Cattle

[jerrybob]

Difficult to make much money with that small of a herd. Fun hobby but lots of work. Vet bills can get pricey. Ever pull a calf? Lots to learn if just starting.

 

[kcflhrc]

I would suggest watching a few episodes of The Incredible Dr. Poll, that will give you a little insight.

Watch The Incredible Dr. Pol on National Geographic

 

[kenmac]

well, It seems like the majority that is in the cow business,or has been, are suggesting I just forget about the cow/calf business.

I owned an HVAC / Plumbing business. I sold out several yrs ago. I haven't worked in 3-4 yrs so I thought I would get into this, give me a little something to do, and make money at it.

If someone 60 with no experience in the HVAC /plumbing business ask me if they should venture into it, I would say no. But, it wouldn't because you can't make money in that business, it would just be too much to learn at 60 yrs old

I have a few chickens . I had no experience with chickens until I got them. They aren't much trouble to take care of. But from the comments I'm getting, cows would be allot more trouble to take care of than these dozen chickens I have.

Perhaps the old guys up here are shooting me straight. I was beginning to think it was in this big click, making good money, and they were just trying to keep the new guy from getting in on the action . LOL

 

[teejk]

I know a few people in the small herd business, some that raise and sell for the "finishing", some that go the extra step and go all the way to market. I don't think they lose money unless you count their time but they have land and equipment for their primary grain operations. One of the latter has established a loyal cliental that is willing to pay a premium for his beef. He's not rich but he does ok. Now a few posts up somebody talked about taxes...we still have those "hobby loss" rules so you have to demonstrate an intention to make a profit if you intend to write off the costs...no big deal really since at our low rates there is no incentive to lose $1 in order to get 30 cents back via taxes (if you disagree then forget cattle and get in touch with me...I'll gladly rebate 30 cents for every dollar you send).

 

[kenmac]

we still have those "hobby loss" rules so you have to demonstrate an intention to make a profit if you intend to write off the costs...no big deal really since at our low rates there is no incentive to lose $1 in order to get 30 cents back via taxes (if you disagree then forget cattle and get in touch with me...I'll gladly rebate 30 cents for every dollar you send).

I understand the write off thing. That is something they they keep telling me. It's all a tax write off.
Well, you still spend real money, and you don't get back 100% of what you write off .
So, what does a write of really do for you? They look at me like I'm crazy !
I may be, but they seem to think you get back more than they write off

Kind of like the guy up the hill that told me he made money off baling hay.
He has 100k in equipment, pays someone to fertilize and spray his fields, his fuel, his time, his maintenance of equipment, etc,. .
He says he sells his hay for $25.00-$30.00 per bale.
He hasn't been able to explain to me where the money is in this operation. I don't want to do as much work for no real gain

 

[buckeyefarmer]

well, It seems like the majority that is in the cow business,or has been, are suggesting I just forget about the cow/calf business.

I owned an HVAC / Plumbing business. I sold out several yrs ago. I haven't worked in 3-4 yrs so I thought I would get into this, give me a little something to do, and make money at it.

If someone 60 with no experience in the HVAC /plumbing business ask me if they should venture into it, I would say no. But, it wouldn't because you can't make money in that business, it would just be too much to learn at 60 yrs old

I have a few chickens . I had no experience with chickens until I got them. They aren't much trouble to take care of. But from the comments I'm getting, cows would be allot more trouble to take care of than these dozen chickens I have.

Perhaps the old guys up here are shooting me straight. I was beginning to think it was in this big click, making good money, and they were just trying to keep the new guy from getting in on the action . LOL

It's like a hobby, you do it because you like to do it. My dad is almost 95 and still has cattle. It's his life. It's now too much for him, but not having them would kill him.

 

[prof fate]

Typical of every farmer "Don't do it - no money it. No, i won't quit"...LOL
A co worker's husband has been doing it on the side for 40 years. He sells it as 'freezer beef' -

he buys GOOD calves (not at auction, from known breeders..it takes a while to learn this though).
He raises them, rotating weekly roughly, on small paddocks - let the grass grow in between. Not much hay needed. He buys the hay he needs - you cannot make money haying, MAYBE long term it can pay off. there are risks either way. Again, over time you get reliable supplliers and they get a reliable customer so no issues. EVENTUALLY.

His rotation limits the need to maintain pastures, clean manure, have disease. Over 40 years he's not got feeders/cover in every pasture. THey are like 2-3 acres each - so NOT big.

