Starting from Scratch ?

[Arkansas]

I am new to the Cattle business I worked a few summers on my aunts cattle/farm and she grew Corn and had cattle on it I developed a love for the lifestyle and I am wondering how I can get into it myself. I am a fulltime Police Officer and I am plaining on buying about 20 acreas to start with and see how I like it unless anyone else would have a different suggestion . I was told that you can get Grants from the government and or USDA Loans anyone have any suggestions for me ?

 

[deenranch]

Feed prices are high, land is high, fuel is high and cattle prices are not going up. Twenty acres will run about 2 head of cows. You will get $500 to $700 each for your calves. Good Luck. Might try goats!

 

[Arkansas]

20 Acres for 2 Cattle where are you from it usally only takes here 4 to 5 acres per cattle ? thats 10 acres for each what is that not ever haveing to feed them let the graiz all year round..lol

 

[EAT BEEF]

USDA does have some loans for farm purchase. You may have to buy more than 20 acres to qualify. I think they are for people who can't secure financing elsewhere. I think all this info is on the USDA wed site,also check out farm credit.

 

[deenranch]

I am new to the Cattle business

If you stay in a drought like TEXAS. 1 AU per 10 acres is pretty good. If you feed the cows everything they eat, then you will spend all your profits and not make much if any.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Welcome Arkansas. I'm guessing by your screen name that you're in Arkansas. A good way to get started is to find other folks in your area, or the area where you plan to buy your acreage, and see how they have their places set up. Without knowing the type of land and available grazing you will have, it will be difficult to judge how many you should start off with.

It is best, financially, if the majority of the cow's diet came from grazing, and not from a feed bag.

It is also good to start with 3-in-ones. That is, a cow with a calf at her side that is bred back. They aren't the cheapest, but you often get more for your purchase money that way.

Good luck.

Katherine

 

[gertguy]

4 or 5 acres a head. In nc we run 1 cow to the acre. Different land and climate different grass.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Arkansas where are you located in Arkansas. Makes a big differnce in land prices.

 

[Arkansas]

Ok first off I dont know what the heck a 3 in 1 is Sorry I only worked for my aunt when I was younger for a couple of summers that was straight out of Highschool..lol I am 28 now And I live in the Northest of Arkansas And as far as North Carolina goes LOL doesnt Colorado have the Best graizing and it takes them 2 1/2 acres per cow right ? Either way I Really want to get into the Cattle side I love Animals origanlly wanted to be a Wildlife Refuge Officer but got on as a Police Officer first so I kindly gave up on that, but I really am interested in getting cattle I was told there is a good liven in the Beef market Angus fatten them up and shipem out..lol But not sure I was also told that Dairy is doing well ? It should seeing how a gallon of milk goes for 4.25 here a gallon..lol But I really been studying up on both the cattle side and hay side I know usally you get 1 ton of Hay per Acre ..Hey I might not be a Farmer/Ranch Owner but I did Play John Deere's American Farmer..rofl That make me a know it all :P j/k I appreciate all you guys and girls with the help so far not haveing to wait a day or 2 for an answer is very nice :)
I also have a Slaughter guy that happens to be my sisters lanlord but I really dont wanna kill an animal..lol

Shoutout goes to Dun for the Info on this site /wave

 

[Ryder]

Ok first off I dont know what the heck a 3 in 1 is Sorry I only worked for my aunt when I was younger for a couple of summers that was straight out of Highschool..lol I am 28 now And I live in the Northest of Arkansas And as far as North Carolina goes LOL doesnt Colorado have the Best graizing and it takes them 2 1/2 acres per cow right ? Either way I Really want to get into the Cattle side I love Animals origanlly wanted to be a Wildlife Refuge Officer but got on as a Police Officer first so I kindly gave up on that, but I really am interested in getting cattle I was told there is a good liven in the Beef market Angus fatten them up and shipem out..lol But not sure I was also told that Dairy is doing well ? It should seeing how a gallon of milk goes for 4.25 here a gallon..lol But I really been studying up on both the cattle side and hay side I know usally you get 1 ton of Hay per Acre ..Hey I might not be a Farmer/Ranch Owner but I did Play John Deere's American Farmer..rofl That make me a know it all :P j/k I appreciate all you guys and girls with the help so far not haveing to wait a day or 2 for an answer is very nice :)
I also have a Slaughter guy that happens to be my sisters lanlord but I really dont wanna kill an animal..lol
Shoutout goes to Dun for the Info on this site /wave

3 in 1 is a pregnant cow with a calf at side. So you get the cow, her calf, and the calf she is pregnant with.
You can do a search on this site for beginnners. But I don't kow exactly what seach terms to look for.

