Need cows quick; need advice

[Texan]

This discussion is about appeasing goverment officals involving private land.

I thought it was about cheating the appraisal district out of property taxes by pretending to be a cattleman.

 

[Beef11]

I thought it was about cheating the appraisal district out of property taxes by pretending to be a cattleman.

Why should we be taxed differently because we have animals or not? I might be a flat tax proponent

 

[MillIronQH]

This discussion is about appeasing goverment officals involving private land.

I thought it was about cheating the appraisal district out of property taxes by pretending to be a cattleman.

I agree with Beef11. And the lady made clear that they are trying to build a dairy goat herd. I would think that the breeding and genetics of dairy goats is as important to the dairy goat people as it is to the dairy cow people or the beef producer, or for that matter the horse breeder.

If they have to back door their way around in order to protect their exemption until such time as they can build their herd up to the size required by the appraisal district then so be it.Z

 

[TNfamilyfarm]

to answer your questions. the breed you select is dependant upon whats dominant in your area. if you can find some herefords i think you would be happy. goto the co-op or and area "talk shop" and ask who might have some cows for sale. as far as the stockyards go several times before buying. usually you will be able to purchase older cows at a decent price. it would be good if the heffers were bred(which they should tell you) so you will have babies caome spring!! avoid "wild" cows. you want "old bessie".
now concerns be prepared to suppliment hay year round!! other than that cows are great

 

[auctionboy]

If you only want these cows for a year or less untill you get into the goats big time the one thing you don't want is to buy high priced stock from a individual. Buy at the auction. I your case 6 herefords or longhorns with some age would be a good choice.

 

[cypressfarms]

If your not experienced, the auction is not the place for you to be. You might buy 6, but only have 4 by Jan. 1st.

If you have to have 6 cows, find a hereford breeder close to you, and talk to them. They may even lease you six cows, if you find a nice operation. In my opinion herefords are the way to go for you, and a breeder could steer you to 6 that are docile. It won't be as cheap as buying 6 crossbreds at the auction, but you will have some peace of mind knowing about their history, etc.

Caustic is right, though. It won't take 6 cows very long to eat 10 acres down. Perhaps your best bet it to lease 6 from someone for a few months to get around the exemption law. To me this is a ridiculous law.

Google hereford cows and your area in Texas, and you can find some breeders. We do have some hereford breeders on the board here from Texas, but I don't know if they are close to you.

If you were in south La., I'd bring some over for you.

 

[aplusmnt]

My husband and I recently bought a 10 acre farm that we plan to use principally as a goat dairy, however to maintain our ag exemption we are going to have to get six cows on the land by January.

We have the necessary infrastructure - barns, fences, cross fences, chutes...everything. The previous owners kept cows for the same reason. We already made our first mistake in not buying those cows with the land, are now trying to remedy that.

We need a little advice on how to buy our first six. Please understand that we are doing as much research as we can as fast as we can about raising cows, but any advice would be welcome. I am going to read a zillion of these posts, as well as a few books - I just thought this would be a good place to seek help from others who were thrust into cattle a little before they were prepared.

Any advice on whether to go to sale barns, get 6 from one breeder, get bred cows or steers, etc.would be much appreciated.

Do you loose the exemption forever? Or just the year that you are not maintaining it for Agriculture purposes? And next year when you get your Dairy Goats running you will get the exemption back?

If it is just an exemption lost for one year then you might just pay the higher taxes for that year and get the exemption when you are legally Tax exempt.

If you must buy 6 head I would buy some small calves that will eat less, since you will not have much grass to support 6 head. Or the goats like someone mentioned if your fences are ready for them.

 

[eric]

This discussion is about appeasing goverment officals involving private land.

I thought it was about cheating the appraisal district out of property taxes by pretending to be a cattleman.

I thought it was more about appeasing the appraisal district and the city by keeping the land rural and the tax exemption was a reward for not chopping the property into 1/6 acre lots and builiding 6 houses to the acre and making another subdivision out of it and contributing to the already overburden utility and traffic problems.

 

[eric]

Do you loose the exemption forever? Or just the year that you are not maintaining it for Agriculture purposes? And next year when you get your Dairy Goats running you will get the exemption back?

If it is just an exemption lost for one year then you might just pay the higher taxes for that year and get the exemption when you are legally Tax exempt.

If you must buy 6 head I would buy some small calves that will eat less, since you will not have much grass to support 6 head. Or the goats like someone mentioned if your fences are ready for them.

Actually, it it a much stiffer penalty than that. If they disqualify you from ag exemption, then they can roll back the taxes to the last yr it was exempt and charge you for all the previous yrs taxes in which you claimed an exemption and didnt qualify.

There really isnt any way they can make you put a certain number of animals on a certain number of acres as far as I know. Especially after the last 2 yrs, with the drought and all. Heck, I have a neighbor who has 3 horses on a 26 acre spread, and he's able to keep his exemption.

If you are really worried about losing the exemption, just put the land in D-1 : improved pasture. That gives you a few yrs to get the pasture in shape by fertilizing and liming and such and allows you to keep the ag exemption. I did that for 2 yrs before I built my house and finished my fence and built my corrals and working pens and such. I had a neighbor come over and bale it a few times and gave him the hay for doing it. I sent pictures to the appraisial district showing them what I was doing and kept all my reciepts from the fertilizer / sprayers and such. I owned my place almost 3 yrs before I ever put a head of cattle on it.

 

[lseger]

First, thanks to all of you for helping us work through these issues. It is MUCH appreciated.

