the reality.

It's very apparent the government isn't charging enough for grazing rights.

The government doesn't get much for grazing rights. A subject that comes up fairly often. And it is true the government doesn't get much. However the real cost to the ranchers plenty. Maintaining miles and miles of fence on ground that you can't drive on. You check fence and repair it either horseback or on foot. Checking and maintaining the watering systems. Taking salt out is not a 20 minute job. The distances and terrain make it an all day job. Gathering cattle from a pasture can take weeks. Loses of animals will be higher. That can be predators, humans, and simple accidents (cows do fall off cliffs). A cow that gets sick and gets treated in a pasture situation may very well die because nobody sees her in the big range country. I have read studies that compared the real cost of rented private pasture cost the the real cost of operate on low cost government pasture. The operating cost on the government is slightly higher.

 

[Nesikep]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

bwahahahah!!!
No, you'll just pay $4 more per animal for tags and have to carry another tagger and tag.. and in their $#@%%#$ wisdom,the pins are different for the RFID tag than the standard ear tag

 

[True Grit Farms]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

bwahahahah!!!
No, you'll just pay $4 more per animal for tags and have to carry another tagger and tag.. and in their $#@%%#$ wisdom,the pins are different for the RFID tag than the standard ear tag

Nesikep, do you have to EID tag before a animal can leave your property or before it can be sold? From what I've gathered those behind the mandatory EID tagging system are pushing that the animal has to be tagged before it can be sold. The sale barn will tag and record for $10 per head, or the owner can tag and record for $5 per tag. Hopefully it'll help US out, I know it's going to create more government jobs and BS for the producer.

 

[Jogeephus]

We just need to be patient. Once we are forced to put the EID tags in the cattle we'll be making hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per head because exports will explode and we'll all be rich.

bwahahahah!!!
No, you'll just pay $4 more per animal for tags and have to carry another tagger and tag.. and in their $#@%%#$ wisdom,the pins are different for the RFID tag than the standard ear tag

Nesikep, do you have to EID tag before a animal can leave your property or before it can be sold? From what I've gathered those behind the mandatory EID tagging system are pushing that the animal has to be tagged before it can be sold. The sale barn will tag and record for $10 per head, or the owner can tag and record for $5 per tag. Hopefully it'll help US out, I know it's going to create more government jobs and BS for the producer.

I'm confused. You got one guy trying to drain the swamp and there you are suggesting we use a mud pump to fill it back up. All anyone has to do is looks at the horse meat fiasco in Europe to see this tagging is a farce.

 

[Nesikep]

Yeah, anything sold is supposed to have a tag.. sale barn charges $10 to do it, tags cost $4.. maybe a little less in bulk

 

[Jogeephus]

Yeah, anything sold is supposed to have a tag.. sale barn charges $10 to do it, tags cost $4.. maybe a little less in bulk

Apart from the aggravation and the cost how much more money are you making by doing this? A lot right?

 

[shaz]

I could make a living on 100 pairs - my wife however needs more like 700 (lol)

How many cows have you bought her so far?

I just paid for her to take a trip to Maine and Vermont so she'll leave me alone for week. I ate tuna and bologna all week and she had lobster. She's a total princess but her enchiladas are to die for.

 

[farmerjan]

Don't forget the EID tag is already in place for all dairy animals. Even day old baby bull calves, if it looks dairy, it has to have a tag to go through the sale barns. Most of the vets here will provide a box of tags, we can still use the metal ones, to a dairy farmer just for their bull calves. Many of the ones that use the 15 number ID system don't want to put them in the bull calves ears as it screws up the number sequences that they keep track of their heifers. So they are using the metal ones and it is still acceptable. Haven't had any trouble with the local slaughter house if it is one "you raised". Don't tell them if it is baby calf I bought directly off the farm or raised from one of my own dairy cows.
They tried to impose this on the poultry breeders. Like we are going to be able to record and produce evidence when a fox carried off a hen and where she went? But the confinement poultry farms were only going to have to have 1 number per house...which is like 5 to 10,000 birds ??? It got shelved but I wouldn't put it past some other idiot to try to bring it back.... more money in someones pocket and more control is all it is. Like a horse has to be recorded every time it leaves the property for a show or a ride down the road.

 

[Nesikep]

Yeah, anything sold is supposed to have a tag.. sale barn charges $10 to do it, tags cost $4.. maybe a little less in bulk

Apart from the aggravation and the cost how much more money are you making by doing this? A lot right?

[sarcasm]Hand over fist, it's flowing in faster than I can find ways to spend it[/sarcasm]