N80
Super Member
My experience is pretty limited when it comes to farming but I know one cattle rancher very well. Has about 300 head. Cuts about 2000 bales of hay a year. Bottom line is that there isn't great money in it. You might can make a lot of money in the giant feed lots, you might can make a lot of money selling the actual meet. But the business of selling calves is not lucrative. You have no control of the price per pound that you will be offered and even though the beef market has grown, the price per pound for calves has been relatively stagnant.
Like someone mentioned, a lot of the calves that are sent to big central feed lots are grown on small farms. Because these small farms are unconnected they have no leverage on the price per pound. (If they could somehow organize it might be different, but that's not likely).
He doesn't buy new equipment. In fact, he hardly buys any equipment at all. He has one big JD ( maybe 120 hp) that pulls the baler and the (big) manure spreader. It is from about 1978 and is his newest tractor. He has another JD that has the hay mower on it. Another JD, maybe 80 hp, that has the loader on it for moving bales. Two big old Cases for bush hogging. A small JD for post hole digging/fence repairs. Just bought NH a skid steer (very used) to load turkey manure into the spreader.
All that's just to say that folks like him are not accounting for tractor sales of any sort. And he's pretty typical of the other local guys. One guy down the street has two 'new' NH cab tractors. I'd say they are ten years old. He bought them when he came into some money, not with farm money.
Like someone mentioned, a lot of the calves that are sent to big central feed lots are grown on small farms. Because these small farms are unconnected they have no leverage on the price per pound. (If they could somehow organize it might be different, but that's not likely).
He doesn't buy new equipment. In fact, he hardly buys any equipment at all. He has one big JD ( maybe 120 hp) that pulls the baler and the (big) manure spreader. It is from about 1978 and is his newest tractor. He has another JD that has the hay mower on it. Another JD, maybe 80 hp, that has the loader on it for moving bales. Two big old Cases for bush hogging. A small JD for post hole digging/fence repairs. Just bought NH a skid steer (very used) to load turkey manure into the spreader.
All that's just to say that folks like him are not accounting for tractor sales of any sort. And he's pretty typical of the other local guys. One guy down the street has two 'new' NH cab tractors. I'd say they are ten years old. He bought them when he came into some money, not with farm money.