raising beef cattle

[Anonymous]

If I was raising stocker cattle to sell to the slaughter house, what process would I go through(raise them to what age, take them to a feedlot, etc)? Lets say I was using a breed like Santa Gertudis, how much profit could I make per head-not counting feed costs? If that is too broad, could you give me a example you have encountered? thanks

 

[Anonymous]

As one beginner to another, it is a little difficult to figure how much one could ever make on raising cattle. Our family just figures that if we sell a weaned beef calf, we will get about $500 per head. What it cost to get that beef up to weaning time depends on how much infrastructure you have to handle animals to begin with, how much feed you have on your own place, plus how much you have to buy from others. Sometimes, you get paid more for the challenge of doing it and have to figure... "This beats spending my money in the local bar." We are trying to sell directly to consumers, using local butchering outfits and cut out the middle man of the feedlots, the packers, etc. One thing my mother has always stressed is that the ranch saves a lot of money because of the tax incentives/breaks... of course, to save money in taxes, you have to spend money... for me, raising beef is more the journey than the bottom line. There is something refreshing about having something to take care of, and some reason to get up and out in a day. Let me know how you are doing.

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