Most have agreed that you are not going to to make enough money off cattle to borrow money for land that you have to make payments on and have enough profit left to live on, if any. Most people making a living off cattle came by the land by inheritance or whatever.
Cattle business goes in cycles. It is hard to predict what the market will be for catttle at any given time in the future.

If asked, I would advise the following;
1. Take the land you own and just play around wih cattle on that for awhile to get the feel of it.
2. Do not borrow money.
3.Keep your day job.

PS. What is a shootout? Sounds like something I want to stay away from.

 

[Arkansas]

LOL that says Shoutout you dont know what a shoutout is Shout Out like you shout out load saying hi to someone ..lol And also what about Cow/calf ? <--There is deffinetly money in this..



ANNOUNCEMENT! This is a study its not MY chart so stop posting replys to it I dont care..lol
Tell the people who made the dang thing!


Table 1. Sample budget for cow/calf enterprise.
Beef Cows Calving In Spring - Hay Diet
100 Cows
90 % Calf Crop
15 % Replacements Kept as a % Of Cow Herd
15% Annual Culling Rate; 1.0% Annual Cow Death Loss

Item Head Cwt Unit Price Quantity Total Your Est

Cash Income

Steers 45 @ 5.50 Cwt $79.00 247.50 $19,552.50 ______
Heifers 30 @ 5.00 Cwt $68.75 150.00 $10,312.50 ______
Cull Cows 14 @ 11.50 Cwt $30.00 161.00 $4,830.00 ______
Cull Bull 1 @ 17.00 Cwt $40.00 17.00 $680.00 ______

Total Cash Income $35,375.00 ______

Cash Expenses
Feed Waste

Grass Hay 10.0% Ton $50.00 227.28 $11,363.96 ______

Corn Grain 2.0% Bu $2.50 635.63 $1,589.08 ______

Sbom48% 0.0% Ton $160.00 0.00 $0.00 ______

Salt & Mineral Cwt $22.00 68.00 $1,496.00 ______

Vet & Medicine Head $15.57 100.00 $1,557.28 ______

Supplies Head $2.00 100.00 $200.00 ______

Replacement Bull Head $1,200.00 1.00 $1,200.00 ______

Pasture Acre $18.00 250.00 $4,500.00 ______

Haul Cull Cattle Head $5.20 15.00 $78.00 ______

Market Cull Cattle Head -- 15.00 $155.20 ______

Haul Calves Head $3.75 75.00 $281.25 ______

Market Calves Head -- 75.00 $859.80 ______

Bldg. & Fence Repair -- -- -- $250.00 ______

Utilities -- -- -- $125.00 ______

OTHER (Insurance Etc.) -- -- -- $0.00 ______

LABOR (Cowherd) Hrs. $0.00 800 $0.00 ______

Machinery (Non-Crop) Head $10.00 100.00 $1,000.00 ______


Total Cash Expenses $24,655.57 ______

Annual Debt Payments $0.00 ______

Return To Equity, Management, & Operator. Labor $10,719.43 ______

*Feeder cattle prices above represent a 10 year average for October graded feeder cattle sales, 1997-2007. :cboy:

 

[angie1]

Brace yourself cowboy :cowboy:

 

[EAT BEEF]

Now I see the light! This reminds me of a post by Dun titled Some sound advice.

I think you should go and work for someone first.Some land may be a good investment for you and a nice place to raise a family and some cattle.If it were easy alot of people would love to run some cows.

 

[Txwalt]

1% cow death loss? Thats really good for 100 head. After running your operation for a year make sure you let us now how you did. Good luck!

