What do you do with your cattle?

[Waldershrek]

Just curious what everybody does with their cattle here. Show them, eat them, sell calves, sell to be slaughtered, direct meat sales?

I'm assuming some or most of you sell hay or something as well?

 

[Isomade]

All of the above.

 

[dutchcowboy]

Sell a lot more than I eat :mrgreen:

 

[Waldershrek]

Who do you sell to? Do just advertise locally and have an agreement with a local processor to do all the butchering?

 

[cowboy43]

Texas-- majority sale at the local cattle auctions

 

[TexasBred]

Our operation is strictly for enjoyment....a hobbiest I guess i would be called. We sell a few registered bulls every year private treaty and keep a few of the best heifers...the rest just go to the sale barn.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Use them to convert grass to cash.

 

[Isomade]

Our operation is strictly for enjoyment....a hobbiest I guess i would be called. We sell a few registered bulls every year private treaty and keep a few of the best heifers...the rest just go to the sale barn.

:secret: hope your CPA ain't online. :cowboy:

 

[Waldershrek]

For those selling to a sale barn......you raise them from calves and sell them when they are slaughter weight?

I'm trying to get a herd going as a hobby at first, maybe it will turn into something bigger in time. I'm a little confused as to which way to go. I would like to just raise them and sell to a sale barn but I was under the impression I will lose money that way. Anybody in the Northeast on here to provide some regional insight?

I'd also like to sell some hay. I have some land available around my parents I could use for cheap if not free.

 

[Brute 23]

Sale Barn and to eat

We sell calves when the prices are high or the grass is low.

 

[upfrombottom]

Just curious what everybody does with their cattle here.

I put them in a pen and throw money at them till I run out, sell a couple to get more money, then throw it at what's left.

 

[tsmaxx47]

eat some sell some...

 

[Poundsy]

I use mine as a reason to drink beer. I would just look like a drunk sitting in a barn drinking beer,but with cattle around I am "working".

 

[Isomade]

Just curious what everybody does with their cattle here.

I put them in a pen and throw money at them till I run out, sell a couple to get more money, then throw it at what's left.

:lol:

 

[TexasBred]

Just curious what everybody does with their cattle here.

I put them in a pen and throw money at them till I run out, sell a couple to get more money, then throw it at what's left.

You are one brutally honest man. :clap: Probably a more common practice than any of us want to admit.

 

[farmwriter]

Sell most shortly after weaning at local sale.
Keep a few heifers for replacements, and any steers that won't bring as much (read - not solid or nearly solid black) we feed out and eat/sell for beef.

 

[SRBeef]

For those selling to a sale barn......you raise them from calves and sell them when they are slaughter weight?

I'm trying to get a herd going as a hobby at first, maybe it will turn into something bigger in time. I'm a little confused as to which way to go. I would like to just raise them and sell to a sale barn but I was under the impression I will lose money that way. Anybody in the Northeast on here to provide some regional insight?

I'd also like to sell some hay. I have some land available around my parents I could use for cheap if not free.

Selling hay requires management and fertilizer - more than a hobby generally gets - or you are just mining your soil.

Why not rotationally graze the ground rather than hay it? Tough to make money selling hay when you consider the true costs of raising and putting up quality hay. When you have hay so does everyone else and prices are low. When prices are high it is usually because you and others don't have any to sell.

If you make hay for your own use you need to have the equipment & time etc necessary to make sure the manure gets spread back out on the gorund the hay came from or your are still mining your soils...

I would graze the ground & learn about the benefits of rotational grazing. There is a learning curve. You could start slowly and build your knowledge. You also need some handling facilites, fences and water.

One of the benefits of starting out as a "hobby" is that it lets you learn and get set up at a reasonable pace. You do not need to have a net positive return the first year. Reinvest and build slowly as you learn. jmho. Good luck, Jim

edit: as in any new business, start out thinking about the sales end rather than the input end of the business: what are you going to sell, to whom, when, what quantity and how much are they willing to pay for it???

Define what is it you like to sell, want to sell and have a market for.
Then back into the beginning part of it once you establish the output side. jmho and experience.

 

[shaz]

I use mine as a reason to drink beer. I would just look like a drunk sitting in a barn drinking beer,but with cattle around I am "working".

Glad I'm not the only one

 

[backhoeboogie]

We're always just one drought away.

Sell a bit of hay in years like this one. Keep a good stock of hay just in case it doesn't rain for months. Cows are holding their own for now.

 

[I luv herfrds]

We raise the calves to 6 months of age. Wean and ship them to the sale barn.
There are some heifer calves we keep back to fill the numbers in the herd. Also keep back some steers to finish out and eat ourselves or sell to friends.

Now the hay we put up we keep to feed our own cattle. We do not sell it. Never know out here when you might not have a hay crop.