New to Cattle and need help!

[Brownstone]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and actually fairly new to cattle as well. I grew up outside Dallas and was always around the cattle business. Although we didn't have any, I always felt that one day I would aspire to have a ranch and have an operation of my own. After graduating from college, I now find myself in the predicament that all 20 somethings have to face, where the heck do I go from here. I currently live in Tennessee and have been becoming more and more interested in starting a cattle ranch, but it seems the more I ask for advice from experienced ranchers, its always the same response; do something else, there isn't any money, its not worth it etc. After a year or two of hearing that, I have become discouraged and find myself leaning toward getting a regular job in town and putting the ranch on hold for later down the line. I understand and appreciate the advice, but the thought of being on a computer and cell phone all day at a regular job makes me cringe. On a side note, my family recently purchased an 800 acre cattle farm (no cows currently) and plans to one day get into the business, but not right away. Therefore it seems like a perfect opportunity to start, but I'm hesitant. So, my question for all the ranchers out there, would it be worth it? By not having any land payments, would I be able to be financially independent solely from the ranch?

-BB

 

[LCCattle]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and actually fairly new to cattle as well. I grew up outside Dallas and was always around the cattle business. Although we didn't have any, I always felt that one day I would aspire to have a ranch and have an operation of my own. After graduating from college, I now find myself in the predicament that all 20 somethings have to face, where the heck do I go from here. I currently live in Tennessee and have been becoming more and more interested in starting a cattle ranch, but it seems the more I ask for advice from experienced ranchers, its always the same response; do something else, there isn't any money, its not worth it etc. After a year or two of hearing that, I have become discouraged and find myself leaning toward getting a regular job in town and putting the ranch on hold for later down the line. I understand and appreciate the advice, but the thought of being on a computer and cell phone all day at a regular job makes me cringe. On a side note, my family recently purchased an 800 acre cattle farm (no cows currently) and plans to one day get into the business, but not right away. Therefore it seems like a perfect opportunity to start, but I'm hesitant. So, my question for all the ranchers out there, would it be worth it? By not having any land payments, would I be able to be financially independent solely from the ranch?

-BB

The answer to both your questions is, YES, as long as you don't have a land cost, but you will still need some start up money, for cattle, fencing and equipment etc.
As for how much profit you will make, it's unpredictable as there are to many variables to consider. The weather and cattle prices being just being two.
Best of luck

 

[Son of Butch]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and actually fairly new to cattle as well. On a side note, my family recently purchased an 800 acre cattle farm (no cows currently) and plans to one day get into the business, but not right away. Therefore it seems like a perfect opportunity to start, but I'm hesitant. So, my question for all the ranchers out there, would it be worth it? By not having any land payments, would I be able to be financially independent solely from the ranch?
-BB

First off :welcome: to the boards.

On a side note? Family recently purchased an 800 acre cattle farm. That should not be a side note!
That is the pillar stone of your entire hope of entering cattle farming/ranching.
No land payments?
What makes you think your parents, Aunt, sister, grandparents or whomever buying land = No land payments for you?
That type of thinking by a recent college grad would be a red flag to me of ever entering into a partnership with you.

 

[M-5]

Anything is possible, the biggest mistakes made by our youth today is thinking they can get out of school and immediately grab the top rung of the ladder. Hard work and sacrifices it can be accomplished. If your already married and have kids and they are fond of 3 meals a day you may have to work 40 50 hrs at day job and 40 to 50 hrs at the farm , its all predicated on the individual and how motivated they are. You are gonna get more "get a day job" than "go for it". Most people don't take risk. With all of that said my advice would be get a job on a farm or ranch if you can do the work and learn and be content living on that kind of salary then you will do fine.

 

[Son of Butch]

With all of that said my advice would be get a job on a farm or ranch if you can do the work and learn and be content living on that kind of salary then you will do fine.

Sound advice.

 

[Son of Butch]

After graduating from college .... I currently live in Tennessee .... but it seems the more I ask for advice from experienced ranchers, its always the same response; do something else, there isn't any money, its not worth it etc.
After a year or two of hearing that, I .... find myself leaning toward getting a regular job ....
-BB

How are you supporting yourself?
No college loans to pay off?
For a college grad either you are very poor at telling your story or you have never held a regular job.
Maybe I am misunderstanding the entire situation, but it seems you are depending on your family to make you financially independent, in that case ...
Fly little birdie fly, time to leave the nest and get a regular job.

