Small registered herd ?

[Jackson]

Was wondering if you just have space to run 10-15 head if it may be more beneficial financially to advertise and sell registered bulls and heifers instead of raising non registered calves and selling at the sale barn. I mean assuming you can find buyers. Obviously you can get more for a registered animal, I just didn't know if it would be that much more beneficial to go that route if you were trying to make maybe a little profit off a small herd.

 

[ez14]

i have never had a registered herd but my :2cents: is you will need to spend a lot more for a start up cost and have lots of extra work and will need to get out with other cattlemen to get a good customer base but if you are very careful about the cows and bulls you use and cull hard to have great cattle then people will be interested in your cattle :2cents:

 

[dun]

It takes quality cattle, a good marketing plan and animals that are in demand to make money with a registered herd. It takes a number of years to get the reputation and be known for qualtiy animals. One of the biggest mistakes of many producers is not using the knife enough and selling females that are just average and should be better used going to the feedlot.

 

[RiverHills]

You could start with a commercial herd and work towards a superior registered herd.

 

[Ebenezer]

You can raise better cattle in a small herd than are available in large herds. There are reasons. They can cull 50% and still have a lot of sale cattle which means that 50% of their cattle are faulty.

Your money is real and limited so you will only gamble on high odds cattle. You do not have to advertise as wildly and as widely. You will either make or break your own sales if you put too little or too much money into your program. You need to be about average of your neighbors in feed but above average in forage and management.

1-Your cows need to fit your environment and be trouble free. These cows will produce cattle that will fit in your neighbors' herd and do good for them. You will sell no farther from home than, generally, 50 miles or maybe out to 100 miles.
2-Your cows are your base. Mess them up and you go down the drain. Build them right and raising cattle will be a great pleasure.
3-Terminal sires are a dime a dozen. Breed for great cows (maternal) and raise bulls that will make great mama cows in your area. They are scarce if they have no holes. You will be able to sell all with word of mouth some years. Don't just show buyers the bulls; show them the cows.
4-Buying: forget bloodlines, herd prefixes, show heifers and high EPDs. Checking calving regularity, breeder honesty and pride/ego level, proper type, hair quality and convenience traits: docile, good udder and teats, correct stride, proper size for your environment and ball park FS for your neighbors to buy and have calves that sell well in the local barns.
5-Never plan to or try to compete with the big boys. Some of that is smoke and mirrors and the rest of it is mirrors and smoke.
6-Never bet money or pay much for an unproven outcross bull. You can build proof with other's testimony and experiences whom you can trust. Always breed the type you want and type to type. Fire and ice matings produce a puddle of water.
7-Do not fear linebreeding of great fitting cattle. Most mainstream breeders linecross purebred animals continually to fix the faults of the last great bull they used in their herds and they always will.
8-Only sell what you are willing to use. You cannot use them all because of shear numbers, logistics and inbreeding but it is a way to judge keep/cull.

 

[dun]

8-Only sell what you are willing to use. You cannot use them all because of shear numbers, logistics and inbreeding but it is a way to judge keep/cull.

That's where the knife and feedlot come into play.

 

[dieselbeef]

your choices for keepers will be limited and you wont be able to keep any of your hiefers after the first rd. you cant sell them reg bred father daughter..
even If you have 10 bullcalfs they may not be of the traits or quality.
150 head gives you more selection.
I have 20 cows and a bull all purebred beefmasters. not enough market for the trouble of recordkeeping and having animals avail to show. diff pastures. keeping bulls til 2 yr olds a lot of the time..even a yrlg bull will fight and carry on with your herd bull if hes fencelined....
I couldn't make it work with only 20 head..having 18-20 calfs a yr is enough for another full time job

 

[LLBUX]

Small registered herds can do very well.

I raise a registered niche breed (some purebred and some crossbred) on my limited pasture and barn set up.

