Starting up

[Colethesteer]

Anybody have any tips on how to start up raising beef? I know how to raise cattle but just don’t know where to start in terms of land and how much. I live in Wisconsin and any advice helps!

 

[jltrent]

From looking at your picture you are young and have a good interest in cattle. On the tips from my experience you have to do it for the love of it. Start out small, hope you have some help then go from there. From the picture a beautiful place an a nice calf I bet is a big pet.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Gather your garments about your loins and leave Wisconsin without looking back.
If you should become established there the political climate is such that the liberal legislation
would strangle any chance of growth or profit. With the drive and will that I believe you posses
you will succeed beyond your greatest expectations and your heirs will be blessed for it. God Bless!

 

[daneg]

Starting from scratch is not easy but it can be done, one thing to keep in mind excessive debt will kill your efforts. When I started out I realized that I could only afford to make payments on one thing cattle or land or machinery, l choose to go in debt for land and buying cattle or machinery when I could with cash. The cows I bought were good but not great but I never compromised on bull purchases and keep replacements from within.
One thing to remember the profit in the cattle business is in the details, uniform colour, short calving and breeding season, castration, dehorning, temperament, good fences, marketing and good grazing plan.

 

[Rancher]

Unless you have an insight on land that isn't zoned by the wacky libs your chances are slim. Keep yer chin up tho and get help from those in your area that knows cattle and machinery. Remember this, land increases and machinery decreases in value.

 

[bulldog04]

Go with a loan through FSA unless you have a lot of collateral to put up

 

[Colethesteer]

From looking at your picture you are young and have a good interest in cattle. On the tips from my experience you have to do it for the love of it. Start out small, hope you have some help then go from there. From the picture a beautiful place an a nice calf I bet is a big pet.

He actually was my first steer and I sold him a few months ago! He ended up weighing 1,800lbs and thank you for the advice and I will definitely do it for the love of it!

 

[Colethesteer]

Gather your garments about your loins and leave Wisconsin without looking back.
If you should become established there the political climate is such that the liberal legislation
would strangle any chance of growth or profit. With the drive and will that I believe you posses
you will succeed beyond your greatest expectations and your heirs will be blessed for it. God Bless!

I know and that’s what sucks about now a days, can’t even think about starting something up with the government we have since it’ll just get suffocated but thank you for the advice!

 

[Jafruech]

Anybody have any tips on how to start up raising beef? I know how to raise cattle but just don’t know where to start in terms of land and how much. I live in Wisconsin and any advice helps!

If you want to be in WI, stay there. You can make it work and make it be profitable. You just need to understand the laws and your market... And there is plenty of market there. Not where I would choose but there's probably reason you chose there from family to job reasons.

I don't know what you're stocking rate is going to be there. Talk to local ranchers and the NRCS to get a baseline. Cows might be able to pay for the land there. They can't here. Typical stocking rate here is 1 pair per 30 acres on a good year. 1 per 50-100 on a drought year. Last year 100 acres couldn't feed a cow for a month.

There was a time land was cheap enough to make it work, but now with the market dry land with no water is going for 3000 an acre. But there is a lot of state land available to bid leases on and BLM as well. I would start by leasing ground there if you can find it. Use your profits to build your herd till you outgrow the leases. Then use your profits to buy land outright if you want to.

 

[Colethesteer]

If you want to be in WI, stay there. You can make it work and make it be profitable. You just need to understand the laws and your market... And there is plenty of market there. Not where I would choose but there's probably reason you chose there from family to job reasons.

I don't know what you're stocking rate is going to be there. Talk to local ranchers and the NRCS to get a baseline. Cows might be able to pay for the land there. They can't here. Typical stocking rate here is 1 pair per 30 acres on a good year. 1 per 50-100 on a drought year. Last year 100 acres couldn't feed a cow for a month.

There was a time land was cheap enough to make it work, but now with the market dry land with no water is going for 3000 an acre. But there is a lot of state land available to bid leases on and BLM as well. I would start by leasing ground there if you can find it. Use your profits to build your herd till you outgrow the leases. Then use your profits to buy land outright if you want to.

Thank you for the advice and I am choosing Wisconsin only because I have connections up here for cattle and feed. Land is getting really expensive but we have seen a few here and there that hasn’t been that bad. The only problem is finding a place to live to put on it too. I was also just thinking of starting with some steers to sell to make a little bit of a profit before getting into calving since I have the ability to buy good calves cheap since I raise them on the farm I work at. Do you think that would be a good place to start?

 

[gusea305]

Anybody have any tips on how to start up raising beef? I know how to raise cattle but just don’t know where to start in terms of land and how much. I live in Wisconsin and any advice helps!

The first thing I would do is disregard any "advice" from anyone who attempted to turn this post political.

I would talk to your universities extension services. They have all the scientific knowledge to help you succeed and can lay it out in terms that apply on the farm. As far as land goes there are programs through USDA to help beginning farmers aquire land. Your extension service will know about that too.

Good luck. I am sure you will succeed at anything you put your mind to.

https://www.wisconsin.edu/uwex/

 

[Ferd]

If you are making money with steers keep it up. Keep your eyes open, watching prices. When you see another way to make money, jump on it

 

[farmerjan]

I agree if you can get some good steers/calves at a cheap to reasonable price, that might be the best way to go for present. The goal is to make some money that you can earmark for future expansion. If I were there, and had a source of calves, that is what I would do. Have no advice on the land except that if there are any older farmers in the area that you know and like, maybe they would be willing to do some sort of owner finance for you so that they don't have to see their farm get cut up into pieces. Maybe find one to work with/for that would want to help you out and do some financing for you down the road, to buy their place. Keep you eyes open and maybe some place will come up that you want to try to be in the position to grab up. Save every extra penny you have and then you might have enough to convince a lender that you are industrious enough to make the payments.

 

[Buck Randall]

Land is not cheap in most parts of Wisconsin, but baby calves are easy to find and cheaper than almost anywhere else in the country. That's a good place to start if you've got time to feed them. You won't need much land, your initial investment will be relatively small, and the turnaround is quicker than cow/calf operations.

If you're able to raise uniform groups of 20+ to 400 pounds, there will be demand for them.

 

[Dave]

Start with leased land. Drive around looking for idle land. Talk to the land owners. Sharpen your pencil. If the price isn't right keep looking. The successful people I know who started with nothing started that way. They also worked a day job to pay their living expenses. That way they were able to roll all of their cattle profits back into growing their business.

 

[Buck Randall]

Drive around looking for idle land.

In Wisconsin, I'd say she's better off staying home and saving money on fuel. Places come up for rent, but they'll either be advertised or get snapped up quickly by insiders. Depending on where she is in the state, it might be nearly impossible to even rent land at a price that makes sense for cattle. Dairies, vegetable growers, and cash croppers can all pay a lot more.

 

[Bestoutwest]

I see a lot of folks suggesting bred cows to start with. Keep them through calving, separate and then sell each off before winter. Or LH/Corriente with a black bull to make good cheap calves. There's lots of ways to skin a cat.

My suggestion is to never invest money you can't afford to lose in live animals. Invest in anything you can sell if you quit. I can't really make money on my fencing materials, but I can sell my chute and panels, trailer, irrigation pipe and still have some money. But if I'm in debt on a cow and she dies, my money is gone unless I have her insured (which I don't).