Other Enterprise?

Gather App
Beef 11, because of the encroachment of thorn acacia bushes into the grasslands,the use of Boergoats was common in our area and brought in a good income. I kept a flock of Wiltiper sheep (all hair breed), more as a hobby as we trained Border Collies at the time.
Andy
 
Beef11":396a0du8 said:
Anybody ever added goats or sheep to a cattle outfit?
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Beef11, the neighbors can't keep up with the demand for their goats. Biggest thing expense wise for them over the cattle rancher only to have to do is fencing. You know how woven wire comes in like (least around here) 2 different opening sizes. They use the wider opening ones so the goats can get their horns out if/when they put their head through a fence. They then run 2 strands of barb wire on top of that with not many problems of escapes but they do a good job of rotating so there is always plenty for the goats to eat. Their pastures are all neat looking as they still use rock corners and pulls, they use a wire cattle panel trimmed down and then fill it with rocks which we have plenty of in these parts and also have a hedge post in there to staple the wire.

This year I think they also have some Boer crosses in with the Kiko's. Thanks to whoever put the picture in as I sure as heck can't figure out how to do that stuff :oops: !

A couple other ventures I have friends doing is raising gomer bulls. Another got started years ago raising a few sheep and goats for their kids 4-H projects. Well after years of their kids doing great at fairs people started wanting to buy their lambs for show and a new side business was born. Their children are grown and out of the house but they still raise sheep and sell the lambs to 4-H kids. Know some other folks that do the same thing with pigs. Just a couple of ideas for ya'.

Beef11, also if you like send me an e-mail and I'll give ya' my neighbors web site. Anybody else is welcome to do the same, just kinda like knowing who all I'm giving it out to.

J

FWIW- Was kinda neat last year as the the neighbors had a lot of pasture planted in a couple different types of rape along with turnips! Said it took a while for the cattle and goats to figure out what was under the dirt after they had eaten the tops but once they did man did the cattle eat them up.
 
Have a friend that does some Bermuda Sprig planting. Also know some that will do some custom Brush cutting, Do hay, and build fences.

Looks like if you live in Texas you could raise some pigs on the side :)
 
Beef11":2tdz8se4 said:
Anybody ever added goats or sheep to a cattle outfit?
Click to expand...
Beef11 i did in 01-03. i rotated my fields with a 15 head bourer goats and 3 horses and my cattle. my reason in this was worm mangement. i like the redheaded goat but man they can be trouble. and they can climb.
 
Goats rotated in after cattle seems to work pretty well, since the goats readily eat (and prefer) a lot of the stuff the cows have no interest in. One of the formerly active posters here (Alejandro delaGarza) ran them together down in Mexico with good financial success. Were it not for fencing issues, coyotes and being an absentee owner I sure would have given goats a try these last few years. Sure could have cut down on my Remedy and diesel bill!


As to other enterprises, I know a couple of guys that do as Texan mentioned, but these are not the hobby boys that Caustic referred to. They're essentially pretty much full time into agriculture and they do some custom hay work after their own haying needs are taken care of. In addition, they will do custom hauling of cattle and hay, one of them does a little order buying and also a fair amount of shredding & dozer work, one does a good bit of contract fence building, etc. They pretty much will do custom work for all the weekenders, small timers or old timers that can't do it anymore --- but only as their schedule permits after taking care of their own needs. These guys love the ranching and related agribusiness lifestyle, and they've already got a lot of equipment anyway so these are logical pursuits to bring in some extra cash.

Of course in much of Texas the primary extra enterprise is leasing the land for deer, dove, quail and waterfowl hunting. I think folks in many other states would be astounded to know how much $$$ many Texas ranchers get for those hunting rights.
 
I went and visited a ranch that was once owned by my inlaws friends (they trashed it). The hunting rights on it and the 2 adjoining ranches sell together for about 250k a year. This is a huge chunk of ground with great wildlife though. Leupold buys the rights to hunt it.
 
TheLazyM":3009977o said:
Beef11":3009977o said:
Anybody ever added goats or sheep to a cattle outfit?
Click to expand...
Beef11 i did in 01-03. i rotated my fields with a 15 head bourer goats and 3 horses and my cattle. my reason in this was worm mangement. i like the redheaded goat but man they can be trouble. and they can climb.
Click to expand...
Now what worms are you talking about and what proof do you have that this management works. I had heard that you has a sweet spot for those goats.
 
Beef11 i did in 01-03. i rotated my fields with a 15 head bourer goats and 3 horses and my cattle. my reason in this was worm mangement. i like the redheaded goat but man they can be trouble. and they can climb.[/quote]


Would they be similar to the Boer goat? :D
 
Getting back to the original post, my only experience was years ago on my uncle's farm in Wisconsin. Milked 45 holsteins and also ran about 30 head of hereford and angus. Had a few chickens and hogs, mostly for own use. Also did some custom baling and combining, but mostly just to help neighbors out as opposed to making money at it. Also cut cedar posts in the winter and peeled and sold whatever he didn't need in the spring. Even kept 2 or 3 belgian draft horses around from the "good old days" when he used them to skid logs. Didn't use them anymore but just liked having them around, I guess.
This was back in the 60's and early 70's when things weren't so specialized and the little guy could make a decent living if he worked hard and knew what he was doing.
I've always said that my aunt worked harder back then than 90% of men (including me) do nowadays.
 
TurnThatCowLooseMaw":1w92wzr9 said:
What exactly are you implying Texan? Grow some guts and come right out and say what you really mean. I'm thinking perhaps that you may have me mistaken for someone else it happens. Anyways grow a spine and tell people what you really think on here. To me that post was spineless.
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You owe Texan an apology!! He wasn't implying anything. Then I read farther and it appears there was an actual reason for the question/comment. Your reading more into it than there actually was. Now it's your turn to grow some guts and apologize.
 
Read an article once that said Goats were probably the only animal at this time you could raise on a farm, and for sure make a profit. It said Cattle were profitable as long as prices stayed like they are now, but since we import more goat meat than we export goats were more or less a sure deal.

We have so many immigrants that come from countries were goats are the meat of choice that we need more meat than we produce her in U.S.
 
I've thought goats were an interesting idea due to the fact that they prefer different feeds than cattle do. Seems that they would really help weed encroachment.
 
Guys near here are now getting paid to use their goats for 'natural' weed control. With all of the increasing rules and regs on public lands, and the increasing noxious weed problems on public lands, sounds like a good idea to me. It must be fairly effective as well, as I've heard of some ranchers hiring goats for their own problems. Would be like raising cattle except you get paid to feed them instead of buying feed!

Regarding the original question, we farm full time. Grow alfalfa hay, grain and potatoes. It is busiest in the summer when the cows are on grass and on their own, in the winter farming is slow but we can stay busy feeding and calving cows. We can use farm machinery for ranch stuff in the winter, so it helps pay for some of that expensive machinery. Unless you are a hobby farmer, making it in ag these days is all about using all of your resources to your full benefit. If I can get double use out of something, it is that much easier to pay for.
 
I rip on california all the time. I do preach that we need to be more like the cali farmers though. Up here people buy expensive machinery and use it for a week and a half then let it sit in the weather the rest of the year. I think you hit it dead on with using equipment on multiple tasks.
 
I plan on adding some goats to my farm this spring.

Main intention is to try and do some weed cleanup with them (multiflora roses) but if I find I can make a couple dollars off them I'll keep some around :).
 
Full time job is Engineering.

Limestone: Patio stone, building stone. Sell a lot of it.

Hobbyist on the limestone and cattle.
 

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