Regarding our tax rules - if we lose the exemption, there is a "rollback" penalty. We would end up not just paying the full tax rate (which is pretty hefty) but a 5 year penalty on the difference between the two rates. I understand that there are a lot of opinions on the whole tax deal, and I don't want to stir up a hornets' nest, but basically these exemptions, in my opinion, are put into place to recognize the value of using your land productively and making a contribution to the betterment of the community via food production (or whatever you use your land for that is not just a ridiculously large house with a swimming poool and your own practice putting green.) I think this can be done on our small scale as well as at the other end of the size spectrum, and I think these tax exemptions are important. But enough about my politics.

I think we will consider the herefords - and try to get them all from one place to start. As we learn more about successfully raising cows, we may decide to branch out (maybe a dairy cow or two to help feed the goat babies) but for now, we just need to get rolling and get some experience. We would love to have more opinions on any of the topics this post has generated and we look forward to being a part of this online community as well as our new "real world: community. We have found SO MANY wonderful, helpful people who will be valuable not only for knowldge, but as a support base as we try to make our dream of starting a small farm real.

 

[aplusmnt]

Actually, it it a much stiffer penalty than that. If they disqualify you from ag exemption, then they can roll back the taxes to the last yr it was exempt and charge you for all the previous yrs taxes in which you claimed an exemption and didnt qualify.

That sounds fair! If it was not being used for agriculture but claimed to be, then a person would owe for those years they claimed it fraudulently. Kind of goes back to Texan's point.

 

[T33]

Go the improved pasture route and make hay until you're dairy is setup. ;-)

 

[okbob]

try to find a neighbor to graze some cows on till you are ready, prob might some one with some show cows that are real tame that need some extra grass because they do not have enough land for themselves

 

[CowpokeJ]

What does your hay situation look like? Do you have winter grass planted?

 

[3MR]

That kind of stocking rate on 10 acres makes no sense.
Why would they require such heavy stocking rates?

RGV

Thats exactly what I was thinking. Not only that, but what if you were a vegatable farmer. Does that mean you dont get an ag exemption?

Something isnt right here.

 

[lseger]

OK-- did I mention we have only owned our farm for a week and a half now?

I know our grass is mainly bermuda. I don't know anything about how that grows here in the winter - but would assume it's fairly dormant. I've got a bit of research to do there.

We are allowed to cultivate hay for our AG exemption, but in the interest of small-scale, sustainable farming are more interested in a couple head of cattle and rotational grazing at this point. (I've already read enough on this site to know I probably just really annoyed someone with this little tidbit)

For our size property (10.5 acres) vegetable farming does not qualify for an exemption. The rules are screwy and hard to make sense of. As has been mentioned, I think they are trying to prevent abuse of the system, however the rules they came up with make no sense to me - or many of you, it seems. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand the reasoning - or lack thereof - of our CAD. I'll get my hands on the official CAD exemption chart this weekend and post it Monday for y'alls reading pleasure.

 

[3MR]

WOW- that doesnt sound fair either.

Many commercial organic vegetable farms are only 10 or 15 acres.

I understand wanting to keep people honest, but in my opinion requiring that many head on 10 acres is a disaster waiting to happen. How many of those 10 acres is actually pasture?

Maybe you could get a few grass calves from a dairy man cheap.

 

[aplusmnt]

WOW- that doesnt sound fair either.

Many commercial organic vegetable farms are only 10 or 15 acres.

I understand wanting to keep people honest, but in my opinion requiring that many head on 10 acres is a disaster waiting to happen. How many of those 10 acres is actually pasture?

Maybe you could get a few grass calves from a dairy man cheap.

I know nothing about their laws but wonder if it is a head of cattle requirement. Not so many head per 10 acres? Meaning if you must have 10 head to be considered tax exempt they are not saying how many acres just how many head it takes to be considered Ag exempt. One head on hundred acres might not be Ag exempt if all you have it for is your own consumption.

If the law is 10 head and you are trying to squeeze them in on ten acres that would not be the Lawmakers fault.

Surely some Texas individual knows what the law is for being Ag exempt?

 

[Caustic Burno]

WOW- that doesnt sound fair either.

Many commercial organic vegetable farms are only 10 or 15 acres.

I understand wanting to keep people honest, but in my opinion requiring that many head on 10 acres is a disaster waiting to happen. How many of those 10 acres is actually pasture?

Maybe you could get a few grass calves from a dairy man cheap.

I know nothing about their laws but wonder if it is a head of cattle requirement. Not so many head per 10 acres? Meaning if you must have 10 head to be considered tax exempt they are not saying how many acres just how many head it takes to be considered Ag exempt. One head on hundred acres might not be Ag exempt if all you have it for is your own consumption.

If the law is 10 head and you are trying to squeeze them in on ten acres that would not be the Lawmakers fault.

Surely some Texas individual knows what the law is for being Ag exempt?

Aplus I had some people show up from Montgumery county a while back all frantic to buy some cows as they were about to loose there ag excemption. The county found out all they had was four horses and that didn't cut it. They didn't want to own a bull they just wanted the cows for the excemption.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I know our grass is mainly bermuda. I don't know anything about how that grows here in the winter - but would assume it's fairly dormant.

I lightly overseeded one coastal field with rye and mixed in Hubam clover with it. This is on the flood plain and I hit it with irrigation once. Then we finally started getting rain over the last 6 weeks or so. It is coming on strong.

If you talk to your county agent he can offer some suggestions. I'd keep that bermuda in top shape and hit it with 300 lbs per acre fertilizer in the early spring. If that is coastal bemuda, it will make you money if you take care of it. Don't over graze it. Horse people pay big bucks for the hay.