Walt

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Arkansas you might want to figure on a couple more bulls, its alittle ruff on 1 bull to breed 100 head of cows. And i sure wish i could count my bull calves and heifer calves before they are born. Also i did not see where you figured old murphy in there anywhere, in farming he will always raise his ugly head.

 

[Arkansas]

Ok first off No one said EASY ? so where you get easy EAT BEEF ? And second I didnt account for anything because this is a study chart on the Average of Cow/calf So means it was done on a 10 yr study by smart people which I apparentlly would not be seeing how I chose a job where I get shot at and no one appreciates me everyday and make 32,000 a yr for being a Cop that everyone hates because for some reason some a-hole started a rumor that cops get there money by writeing tickets. Which is entirely BS Most speeding and tickets that are wrote are state Laws wich means the state gets 95% And then the city gets 5% that it was wrote in so this works out to about nothing for a 200 dollar ticket the only way the city makes money is by writeing them for a City Ordnance witch then the city gets 100% of the money but the cop see's nothing and all we get is a Dat-a-boy whitch is a small bite size snicker or milkway bar and a Dat-a-boy pat on the back thats it we receive a check either way ticket or no , and most the time were incouraged to not write a ticket because the cheif does not want to come into court for some BS speeding..lol Sorry had to Vent anyways I LOVE CATTLE..lol :cboy: And unlike most the people who probaly come in here and ask the questions I ask I have a JOB..lol and I can afford to do it where I dont have to dream about it , I just dont want to go broke doing it and if I can do it on the side and make a profit or even break even it would be a fun experance for myself and my wife and 2 kids :) And to all the people who have been supportive with there help and comments THANK YOU ALL! Now I leave it to bananna boy to make me tons of friends :banana: Thanks all :)

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Arkansas if you want to raise cattle then get you some cows. Try to find you a farm to lease get a few cows and have at it. Just throw that sample budget away, and do not over stock.

 

[Txwalt]

Ok first off No one said EASY ? so where you get easy EAT BEEF ? And second I didnt account for anything because this is a study chart on the Average of Cow/calf So means it was done on a 10 yr study by smart people which I apparentlly would not be seeing how I chose a job where I get shot at and no one appreciates me everyday and make 32,000 a yr for being a Cop that everyone hates because for some reason some a-hole started a rumor that cops get there money by writeing tickets. Which is entirely BS Most speeding and tickets that are wrote are state Laws wich means the state gets 95% And then the city gets 5% that it was wrote in so this works out to about nothing for a 200 dollar ticket the only way the city makes money is by writeing them for a City Ordnance witch then the city gets 100% of the money but the cop see's nothing and all we get is a Dat-a-boy whitch is a small bite size snicker or milkway bar and a Dat-a-boy pat on the back thats it we receive a check either way ticket or no , and most the time were incouraged to not write a ticket because the cheif does not want to come into court for some BS speeding..lol Sorry had to Vent anyways I LOVE CATTLE..lol :cboy: And unlike most the people who probaly come in here and ask the questions I ask I have a JOB..lol and I can afford to do it where I dont have to dream about it , I just dont want to go broke doing it and if I can do it on the side and make a profit or even break even it would be a fun experance for myself and my wife and 2 kids :) And to all the people who have been supportive with there help and comments THANK YOU ALL! Now I leave it to bananna boy to make me tons of friends :banana: Thanks all :)

Thats not why people hate cops. 8)

Walt

 

[3waycross]

Arkansas

That Colorado land that will feed 1 cow for 2.5 acres is going for around $10,000 and acre, and that's if it hasn't been subdivided. If it has triple the price. Kinda tuff paying for that with cows. People move from Colo to Arkansas so that they can afford land not the other way around.

Don't get discouraged do what Red Bull or someone said. Find a farm to lease buy a few cows and have at it. Just make sure you have someone close to call for help cause you're probably gonna need lot of it.

Good luck! And remember the only real shame is never trying!

 

[Ryder]

Arkansas if you want to raise cattle then get you some cows. Try to find you a farm to lease get a few cows and have at it. Just throw that sample budget away, and do not over stock.

Red Bull I was just about to go find me one of those sharp pencils and make a bunch of money. Now you are saying it is not reality :?: :roll: :lol: