I don't post much, but will chime in here. Realistically, for most people starting out, I don't think traditional ranching operations will ever pencil out if you truly start from scratch. I think innovators can always find a way, but traditional operations as a new start up just have a hard uphill battle. Of course, with inherited land, equipment, etc, that would change the equation.
I retired from the Coast Guard about two years ago, and bought a farm just down the road from my dads farm, and across the road from my late grandfathers farm. Despite the family farms being on this road, I bought my land, it's never been in the family, and started from scratch. Working by myself I spent about a year clearing fence remnants that had been last replaced and cleared when my 68 year old dad was a senior in high school. The farm had been cropped for at least the last 30 years, and the soil was in rough shape. I had no equipment when I started and realistically, I couldn't get by with older stuff...I tried for a bit but the breakdowns when my farm work is on a schedule was making it impossible. By the time I bought a tractor, cattle trailer, hay equipment, fencing (I did pay to have the fence built, great decision), pasture seed, soil amendments, I'm well over 100 grand. I did buy some very helpful but unnecessary items (used dozer, built a shop, grapple, etc...) that I could've done without but chose not to, probably another 60k there.
I paid 3k an acre for my small 80 acre farm, so about 240k before any interest is figured in. So that's close to half a million-before the first cows came to the farm.
Granted, I could've skipped the hay making decision and just purchased hay, that would've certainly saved me short term, but long term for my set up I think it works.
So as it stands most of my retirement income goes to pay for me to raise cattle. Will I eventually be profitable? Yes, in a way. I probably would've bought a farm anyhow so cows or not I'd have a land expense. But being realistic financially I'd be FAR better off to just invest money and kick back.
So for me, why don't I kick back and do something else? Because I like being a farmer/rancher. My family has always been in cattle, and I always wanted to raise them once I finished my military career. I think the real profit for me is that with any luck this money pit will be paid off by the time I kick the bucket and hopefully my children will have the option to pick up wherever I leave off and actually get the advantage of being able to have a non-startup farm. I will have borne the financial burden and they can enjoy the benefits of it. For me that's the profit.
I used to be a bit skeptical of folks saying there isn't any money in cattle. Now I marvel at how foolish I was to not take them seriously