I have a strong demand for the purebred breeding stock I raise as well as steers for freezer beef. I can, (and do) sell many more than I am able to raise as I buy and sell cattle and have other breeders ask my help in selling theirs.

My breeding stock prices are usually 2-5 times the value of a similar sized animal of another breed(or commercial cattle) that goes through a sale barn. My steers receive about a 10-15% premium over market price.

Niche breeds can work for you if you choose one with good demand for your stock or product. It will require marketing on your behalf to do well. It has taken a little while, but now I am known for breeding quality stock and people seek me out to buy or sell breeding stock and feeder cattle.

I do not sell mine through a sale barn due to lack of demand in that marketplace.

It is not for everyone, and success is not guaranteed.

Good luck!

 

[Caustic Burno]

Was wondering if you just have space to run 10-15 head if it may be more beneficial financially to advertise and sell registered bulls and heifers instead of raising non registered calves and selling at the sale barn. I mean assuming you can find buyers. Obviously you can get more for a registered animal, I just didn't know if it would be that much more beneficial to go that route if you were trying to make maybe a little profit off a small herd.

Too little to play the game you have to remember your selling name and you don't have one. Secondly paper does not make a better cow as a seedstock producer only the best third should be retained at most the rest are just hamburger through the barn
Ran a registered herd for twenty years you will go broke unless there is something special or unique about your cows.
I took the hand off from a breeder here that had been doing it sixty years.
No way do I stop by as a commercial cattleman and drop thousands on a fly by night operation with no bonafides.

 

[dieselbeef]

i don't know of any reg breeder who doesn't also have a commercial herd as well

 

[Ebenezer]

i don't know of any reg breeder who doesn't also have a commercial herd as well

We used to but are all registered now. Might saw we learned on crossbred cattle.

 

[dieselbeef]

me personally don't know of any

 

[Jessica06]

You can raise better cattle in a small herd than are available in large herds. There are reasons. They can cull 50% and still have a lot of sale cattle which means that 50% of their cattle are faulty.

Your money is real and limited so you will only gamble on high odds cattle. You do not have to advertise as wildly and as widely. You will either make or break your own sales if you put too little or too much money into your program. You need to be about average of your neighbors in feed but above average in forage and management.

1-Your cows need to fit your environment and be trouble free. These cows will produce cattle that will fit in your neighbors' herd and do good for them. You will sell no farther from home than, generally, 50 miles or maybe out to 100 miles.
2-Your cows are your base. Mess them up and you go down the drain. Build them right and raising cattle will be a great pleasure.
3-Terminal sires are a dime a dozen. Breed for great cows (maternal) and raise bulls that will make great mama cows in your area. They are scarce if they have no holes. You will be able to sell all with word of mouth some years. Don't just show buyers the bulls; show them the cows.
4-Buying: forget bloodlines, herd prefixes, show heifers and high EPDs. Checking calving regularity, breeder honesty and pride/ego level, proper type, hair quality and convenience traits: docile, good udder and teats, correct stride, proper size for your environment and ball park FS for your neighbors to buy and have calves that sell well in the local barns.
5-Never plan to or try to compete with the big boys. Some of that is smoke and mirrors and the rest of it is mirrors and smoke.
6-Never bet money or pay much for an unproven outcross bull. You can build proof with other's testimony and experiences whom you can trust. Always breed the type you want and type to type. Fire and ice matings produce a puddle of water.
7-Do not fear linebreeding of great fitting cattle. Most mainstream breeders linecross purebred animals continually to fix the faults of the last great bull they used in their herds and they always will.
8-Only sell what you are willing to use. You cannot use them all because of shear numbers, logistics and inbreeding but it is a way to judge keep/cull.

Excellent advice!

