Shaking my head about a friend

[chippie]

There is a mom/friend in our 4-H club who decided to go into the cattle business with her boyfriend. She asked me some questions about cattle and admitted that they don't know anything about cattle. She showed me a photo of one of their new calves. It was a little red thing that looked like poop. They bought bred cows off of Craigslist because....
get ready for this.... "They were cheaper than going to a sale. The people bid the cows up so high at the auctions."

They are still watching Craigslist for more cows.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that most of the Craigslist cattle are priced higher than what they would bring at the sale barn. What a way to get into the cattle business.

 

[alisonb]

Some people have to learn the hard way Chippie...

 

[dun]

Some people have to learn the hard way Chippie...

Yup, tuition in the school of hard knocks

 

[greybeard]

There is a mom/friend in our 4-H club who decided to go into the cattle business with her boyfriend. She asked me some questions about cattle and admitted that they don't know anything about cattle. She showed me a photo of one of their new calves. It was a little red thing that looked like poop. They bought bred cows off of Craigslist because....
get ready for this.... "They were cheaper than going to a sale. The people bid the cows up so high at the auctions."

They are still watching Craigslist for more cows.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that most of the Craigslist cattle are priced higher than what they would bring at the sale barn. What a way to get into the cattle business.

Did you explain what was wrong with the calf Chippie and tell her that quality is why bidders bid up the prices at salebarns?
You know what the bad part is?
Prices will probably keep going up this year, she'll actually make a few bucks on the dink and think they really did cut a fat hog in the butt.
The 1st big downturn is going to be an eye opener for a lot of newbies that just got in.....wait till your friend has another 2011 come along......make a believer out of her in a hurry.

 

[skyhightree1]

Some people have to learn the hard way Chippie...

Yup, tuition in the school of hard knocks

:lol2:

There is a mom/friend in our 4-H club who decided to go into the cattle business with her boyfriend. She asked me some questions about cattle and admitted that they don't know anything about cattle. She showed me a photo of one of their new calves. It was a little red thing that looked like poop. They bought bred cows off of Craigslist because....
get ready for this.... "They were cheaper than going to a sale. The people bid the cows up so high at the auctions."

They are still watching Craigslist for more cows.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that most of the Craigslist cattle are priced higher than what they would bring at the sale barn. What a way to get into the cattle business.

Did you explain what was wrong with the calf Chippie and tell her that quality is why bidders bid up the prices at salebarns?
You know what the bad part is?
Prices will probably keep going up this year, she'll actually make a few bucks on the dink and think they really did cut a fat hog in the butt.
The 1st big downturn is going to be an eye opener for a lot of newbies that just got in.....wait till your friend has another 2011 come along......make a believer out of her in a hurry.

Thats a very true statement

 

[Son of Butch]

There is a mom/friend who decided to go into the cattle business with her boyfriend.
She admitted that they don't know anything about cattle.

It seems she is familiar with making poor life choices.
Asking advice after purchase/mistake while not recognizing it was a mistake only scratches the surface, but in her defense
at least she asked. So maybe she can learn...but doubtful. As Ron White says, "Ya can't fix stupid."

 

[chippie]

She did not ask for advice or my opinion about the quality of her cattle, so I didn't give her any. She only asked me if I knew what breed the calf was because the mother was a Baldy and the calf is solid red. Her other question was, she was told that when buying cattle, you should only move them East to West or West to East. Not North to South or South to North. She wanted me to explain that to her. I told her that I had never heard that before and that cattle were sold and hauled all over the nation. Our daughter has a cow from Kentucky. She said that she wondered about that.

She has one hope for improvement. Another family in our club is moving into town and is dispersing their small registered Beefmaster herd.
Being that she is looking for more cattle, hopefully she will buy the Beefmasters. It is a nice group of cows, heifers and bull.
My friend who is selling offered for her and her BF to come to their house and see the cattle. She said, just send pictures. We don't need to see the cattle in person. We bought the cattle off of Craigslist from pictures.
Nice lady, just so so naive.

 

[skyhightree1]

Chippie thats just crazy. I want to see where my money is going. When I go to the barn im in the holding pen watching them and going over them as best as I can the man I bought most of my cattle from I will buy sight unseen cause I trust him.

 

[john250]

You hold your tongue better than me. But you likely have more friends. Folks don't want to hear the truth.
If your friend has an ugly dog, she probably doesn't want to hear that, either.

 

[M5farm]

can I get her number please. I am east of her so the cows will travel fine.

 

[Nesikep]

They also say "Education is expensive, no matter where you get it".

This friend sounds like the typical person who SELLS cattle on craigslist as well!

 

[skyhightree1]

can I get her number please. I am east of her so the cows will travel fine.

:lol2:

 

[LRTX1]

They also say "Education is expensive, no matter where you get it".

This friend sounds like the typical person who SELLS cattle on craigslist as well!

Who would ever say a thing like that?

 

[Nesikep]

The old fellow who told me not to go to school for too long or I'd miss out on my education!

 

[chippie]

Oh no, she would not sell on Craigslist because the cattle sold at the auction barns bring more money than Craigslist.
That was the reason they bought Craigslist cattle. They were cheaper than going to a sale.

 

[dun]

Oh no, she would not sell on Craigslist because the cattle sold at the auction barns bring more money than Craigslist.
That was the reason they bought Craigslist cattle. They were cheaper than going to a sale.

Gee, as part of her education or her business plan maybe she should buy a bunch of cattle on craigslist then take them to the salebarn. I'm sure she'll make lots of money

 

[greybeard]

She did not ask for advice or my opinion about the quality of her cattle, so I didn't give her any. She only asked me if I knew what breed the calf was because the mother was a Baldy and the calf is solid red. Her other question was, she was told that when buying cattle, you should only move them East to West or West to East. Not North to South or South to North. She wanted me to explain that to her. I told her that I had never heard that before and that cattle were sold and hauled all over the nation. Our daughter has a cow from Kentucky. She said that she wondered about that.

She has one hope for improvement. Another family in our club is moving into town and is dispersing their small registered Beefmaster herd.
Being that she is looking for more cattle, hopefully she will buy the Beefmasters. It is a nice group of cows, heifers and bull.
My friend who is selling offered for her and her BF to come to their house and see the cattle. She said, just send pictures. We don't need to see the cattle in person. We bought the cattle off of Craigslist from pictures.
Nice lady, just so so naive.

Maybe she'll buy a Jersey bull off CL from pictures--they always look so sweet and docile in photos--that ought to cure her.

 

[jedstivers]

Oh no, she would not sell on Craigslist because the cattle sold at the auction barns bring more money than Craigslist.
That was the reason they bought Craigslist cattle. They were cheaper than going to a sale.

Gee, as part of her education or her business plan maybe she should buy a bunch of cattle on craigslist then take them to the salebarn. I'm sure she'll make lots of money

Yes with her logic that should be all she does. Buy off Craigslist and take to the sale every week. You can never go broke selling for a profit.

 

[greybeard]

Yep, she's on to something here, and it's gonna turn the cow business upside down.
She should make a youtube video on how to get rich in cattle on your first try....

 

[Tim/South]

We have a local older gent who just got into cattle. He has wanted to do so all his life.
He has been buying weaned black calves at the sale and running them on FB as black angus. He always has 4 or 5 on his small place. From what his son says, the guy is doing fairly well. People like to buy "farm fresh" from a grandpa type.
They do not have a momma cow or breeding bull on the place and no one has ever asked where the yearlings come from.