New rancher old ranch Leon County TX

[Burwabit]

Greetings from Texas.

My wife and I are new ranchers in Leon County, TX about halfway between Dallas and Houston. We inherited the ranch in 2020 when her father passed. Her family has been farming and ranching this property since 1870, and we recently received recognition from the State of Texas for 150 years of continuous operation.

My FIL left us 45 cows and 2 bulls. We have been getting by with cow/calf operation just about breaking even, but we are hoping to expand in the next few years eventually to maybe 100 head on the main homestead. We also have acreage across a FM road that a cousin is currently grazing.

We are lucky to have good water in streams and ponds. It came with some infrastructure (tractors, trucks, cubers, trailers, etc.), but a lot of improvement and modernization is needed. I built new pipe metal cattle pens year to replace our 1940s wooden pens. New fencing is next, both interior and exterior. We have also been clearing a lot of overgrown yaupon that loves our sandy soil.

I'm joining because I want to learn more about being profitable with a cattle operation and keeping a healthy heard. Our goal is to invest profits back into the property to make it easier for our teenage daughters to manage eventually.

Thanks, and I look forward to participating and learning here.

Burwabit

 

[Warren Allison]

Greetings from Texas.

My wife and I are new ranchers in Leon County, TX about halfway between Dallas and Houston. We inherited the ranch in 2020 when her father passed. Her family has been farming and ranching this property since 1870, and we recently received recognition from the State of Texas for 150 years of continuous operation.

My FIL left us 45 cows and 2 bulls. We have been getting by with cow/calf operation just about breaking even, but we are hoping to expand in the next few years eventually to maybe 100 head on the main homestead. We also have acreage across a FM road that a cousin is currently grazing.

We are lucky to have good water in streams and ponds. It came with some infrastructure (tractors, trucks, cubers, trailers, etc.), but a lot of improvement and modernization is needed. I built new pipe metal cattle pens year to replace our 1940s wooden pens. New fencing is next, both interior and exterior. We have also been clearing a lot of overgrown yaupon that loves our sandy soil.

I'm joining because I want to learn more about being profitable with a cattle operation and keeping a healthy heard. Our goal is to invest profits back into the property to make it easier for our teenage daughters to manage eventually.

Thanks, and I look forward to participating and learning here.

Burwabit

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What kinda cows you got?

 

[Burwabit]

Red and black angus cows. 1 angus bull 1 brangus.

 

[tex452]

Welcome neighbor.
I have a place in Leon county, I'm between Flynn and Leona off FM 977.
I bought the place in 2016, my son and his family lives on the place, I live in Burleson county.
There's lots to learn here for sure.

 

[Burwabit]

Welcome neighbor.
I have a place in Leon county, I'm between Flynn and Leona off FM 977.
I bought the place in 2016, my son and his family lives on the place, I live in Burleson county.
There's lots to learn here for sure.

Greetings. We love eating at Leona General Store. Been going there since early 2000s. Also go through Flynn a lot heading down to Normangee Tractor.

We would be up 39 from then west before Concord-Robbins.

 

[tex452]

Greetings. We love eating at Leona General Store. Been going there since early 2000s. Also go through Flynn a lot heading down to Normangee Tractor.

We would be up 39 from then west before Concord-Robbins.

We had a deer lease at concord years ago

 

[coachg]

Welcome ! Good place for advice, some good , some not so good . The trick is figuring it out . Was in Texas back in the summer . Went to baseball ️ games in Arlington and Houston. Glad the Rangers made the World Series !

 

[tex452]

Welcome ! Good place for advice, some good , some not so good . The trick is figuring it out . Was in Texas back in the summer . Went to baseball ️ games in Arlington and Houston. Glad the Rangers made the World Series !

I'm an Astro fan, but now I'm a Ranger fan.

 

[Travlr]

Greetings from Texas.

My wife and I are new ranchers in Leon County, TX about halfway between Dallas and Houston. We inherited the ranch in 2020 when her father passed. Her family has been farming and ranching this property since 1870, and we recently received recognition from the State of Texas for 150 years of continuous operation.

My FIL left us 45 cows and 2 bulls. We have been getting by with cow/calf operation just about breaking even, but we are hoping to expand in the next few years eventually to maybe 100 head on the main homestead. We also have acreage across a FM road that a cousin is currently grazing.

We are lucky to have good water in streams and ponds. It came with some infrastructure (tractors, trucks, cubers, trailers, etc.), but a lot of improvement and modernization is needed. I built new pipe metal cattle pens year to replace our 1940s wooden pens. New fencing is next, both interior and exterior. We have also been clearing a lot of overgrown yaupon that loves our sandy soil.