 

[Anonymous]

Theres a lot good advice here !
As far where you start all depends where you want to end up ,just to give an example. neighbors of mine started out a few years after i did in 80s small herd decent stock both his and her families were well known in the area .so it gave them some advantage ,they built an exceptional business in 30 yrs they now run aprox 90 to over 100 head of reg. stock any given year!
they are on the move prety much 18 hrs a day 7 days a week 1 sometimes 3 hired hands and when they need help 3 to 5 unpaid hands ! he also owns a business that will keep him away for 6 days a week if his crew are close he can be home most evenings to help with what ever needs done . may i add there kids are out doing there own thing now and you very seldom see them ! Owning enough land is a big factor . myself end of 90s saw lot subdivisions ,it hurts when you lose half of your lease ground in one year.then put dry summer on top ! the bigest hit between crop an hay ground lose 700 acre in a yr!
good luck !

 

[True Grit Farms]

My advice is to go to some of elite and specialty sales and keep your eyes and ears open. You'll figure out if you can afford to get in or stay out real quick.
Then trying to run a registered cattle business on leased ground isn't going to work. Having good working facilities is a must, and someone being around 24-7 is also advisable if not mandatory.
With a small registered herd you need to know how to AI and breed on observed heat.
I personally don't think that you can have a registered herd without some commercial cattle. There's alot of commercial cows that raise as good or better calf as any registered cow. And they would be excellent choices for ET.
All cattle no matter what the paperwork says will not be worthy of being registered. Registering cattle just because they can qualify and selling them, will only hurt you and the breed in the long run.
Good luck, being a small fish in a big pond stinks.

 

[Caustic Burno]

My advice is to go to some of elite and specialty sales and keep your eyes and ears open. You'll figure out if you can afford to get in or stay out real quick.
Then trying to run a registered cattle business on leased ground isn't going to work. Having good working facilities is a must, and someone being around 24-7 is also advisable if not mandatory.
With a small registered herd you need to know how to AI and breed on observed heat.
I personally don't think that you can have a registered herd without some commercial cattle. There's alot of commercial cows that raise as good or better calf as any registered cow. And they would be excellent choices for ET.
All cattle no matter what the paperwork says will not be worthy of being registered. Registering cattle just because they can qualify and selling them, will only hurt you and the breed in the long run.
Good luck, being a small fish in a big pond stinks.

That is good advice trying to run registered with 15 head is just smoke getting blown up his butt. He will never recoup the startup cost on those cows in there life time.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Everyone has to start somewhere, I get that. And some folks are paying the bills by using the bull of the month. An average registered Angus cow will cost you $3000. and some have sold for 10 times that amount. I'm hoping that by the time my son is my age he'll have a good quality herd. I'm surly not qualified to give information about breeding registered cattle. Just trying to pass on what little I've seen.

It's really hard trying to stay on track when you have little or no hope left for the country that you love. The future is bleak, but you better plan ahead.

 

[Anonymous]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
True grit said it best so far !!!

 

[backhoeboogie]

Everyone has to start somewhere, I get that. And some folks are paying the bills by using the bull of the month. An average registered Angus cow will cost you $3000. and some have sold for 10 times that amount. I'm hoping that by the time my son is my age he'll have a good quality herd. I'm surly not qualified to give information about breeding registered cattle. Just trying to pass on what little I've seen.

It's really hard trying to stay on track when you have little or no hope left for the country that you love. The future is bleak, but you better plan ahead.

"average" registered go thru the sale barn all the time. Mostly black angus. Ring man is up there waving their papers. There's never any takers for paper. Those cows do not bring anywhere near half of that price you're quoting - with a room filled with order buyers. They sell for the same price as commercial cattle. Seen many registered angus bulls get P.O.'d Saw the same bull get P.O.'d at three different sale barns back around the mid 90's. Did that owner ever figure it out? He paid commission 3 times and did not part with the bull.

 

[dun]

The thing to remember is you can;t compete with the big herds. We are smaller now than in the past but we have no problems selling the occasional bull and replacement heifers, both commercial and registered. It took some time to get a reputation for quality cattle, once you have it you have to work to keep it. That's where the knife and the salebarn comes into the picture.