jyoutz
Super Member
It depends. My neighbor has only 900 acres of dry land pasture with good summer rain, but dry spring and fall. Not suitable for haying. He produces about 50 head annually of butcher beef. He has it custom packed and sells meat to the boutique butcher shops that sell “grass fed” beef to restaurants and individuals who pay above market prices. He doesn’t sell live head, just meat.The only profitable cattle people I'm observed have good land, and a lot of it. A mixture of both meadows and dry land.
It's an economies of scale proposition. Hobby ranchers don't make it.