He takes orders for 1/4, 1/2 or whole steer - once he has the order for a full animal he takes it to the processor, they kill, butcher, pack and freeze. He picks up and brings back to his barn where he has a big walk in freezer. You pick up from him. He's selling CHEAP - for all the service - $2.80/lb for the poinds delivered. And it's the best beef I've bought.

Benefit is he takes steers year round - most here cull their herds twice a year, so you wait to buy..or sell as the case may be. He's got YEAR ROUND income!!
He also has a friend that does pork thru him.

Money...hard to say. From what I've been able to figure out, a calf runs $400 (yes, you can buy smaller and cheaper, but you get what you pay for). You raise them about a year, maybe a big longer depending. They are about 1800-2000 lbs at slaughter (on the hoof). 1/2 of that is waste (bones, guts, etc) so you'll have 800-900 lbs of salable beef - 55c of that 2.80 is for processing, so what, 2.25 a lb - $1600 ish gross on a steer, less the 400 - $1200.

What medical and what feed for a year?

Been thinking about getting into the cattle business. It would be small (10-15) cows.
I have no knowledge of the business, or what to do. So it would be a learning process.
Just thought I would try to make a little money, and have some help with the grass.

I just don't know if there is any money to be made in a small operation. I sure don't want to get myself into allot of work with very little,or no return.


I have discussed this with some of these older guys around me. About all I can get out of them is....
''Do you know know how to make a small fortune in the cow business ? I say no. The say start with a large fortune'' ! LOL

The thing is, They still have cows. When I ask why, they say. ''it's just a hobby, it gives me something to do''

So, any advise about getting cows, or not, would be appreciated

 

[prof fate]

As a former tax pro and home based business owner..

You sell a steer for $2000 say. That's income. You pay tax on income.

WAIT! - you fed the critter, fixed a fence, placed an ad, drove bessie to the butcher - all expenses.
BUT - you own a farm - 80% of the land is for farming...80% of the elec bill...the tractor...all expenses!

Before you know it, on paper, you're broke and pay no taxes!

Of course as much as possible is a business expenses...and you 'steal 'from the business like everyone steals from their employer - you know, toilet paper, postage, envelopes...

I understand the write off thing. That is something they they keep telling me. It's all a tax write off.
Well, you still spend real money, and you don't get back 100% of what you write off .
So, what does a write of really do for you? They look at me like I'm crazy !
I may be, but they seem to think you get back more than they write off

Kind of like the guy up the hill that told me he made money off baling hay.
He has 100k in equipment, pays someone to fertilize and spray his fields, his fuel, his time, his maintenance of equipment, etc,. .
He says he sells his hay for $25.00-$30.00 per bale.
He hasn't been able to explain to me where the money is in this operation. I don't want to do as much work for no real gain

 

[goeduck]

If it were me on small acreage the headache and work before your cattle are walking on two legs is A LOT of effort. I would rather have a pasture ornament old cow or two, buy hay and keep them walking on four legs.

 

[STx]

The trick to profitability in small scale agriculture is to find a niche market to serve. With a small beef herd, you need to be serving the grass finished, hormone free, all natural market. The best way to get started there is to raise a cow, process it under inspection and start selling cuts at farmers markets. It'll take time but, if you have good grass and grow good beef, you'll get regulars and build a market. It's helpful to have vegetables to drive traffic to your booth at a market. Gardening is a lot of work so if you don't want to grow them yourself, finding an Amish community or something similar nearby to provide those consistently will help. You can do just meat, it's a lot more profitable than vegetables but, the vegetables do a great job of increasing traffic and giving you an opportunity to upsell the beef.

We started selling pasture raised pork almost a year ago. We bought our first pigs in July 2017. It took us about 5 months to sell the first 2 pigs, we're now selling a little more than 1 pig per month. Rough numbers, our input costs per pig, including pigket, fuel, feed, processing, market fees, etc is around $800. We gross about $1200 from that pig so gross profit is around $400. It's not a lot of money but, a 25% margin isn't bad and volume is still growing. We enjoy the pigs and the markets, they force us to leave the property and interact with other humans. Most of the people we know here, we've met through the markets.

So, I say go for it but, don't try to raise 15 cows under the same model as a guy that's raising 1,500 cows. It's like trying to run a local hardware store as if you're Home Depot, it's not the same model and if you do, you're probably going to fail.