My operation is a hobby

[Cross-7]

Hi my name is Bob and I'm a hobbyist
I've tried quitting many times, but in a moment of weakness and poor judgement I always get back in.
Maybe with this support group and others to lean on I can kick the habit for good

 

[bball]

When I really started to get a few head I had cash to buy a small herd , I did the same thing again a few yrs later. All my stuff was and is paid for . it's an investment and I run it tighter than those that have hundreds of head. I can assure you my p&l has a higher margin of profit than most large ranches. Now today I'm fixing to change my situation because a parcel of land next to me is for sale. I'm gonna buy it. It's more than I want to pay but not having to worry about new neighbors expanding what I do will be another investment but my cost of doing business is increasing dramatically

Irony! I am in the exact same situation here and doing the same.

 

[Bigfoot]

It was just an example to show the law of diminishing marginal returns. Point being you can't have much equipment and facilities for 25 head.

Why not? Is there a law against it or something? I like equipment.[/quote]

I like facilities, it's my down fall.

 

[True Grit Farms]

When I really started to get a few head I had cash to buy a small herd , I did the same thing again a few yrs later. All my stuff was and is paid for . it's an investment and I run it tighter than those that have hundreds of head. I can assure you my p&l has a higher margin of profit than most large ranches. Now today I'm fixing to change my situation because a parcel of land next to me is for sale. I'm gonna buy it. It's more than I want to pay but not having to worry about new neighbors expanding what I do will be another investment but my cost of doing business is increasing dramatically

You'll be alright M5, after all your planning on working till you die. If you need any help spending money just give me a call.

 

[herofan]

When I really started to get a few head I had cash to buy a small herd , I did the same thing again a few yrs later. All my stuff was and is paid for . it's an investment and I run it tighter than those that have hundreds of head. I can assure you my p&l has a higher margin of profit than most large ranches. Now today I'm fixing to change my situation because a parcel of land next to me is for sale. I'm gonna buy it. It's more than I want to pay but not having to worry about new neighbors expanding what I do will be another investment but my cost of doing business is increasing dramatically

You'll be alright M5, after all your planning on working till you die. If you need any help spending money just give me a call.

True. I remember from another thread that M-5 is a guy who likes to work all the time, whether he needs to or not, so he won't have a problem at all. For a guy like me who likes down time and plans to retire, I have to keep overhead low.

 

[John SD]

Most fulltimers around here who earn a living from catle only with no small grain, row crops, or outside employment are running some pretty large operations these days.

Many don't own the land base required, and send a lot of cattle out for summer pasture. I take in about 60 pairs for a neighbor each year. Pretty much just him and the wife, and 3 kids of which 2 are grown and have other careers but come home on weekends to help.

Neighbor runs 400+ mama cows and often backgrounds his heifer calves through most of the winter Sells down to 80-100 heifers for replacements in the spring.

I tend to agree with the conventional rule of thumb that to stay viable, a livestock operation needs to double in size every generation :idea:

 

[Craig Miller]

Just a thought to save some money as a hobbyist. I just found out our sale barn has portable catch pens for rent. $25 and you keep them for 5 days. Or you can join the cattlemen association for $50 and keep them for ten days as often as you need them. You can't build pens for that kind of money.

 

[tdc_cattle]

I make money at it. Right now I have 26 moms. I'm a row crop farmer and that helps me to keep costs down. Unfortunately the row crop side hasn't been very profitable so I've had to live on some of the profits instead of putting them back into the opperation.

I've gotten by with facilities that really aren't up to my liking to this point. I'm hoping to spend quite a bit in facilities in the next year or two. Won't be cheep but its necessary if I'm going to grow the opperation and I'll be able to use them for 40-50 years.

There are some other thing I'm considering that aren't the best for short term profitability but put me in the best position long term.

 

[Ebenezer]

Look on the bright side - it keeps you off of the golf course and away from sporting events!

#1 cost in cattle - feed. Get that whittled down as #1 priority.
Biggest return is going to be from fertility of females.
Good facilities are cheaper than orthopedic surgery and repeated dr visits.

 

[M-5]

When I really started to get a few head I had cash to buy a small herd , I did the same thing again a few yrs later. All my stuff was and is paid for . it's an investment and I run it tighter than those that have hundreds of head. I can assure you my p&l has a higher margin of profit than most large ranches. Now today I'm fixing to change my situation because a parcel of land next to me is for sale. I'm gonna buy it. It's more than I want to pay but not having to worry about new neighbors expanding what I do will be another investment but my cost of doing business is increasing dramatically

You'll be alright M5, after all your planning on working till you die. If you need any help spending money just give me a call.

True. I remember from another thread that M-5 is a guy who likes to work all the time, whether he needs to or not, so he won't have a problem at all. For a guy like me who likes down time and plans to retire, I have to keep overhead low.

Yes HF I do work all the time for the most part 7 days a week. My day job takes 11 to 12 hrs a day. after work averages 1.5 to 2 hrs some days I only do 30 mins others it 4 hrs so its estimated. There is always something to do. weekends are spent doing the things I enjoy. Most people call it work, I enjoy building fence, clearing fencelines, burning brush, disking, plowing, repairing equipment, working cows, and the list goes on and on. I have to be doing something even if its just walking . I really hoping there are no hiccups and the purchase goes smoothly on the new piece There is a lot of work to be done on it and I have 8 hrs every night that im wasting by sleeping.