 

[Anonymous]

first you dont sound like you have and idea what it truly takes . next your girlfriend or wife had best understand your desire to ranch not just live in a big house in the country an are you sure like someone else kinda pointed out your family members bought ,Y O U ! a piece of land .before you jump to this idea , thats all yours to do what you want with ? they may have other Ideas .the last thing you want to do is p---- them off telling them what your going to do with there land !you need to back up regroup feel them out .see what an why they bought that land you can always mention leasing it or custom grazing it to provide income from it ! then work up to what your thoughts are .B U T i sure wouldnt expect it for free ! that would make me mad if i was in there shoes ! :wave:

 

[Rafter S]

If you want to have cattle, by all means get some. But get just a few to start with, and gradually increase your numbers as you gain experience. Trying to make a living with cattle starting out with no experience is a recipe for disaster, just like it would be for any other business.

In the meantime, get a job.

 

[LCCattle]

IMO, today it is almost impossible to go into the cattle business unless you inherit at least the land, if not the total operation. Even if you start out small (50 ac ) there is not enough income to cover costs that includes a mortgage for the land.
The only way you may be able to do it is to get a 30 yr interest only, to balloon in 5 yrs loan, and then do it again for another 5 yrs, if you can find anyone to do it.
As you are new to the cattle business, I would recommend you first make a written business plan so you know exactly what is involved. There are plenty of experienced cattlemen here who can help you.
Plus, if you don't have a business plan, you probably won't get the loan because the person who takes your application has nothing in his/her hand to present to the board for approval. A business plan is proof on paper how you will be able to repay the loan.
This has been said already in different ways, but here is how I put it.
You are talking about going into a business, and I do mean a business, you know nothing about, so you better know how to run a business first and learn a little about the business before you jump in, or you will lose everything you have, and then some.
Would you invest in the stock market knowing nothing about it??
Now take a yellow pad and start a list. on the left side call it expenses. And start a list on the right side and call it income.
I will fill in the right side for you. Income: calf sales: in my area it's now $1.42 per lb. for a 500 lb steer. Cull cows are $.75 per lb.
On the left side under expenses put:
Salaries: $15.00 per hr.
Land cost: $$$ now go on from there.

 

[LCCattle]

Brownstone,

my family recently purchased an 800 acre cattle farm (no cows currently) and plans to one day get into the business, but not right away.

Can you lease the 800 ac, or a portion of it? You can lease land a lot cheaper then you can buy it. Are you a family member who may/will inherit it, or a portion of it?

Is it fenced?
Does this 800 ac have ponds, creeks or a well or is it on city water ?

 

[Muddy]

My advice to you is don't listen to LCCattle as he has no cattle at all. Listen to the other posters they had good advice.

 

[ANAZAZI]

My advice to you is don't listen to LCCattle or Muddy as they has no cattle sense at all. Listen to the other posters they had good advice.

Fixed it for ya'

 

[JMJ Farms]

To answer your question yes it's very doable. Especially if you don't have a land payment. Like someone posted earlier start small. There's a lot to learn. Income from another source will help tremendously. My personal opinion is that you would need at least 200-250 momma cows to make a living from a cow/calf operation only. And that's if you're a good enough manager to net $200 profit per cow each year.

 

[Muddy]

My advice to you is don't listen to LCCattle as he has no cattle sense at all. Listen to the other posters they had good advice.

Fixed it for ya'

Fixed it for you, Indicus.

 

[Kingfisher]

Do you live near the 800 acres? What's your degree in?

 

[NECowboy]

Your parents are going to want rent. There is too much cost - property taxes, fence, land price (that's a biggie), their mortgage (or maybe they paid cash but they could have put their money on buying a condo building or commercial property etc and made better rent). So you are going to have cost. You're going to need an outside job to get started with purchasing cattle, full ton pickup, gooseneck trailer, corrals, chutes, build feedlot, lots of startup cost.

I have a full time job, cattle would be great full time (although I do enjoy my full time job) but works much better financially for me as just a hobby (I bought land from earnings on full time job, it will be a long time before my cows pay my initial investment off and I could have made better return on a condo somewhere but I love the land and love ranching and I get the pride of ownership and keeping it in the family.) Why not work for other rancher full time and then do this on side? That way you get to see if you like it. I would say if you buy land no way self supporting for many years, if rent better but some years rent can eat big into profit margin.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

:welcome: to the Boards! What part of Tennessee??

 

[msplmtneer]

Howdy and :welcome: :tiphat:

 

[ANAZAZI]

My advice to you is don't listen to LCCattle as he has no cattle sense at all. Listen to the other posters they had good advice.

Fixed it for you, Indicus.

Fixed it for ya, Imbecill.

 

[ANAZAZI]

My advice to you is don't listen to Mud as he has no cattle sense at all. Listen to the other posters they had good advice.

Fixed it for you, Indicus.

Fixed it for ya, Imbecill.