I'm joining because I want to learn more about being profitable with a cattle operation and keeping a healthy heard. Our goal is to invest profits back into the property to make it easier for our teenage daughters to manage eventually.

Thanks, and I look forward to participating and learning here.

Burwabit

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Nice place... Your father-in-law left you a legacy. Congratulations.

My first piece of advice is to take it slowly making improvements. Spending money is always a fun thing to do with new owners and it puts many people in a deep financial well they can't climb out of. If you want to be profitable... then don't spend money your cows can't pay for.

Lots of experience here. You sound like you might have some already, or not? Welcome.

Oh, and herd is not spelled heard... (Yeah, I know... grammar nazi... sheesh)

 

[wbvs58]

Welcome, looks like an interesting property you have there.

Ken

 

[greybeard]

We have also been clearing a lot of overgrown yaupon that loves our sandy soil.

Clearing? Hard to get rid of since it grows year round. Top grows spring thru summer and underground grows all year. I don't miss that crap one tiny bit.
Burn the top in winter, then a few (4-6) months later, spray the base of the yaupon with either straight diesel or diesel and Garlon4 or Diesel & Remedy Ultra mix. Straight diesel will give you about 50% kill, where the herbicide/diesel mix should give you 80-90% kill. Backpack sprayer if you don't have too much of it, a 25 gal sprayer on a 4 wheeler with a hose and spray wand if you have a lot. Don't bother with the herbicide and water mix. It might kill some leaves but the foliage is waxy and you need the diesel to penetrate leaf and bark, with the best results being spraying the lower bark after a top burn. Basal spray. Works on greenbrier and honeysuckle too.

Remedy and water will take care of your goatweed but that's an expensive way to go when 2,4d will kill it just as quick and a lot cheaper.

 

[Brute 23]

Basil treatment of remedy and diesel on youpon for sure. The waxy leaves make it very hard to kill with a foliage herbicide even running high amounts of good surfactant.

Scooping it out by the roots with a backhoe or trackhoe works really good in sandy soil.

Be ready if you burn it. It's like burning tires.

 

[greybeard]

If it's leafy, FAST burning tires....lots of sky bound embers too. Kinda Scary to see at night.
(don't worry, they'll come right back down...just keep your collar turned up)

 

[Brute 23]

 

[Lucky]

Might get with your local NRCS office if you haven't already. They can offer allot of good advice and cost sharing programs to get an older place back in shape. You say you'd like to expand from 45 to 100 hd? Sounds like a good idea but go slow to see what the place can actually handle. My only other advice would be to slowly get in the mode of weaning and keeping calves until yearling size before selling. A weaned 800# calf will always bring money a trailer weaned 500# calf can't touch.

 

[TexasRancher]

Might get with your local NRCS office if you haven't already. They can offer allot of good advice and cost sharing programs to get an older place back in shape. You say you'd like to expand from 45 to 100 hd? Sounds like a good idea but go slow to see what the place can actually handle. My only other advice would be to slowly get in the mode of weaning and keeping calves until yearling size before selling. A weaned 800# calf will always bring money a trailer weaned 500# calf can't touch.

Yeah, there's probably a good reason why her father...kept the amount he had....I believe it was extra feed costs versus extra pasture for winter grazing. Everything looks sooo much better on paper with 100 head- calving for profits...100 head turns into 180 head quickly.. I'm sure her father was doing a little bit better than break even. The issue becomes documenting all expenses clearing land and fixing fencing, fixing and upgrading equipment and charging that back onto the cattle...it will be a break even or go into a loss.

 

[TexasRancher]

@Burwabit , Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you're 3 years into the cattle operation making those costly impovements. You two have a good thing going. Wondering how many acres of fenced pasture? Your plan...100 head produces 185 or more head during calving. Need over 200 acres fenced...300 even better. I'm wondering why her dad capped his herd to 45? Most cattle producers will maximize their herd...to a safe limit...for drought and winter feed grazing reserve acreages versus buying hay. Do you have any details why her dad arranged the operation as such? Father knows best...why repeat mistakes he might have made. Sure hope it can go to 100 head..profits look so much better on paper...can't lose...unless the cattle get thin.

 

[papavillars]

This forum will definitely help you. Not sure if he is still there, but leon county used to have a very good ag agent.
I am located north of you between buffalo and fairfield right on 75.

 

[Mrcopier]

Profit in the cattle business .

 

[tex452]

I spent a lot of money on mine "hog proofing " hay meadows, plowing dragging, I even built another cow pen , it's a fun hobby.