New lease

[uplandnut]

Just got confirmation today that I have another pasture to fill for next year!

I won't lie I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I'm excited that it allows me to grow in cow numbers, just short of doubling my herd size. At the same time I'm nervous looking at the extra expense to grow. Looking forward to the new adventures coming my way and the growth it will allow me.

Anyone else get nervous/excited when getting the opportunity to grow?

 

[4hfarms]

Hard to jump in with both feet. We always kept reserves while expanding and always had a backup plan. It usually pans out if you work for it. Don't rush to buy, just to fill an area.

Wish you all the best!

 

[GoWyo]

When we bought this place at end of 2014, we had 18 cows and 5 replacement heifers calves. First goal was to get to 35 cows, which we did in a couple years. Then picked up a lease in 2017 to get to 45 head. The CRP contract on over a quarter of the acres expired in 2020 and we picked up another lease as big as our home place so we kept on expanding to 65-70 head. In 2023 we picked up a big lease that is twice the size of our home place and lost the other big lease. 2024 was another bad drought, but we have enough acres together and hay is cheap, so going to manage pasture and feed through it. Our expansion was primarily during the low price years for cattle, but we still had to put a bunch of cash into the business every year to afford to hold back heifers and build infrastructure and acquire modest equipment. The last two years we have sold calves at $1680/hd for steers and $1450/had for heifers. Then the bull crop finally paid off in 2024 and another crop of 21 bulls is going to the test this week. Our expansion has paid off "bigly" and we are finally recouping some investment. Building a registered herd made it even tougher.

 

[Brute 23]

Absolutely. If you are not nervous you are probably not thinking of every thing.

Good luck

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I bought the farm across the road about 18 months ago. It gives me the opportunity to grow a good bit. Been chipping away at fencing but not in a huge hurry to stock it at current cattle prices.

So for now I'm saving my pennies and retaining all my heifers.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Same boat here. I have more than doubled the ground I've got for next year. For a year or three all my heifers will get a chance with the bull. I just can't afford good breds right now and quality pairs are way too much for me.

 

[Bob Kinford]

I bought the farm across the road about 18 months ago. It gives me the opportunity to grow a good bit. Been chipping away at fencing but not in a huge hurry to stock it at current cattle prices.

So for now I'm saving my pennies and retaining all my heifers.

No sense throwing money away being understocked, especially as things tend to run backwards. Stock it with other people's cattle and let them take the risk. Use part of the money for fences and infrastructure.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Where do you get other people's cattle? This part of the world is small producers who have pasture for their cattle nobody leases anything.

I'll "throw money away" before I buy mediocre cows at the top of the market and pray it doesn't come crashing down before I recoup my money.

Also have had bad luck buying cows that are adapted to our climate and forage. Much better success with keeping replacements.

 

[uplandnut]

The game plan for the 2 pastures is coming together a little more now that my busy season has finally slowed down and I've had time to think about it some more.

Planning on pulling some of the cows off the other pasture to help stock the "new" pasture. This way I'm buying less cows this winter and the 2 bulls I will be getting will have a few less cows to breed for there first breeding season, thinking about 20 per bull. This way I can give the pasture I've had for 4 years a little less pressure and see what the new one can handle without overstocking it. Landowner says it will handle more but it seems that the old dairy pastures can often be deceiving. So long explanation short, about 20 cows and a new bull on each pasture.

I have thought about retaining heifers as some of you have talked about doing. It just seems like when I figure out how much I end up in them it's roughly 3 calves minimum before I can break even. Maybe at some time I will retain them, but up to this point it hasn't made financial sense for me.
Thanks for all the ideas on how to go about using the new pasture. Hopefully it will all work out and the landowner will be as good to deal with as he seems so far.