 

[John SD]

Just a thought to save some money as a hobbyist. I just found out our sale barn has portable catch pens for rent. $25 and you keep them for 5 days. Or you can join the cattlemen association for $50 and keep them for ten days as often as you need them. You can't build pens for that kind of money.

Local place rents out livestock equipment on a daily basis. Portable panels perhaps not so much because most folks own enough panels to get the job done or can borrow a few panels from a neighbor.

Stur-D tub and alley rents out for $150/day. Get the tub on Sat and you have 2 days to use it for one money and return it on Monday morrning for the next guy. Works good for a lot of folks who can only get help on weekends anyway :idea:

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have a day job but I piddle with a cow/calf on my parents farm, I will have any where from 10 to 20 head. I don't see how anyone can make anything with less than 50- 75 head. Each year I will sell some calves and then add up my expenses and be in the red or about even every year. I love it and just like to see it is why I do it I guess. I guess its more of a hobby than anything else. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I don't think so after reading posts in here it seems most take way better care of theirs than I do mine. Do any of you run around 20 head and still have enough to take the wife to a fancy dinner after the bills are paid?

Yep it is all about controlling input cost, I have never ran more than 37 currently have 19. The difference is I have been doing this a long time.
I am not going to own welfare cattle better things to do with my money.
I can afford to own welfare cattle I am not wired that way.
Even during the drought the cows made it on their own 70% had to leave for 30 % to survive.
Until you know you true input cost and what it cost a day to maintain a cow you do not have a chance in a small operation. Rough average IMO is about 1.50 a day that's about 550 a year. I keep close track on input cost .
Now you are not going to get rich on 20 head by no means you still should be able to turn 2k to 4K profit a year.

 

[herofan]

There is a lot of work to be done on it and I have 8 hrs every night that im wasting by sleeping.

Actually, sleeping is not wasted time. Our body needs sleep to feel more alert, consolidate memory, help keep the immune system strong,.....oh well, you can Google the rest.

 

[Anonymous]

well now this is what i call very informative ,lots of great info and side notes to go with it !

 

[backhoeboogie]

I have working pens that I built Squeeze chute that I rebuilt. Have another one like it in a thicket that someone gave me. Just have to put it all back together.

There is money to be made. Lots of angles. Reading this thread is seems to me that the suppliers are making a lot of money off of you people.

The most money I have made came from buying land and resaling it. Cattle simply make land payments. We got a whole long thread on that too and I disagree with a lot of posts there.

Hobbies are fine. Cattle take too much work for them to be a hobby for me. I have to benefit from them. One way or another. Ya'll gotta remember that I vowed to never own a cow in my late teens. I had already had my gut full. If they are not going to benefit me, I aint doing this.

 

[TexasBred]

It was just an example to show the law of diminishing marginal returns. Point being you can't have much equipment and facilities for 25 head.

Why not? Is there a law against it or something? I like equipment.

I like facilities, it's my down fall.[/quote]
I agree there is nothing wrong with good facilities. Don't have to be fancy but not a bunch of junk either. No matter how many nor how few cattle you own you need the ability to pen them for many reasons. I still have my old saloon door headgate and prefer it to the scissor type which I understand most prefer but I'm not going to get rid of it just to be with the majority. It works fine for me.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I still have my old saloon door headgate and prefer it to the scissor type which I understand most prefer but I'm not going to get rid of it just to be with the majority. It works fine for me.

That's it in a nutshell right there. Grandaddy had a medina. He had a loading chute. We had tongs. We had a rope. We did it all with just that. It wasn't the safest method but we never went to the hospital. You've got a headgate. You're way ahead of what grandaddy had.

 

[Bigfoot]

I need to get a picture of my medina, before it completely rots down. It has a fairly ingenious (I didn't make it) really large and long bolt on it. The bolt is completely threaded. Really big deep thread. Maybe 5 threads per inch. Not sure what it's off of. It has a nut on the bolt, with dog ears welded on it. You turn the nut with your hands, and it tightens the gate in on the cow. You can get a cow pinched up in it pretty good. Little aggravating to ear tag in it, or drench, but everything else ain't much trouble.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I need to get a picture of my medina, before it completely rots down. It has a fairly ingenious (I didn't make it) really large and long bolt on it. The bolt is completely threaded. Really big deep thread. Maybe 5 threads per inch. Not sure what it's off of. It has a nut on the bolt, with dog ears welded on it. You turn the nut with your hands, and it tightens the gate in on the cow. You can get a cow pinched up in it pretty good. Little aggravating to ear tag in it, or drench, but everything else ain't much trouble.

I've never seen the bolt thread version. Parted ropes can put a heck of a pull on them ticked off brahma bulls. When I got stuck on the end of that rope I would get a wrap on a post just for good measure. I don't remember how many pulleys there were for the parts but there were enough.

 

[TexasBred]

I need to get a picture of my medina, before it completely rots down. It has a fairly ingenious (I didn't make it) really large and long bolt on it. The bolt is completely threaded. Really big deep thread. Maybe 5 threads per inch. Not sure what it's off of. It has a nut on the bolt, with dog ears welded on it. You turn the nut with your hands, and it tightens the gate in on the cow. You can get a cow pinched up in it pretty good. Little aggravating to ear tag in it, or drench, but everything else ain't much trouble.

Never used a medina but have put one between a gate and the fence, tied the gate to the fence and pulled a calf. Not the best way in the world but was the only way that day.