If you ever figure out how to make $400 profit out of a cow, be sure to let the rest of us know, please.Cormac":21g0v0yy said:Once I get past this initial onslaught, I wonder if I can make $200 to $400 profit per cow after expenses.
Cormac":hhfo5umw said:I certainly cannot survive on any profit. I unfortunately was not left land in a family will. Nor did I buy it 40 years ago for $100 and acre. I bought all my land in 2005. At the price of land today in most areas, I do not see how anyone can afford to get into this business while owning a farm/ranch. A few on here were fortunate/intelligent enough to sell the lumber off the land and profiting enough to pay for the land. Those days are long gone. I wonder if you, or anyone else on here could start up a large scale operation today from scratch including buying land or finding a lease, and then how long it would then take to show a reasonable profit. If I did not buy my land today, I don't know if I could afford it in 5 years with price increases. I originally started out to grow coastal on the land, then bought some additional acreage next door and put 9 cows on it. A combination of disappointment as a result of the drought (poor coastal production) and thinking that cows might be a better alternative, I decided to expand the herd. Between buying fertilizer twice per year, cubes, hay (in drought times), trailers, feeders, digging additional tanks, tightening up the fencing, building corrals, and a tractor, I am "bleeding" $100 or $1,000 bills. Once I get past this initial onslaught, I wonder if I can make $200 to $400 profit per cow after expenses.
When the drought is over and the hay prices bottom out I would sure rather be raising cattle.backhoeboogie":1p4t4woz said:With the terrible drought last year that was so bad it killed most of the cactus, and then the moderate drought this year, hay is where the money is. Irrigate and selling hay is where profit is to be made. I plan to keep my cows on 47 of the 207 acres I am farming and keep the other 160 acres of coastal in hay production.
I will keep building the herd and feed them surplus hay, if it comes to that. Right now I only have 20 to 30 acres in winter wheat, rye and clover. I did over seed rye and clover on one coastal bermuda flood plain that I irrigate but may not even need it.
Cormac":3o013x4r said:I certainly cannot survive on any profit. I unfortunately was not left land in a family will. Nor did I buy it 40 years ago for $100 and acre. I bought all my land in 2005. At the price of land today in most areas, I do not see how anyone can afford to get into this business while owning a farm/ranch. A few on here were fortunate/intelligent enough to sell the lumber off the land and profiting enough to pay for the land. Those days are long gone. I wonder if you, or anyone else on here could start up a large scale operation today from scratch including buying land or finding a lease, and then how long it would then take to show a reasonable profit. If I did not buy my land today, I don't know if I could afford it in 5 years with price increases. I originally started out to grow coastal on the land, then bought some additional acreage next door and put 9 cows on it. A combination of disappointment as a result of the drought (poor coastal production) and thinking that cows might be a better alternative, I decided to expand the herd. Between buying fertilizer twice per year, cubes, hay (in drought times), trailers, feeders, digging additional tanks, tightening up the fencing, building corrals, and a tractor, I am "bleeding" $100 or $1,000 bills. Once I get past this initial onslaught, I wonder if I can make $200 to $400 profit per cow after expenses.