> Thanks! That points me in the
> right direction. Do county Ag
> agents know anything about this?
Some know a lot more than others. And if your are serious about getting into the business of raising stockers you need to get with a good large animal vet (or someone with significant experience) to design a vaccination and worming program. One of the most critical phases, if not the most, is getting the calves from the sale barn (or seller's ranch) onto your place in a healthy condition. Lots of "bugs" floating around sale barns, and also have shipping fever, etc. to be concerned with. Essentially you will need to plan on giving them a sort of "barrage" of shots on the day they arrive at your place. A few sick or dead ones can pretty well reduce your chances of making a profit. Need a good order buyer if you are not sufficiently experienced. Learn what you can about hedging. Obviously you need to learn all you can about the markets you will be selling into and buying from. Need to have well informed and thought out decisions as to whether you will buy pre-conditioned animals or those just off the cow, weight ranges, breed specifics, steers versus heifers, etc., etc. Consider yourself to be a farmer --- your crop is grass, so you really need to know how to grow it --- your "combine" is the calves. Those are just a few issues to learn about, there are many more.