Needing Direction

[arkie]

Hello all, first off lots of good info...
I grew up on a small farm with half a dozen cows around and for the last 4 years i have had a couple. I have dreamed for years of having a larger herd and i am at the point in life where I can do it. I currently live on a 40 acre chicken farm where the owner is hands off in Montana. his Father owns 40 acres adjoining, and rents (my) pasture. He is 78 and don"t want to quit yet. he has 30 head and does nothing but feed them. I have a chance to rent 140 acres about 70 acres open year round creek 8 miles from my house it has good grass but fencing is very poor. Or there is a 40 acre square piece with good perimeter fence and 2 ponds 8 miles opposite direction. It currently has maize on it but they want to turn it back into pasture...the 140 acres is ONLY a 1 year lease but it is so cheap i hate to let it go... the 40 acre is family land and the owner nor their children want to farm. i have 3 cows 1 heifer and a 400 lb bull calf. Any advice ???????..... stockers, old cows, bred heifers, open heifers ????
I plan on doing this long term...with as little debt as possible although i have the ability to borrow easily.

 

[Supa Dexta]

The problem right now is that calves are dropping $$ and heifers and cows are still high.. I believe there to be a lot of heifers kept back in different areas - in the hopes of selling them as breds ready to hit grass, and dreaming they are gonna get 3-4k a piece for them, no matter what they are.

Depending on where you are you may hit a good market when people realize there's more bred heifers than there are people looking to expand any great amount.

First things first set a goal of what you want for breeds and style. Be fussy since you are starting fresh and don't be in a hurry to jump in all at once with animals you don't really want. One thing is for sure, if you want to do this and stick with it, you've got nothing but time. Get your fields and fences in order and start picking away at it. Slow and steady, although we're slightly passed a high, you don't want to jump in head first near the high. You pay big dollars for heifers that take 6-7 yrs to pay for and suddenly you may be walking right into a low trend.

Not to downplay this board but I believe you would get a lot more traction on a thread like this over on stock talk.

 

[Kingfisher]

Where are you located? I'd buy older bred cows as cheap as possible.

 

[arkie]

I'm in the NW corner of Arkansas near the Oklahoma border... the 140 acres is in Oklahoma, the other is in Arkansas.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I would buy older 3rd period cows.

 

[Toad]

I would buy older 3rd period cows.

I'm in a similar situation and I'm doing what Denver is suggesting. Around here you can buy bred older cows for just over butcher prices and double your money in 6 to 10 months if you sell the cow for butcher and the calf at weaning. I have been doing this and keep some of the cows that hold up well and breed them back. So far I've been able to keep more than I have sold.
Right now the market is over inflated on both stockers and young cows IMO.

 

[Dsteim]

Not trying to hi-jack your thread, when y'all are talking about buying older 3rd period cows, I'm guessing it's from the sale barn? What are those classified under the sale barn? Also what do y'all expect to pay for something decent?

 

[M5farm]

Not trying to hi-jack your thread, when y'all are talking about buying older 3rd period cows, I'm guessing it's from the sale barn? What are those classified under the sale barn? Also what do y'all expect to pay for something decent?

Could be sale barn or getting to know the people in your area that have cows and their protocol on culling. some people cull a cow at 10yrs old no matter what . They will breed her back in hopes of getting a few extra dollars out of her. The markets vary by region and in your part of the work DMF should chime in and offer a suggestion . around here an older bred cow will run 1500 to 2200 based on condition. The sale barns will advertise her as a cow "with her whole life in front of her"

 

[Dsteim]

I bought an 8 year old registered brangus cow that is bred to guardian for $2200 I'd say she's 1300-1400 pounds, full set of teeth and her udders look good, I'm fairly new to this and this is the oldest I've dealt with, everything else I have is a year to two years old. But at the 1500-2200 price point I feel like all you can get replacement heifer wise is something that's a calf for around 1500, on the other end of the spectrum for 2200 I feel like you could get an outstanding open prospect or a decent bred cow.

 

[arkie]

I've really been thinkin of buying some open breeding age heifers. a cattleman friend of mine has a low birth weight bull that he uses for his heifers that he would let me use....Whats the biggest drawback to this ? besides a long wait before you can sell a calf...

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I've really been thinkin of buying some open breeding age heifers. a cattleman friend of mine has a low birth weight bull that he uses for his heifers that he would let me use....Whats the biggest drawback to this ? besides a long wait before you can sell a calf...

Long wait, most likely they won't all breed, for good 750lb heifers you'll pay a good part of what some decent 2nd or 3rd period cows can be bought for. and then there's the things that come with heifers, like calving problems and some not milking enough. Don't get me wrong, I like them, but in this kind of situation and I don't think open heifers make sense.

 

[Big Cheese]

I know a lot of people frown on this but have you thought about running Longhorns? You can get them pretty cheap to get started and make a little money to start off then start replacing where you think you need to with whatever kind of cow you want. Cross bred Longhorn cows make really good mommas so if you breed Longhorn cows to the bull of your choice you can raise your on replacements....a few here and a few there. With what your describing, I think Longhorns would be a good route for you to go. There's a guy around Fayetteville that has Longhorns for sale all the time that I saw on Cattle Range and Craigs list.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I know a lot of people frown on this but have you thought about running Longhorns? You can get them pretty cheap to get started and make a little money to start off then start replacing where you think you need to with whatever kind of cow you want. Cross bred Longhorn cows make really good mommas so if you breed Longhorn cows to the bull of your choice you can raise your on replacements....a few here and a few there. With what your describing, I think Longhorns would be a good route for you to go. There's a guy around Fayetteville that has Longhorns for sale all the time that I saw on Cattle Range and Craigs list.

No disrespect meant here. But you don't want to buy cattle from someone who has them for sale on CL all the time. There's people like that everywhere, some even don't take the back tags off before they take pictures.

 

[Big Cheese]

I've talked to this guy before and hes a buyer and seller in fayetteville all he does is buy and sell cattle. I've seen some of the cows he sells and they are really good cows. He takes care of them before he sells them. He doesn't cut corners.

 

[John SD]

If I was starting out in the cattle business, I would not get in a hurry. I would be picky and buy quality as long as I was doing it.

I would keep up with auctions and private treaty sales looking for reputation one iron older bred cows from drought areas, and retirement or estate dispersions. These girls have proven themselves over time.

With a bit of TLC, you should be able to get a calf or 3 out of good sound older cows, and get some good daughters to build your herd with to boot. :idea: :2cents:

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I've talked to this guy before and hes a buyer and seller in fayetteville all he does is buy and sell cattle. I've seen some of the cows he sells and they are really good cows. He takes care of them before he sells them. He doesn't cut corners.

Ok, I'm pretty sure I know who your talking about.

 

[Big Cheese]

I've never bought any cows from him before. We were going to but he had already sold the ones we wanted and when he got more we had already found some down here so we didn't get any. He told us that when he buys longhorn heifers there is usually someone there the next day ready to buy them.

 

[Lazy M]

I'd really advise against buying sale barn older cows unless you know something about them. It might be alright if it is a dispersal, but normally if an older cow is at the sale barn selling as bred, and it looks ok, something besides age is wrong with them..

 

[Big Cheese]

They are at the Sale Barn for a reason no matter how god they look.

 

[highgrit]

All mine are there for a reason, I want some money. $$ I've sold lots of good cows at the sale barn, and some not so good. I did see a couple of longhorn type cows sell good yesterday. They didn't bring as much as the blacks but good all the same. Jogeephus's, Imbalancers sold for the highest and rung the bell in their class weights. He might be onto something.