Anybody raise cattle for profit?

[GPintheMitten]

My exwifes uncle was a big dairy farmer. The family joke was: Are you making money? They would say, Piles and piles!

Haha! My wife likes the poo for her compost piles, that's for sure.

 

[TSO]

Didn't read all the comments.. but the law of the land is 200 pounds pre acre,, so the understanding is you need a 800 pound cow.. with a calf that doesn't eat grass.. Okay.. now think Goats.. three goats and Billy.. times two or six kids pre year times sixty.. or 360 dollars pre year.. plus tax deduction,, plus equipment.. plus seed.. plus labor.. which is deductible or bale the four acres and sell the hay if it of high quality,, 20% protein or better.. Jiggs or T-86.. 6.00 dollars pre square bale,, used equipment can be costly.. someone to come in and bale for you at half the cost. A good field could get 6 to 8 hundred bales per year.. with your half 18 to 24 hundreds dollars a year.. less deducts.. Lou

I didn't follow everything you said exactly... but I get the gist. I would have loved to do hay originally, but everyone talked me out of it, and said that haying only 8 acres would not yield enough to make it worth my time. I had figured if I could spend less than $2000 on all the equipment (used... and I'm pretty much handy enough to maintain and/or fix it if/when needed) then I should be able to "pay for" the equipment within just a year or 2. I figured if I could only just manage 50 bales per acre, per year... then 400 bales, and only $5/bale, would pay back $2000. I know that doesn't include my costs, but I thought it would be a safe number set. I've read & heard that I could get up to 100 bales/acre/year... but I wouldn't know until I actually tried it. I had a few fellas on here tell me to go for it, and that they made it work ... but I had mostly negative views for that prospect.

Again, I am realistic and understand that 8 acres will not make me rich. So I was going to shift to pumpkins (and/or berries, trees, xmas trees, apples, etc...) and pumpkins were really easy & cheap to grow this year. But, the hardest part would be marketing them and actually selling them. I could easily get 1000-2000 pumpkins on 8 acres, but wholesale prices might be as low as $1.00 - 1.50 each, and the property is much less usable growing pumpkins. Besides the initial investment, I would think hay would have more potential... even considering the limited space I have.

I also thought I could advertise to offer small scale custom baling work to people like me with smaller properties... people that don't have the equipment but want to harvest their own hay... and people who might be ignored by the bigger buys around here.

Still just trying to bounce around as many ideas as possible ... every comment, negative or positive, is helpful --- so thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[Lou66]

There is a market for small lot baling,, I have a lot of people call me to bale less than 10 Acres,, but it is not worth the time or equipment unless its across the street,, if I have to trailer everything to a field it got to be 25 acres or more.. but there is a market for someone willing to do the small fields.. I make more money off my hay field than cows.. I run around 20 mother cows a year on 55 acres which is pushing it.. I sell between 12 to 16 calves,, I have 16 acres in hay.. but on a good year I get 5 cutting.. I will make my last cutting in about week from now.. I have 71 acres,, haying is the way to go and small square bales will always sell..I round bale 4 x 5.. net wrap.. Lou

 

[Circle W]

Have you ever thought about raising deer? My family raise deer on about 15 acres in Oklahoma and I know they have them there in Michigan. The initial investment is a little high, mainly because of the fence. But you can easily run 30 head of deer on 8 acres, since they are not grazers and prefer to browse on leaves.

 

[dwhite]

I was like you 4 years ago. We started a cow/calf herd without any knowledge and learned as we went. We already had the fencing and barn. We just added water troughs to allow dividing the pastures. We have about 12 acres but 4 of that is only grazed in fall/winter. We've kept a heifer each year and now have 7 cows (lost one to age and one in birth.) We will make a profit this (our third) year. We lost money the first two. We are trying to show profit every second or third year. If you already have the fences and water, I'd say give it a try.

 

[TSO]

Have you ever thought about raising deer? My family raise deer on about 15 acres in Oklahoma and I know they have them there in Michigan. The initial investment is a little high, mainly because of the fence. But you can easily run 30 head of deer on 8 acres, since they are not grazers and prefer to browse on leaves.

LOL as it is, I raise then involuntarily. They're here daily anyhow, can basically sit on my porch to hunt them ;-)

What do u do with them after you raise them? Just sell the venison?

I was like you 4 years ago. We started a cow/calf herd without any knowledge and learned as we went. We already had the fencing and barn. We just added water troughs to allow dividing the pastures. We have about 12 acres but 4 of that is only grazed in fall/winter. We've kept a heifer each year and now have 7 cows (lost one to age and one in birth.) We will make a profit this (our third) year. We lost money the first two. We are trying to show profit every second or third year. If you already have the fences and water, I'd say give it a try.

No fencing yet. .. No irrigation there either. I'd have to run pipes still.

I'm reconsidering hay again ... can anyone recommend a small baler I can run off my 47hp? One that is cheap, and easy enough to work on. ... ?

 

[corl]

I think I have been raising DEER for years but not intentionally. A vegetable garden will attract them and there are a lot of deer in SE Pa. Could sell hunting rights but I encourage bow hunters to come harvest. The vegetable enterprise is a better money maker for me than the beef business was and has been growing about 30% a year since I started. Mine is a one person operation so it will never get too big, but if labor is not a problem then a few acres of vegetable produce will give a reasonable return. Must grow into your market so need to start small. Nunamaker Farms - Nunamaker Farms in West Grove, Pennsylvania - Home

 

[Circle W]

LOL as it is, I raise then involuntarily. They're here daily anyhow, can basically sit on my porch to hunt them ;-)

What do u do with them after you raise them? Just sell the venison?



No fencing yet. .. No irrigation there either. I'd have to run pipes still.

I'm reconsidering hay again ... can anyone recommend a small baler I can run off my 47hp? One that is cheap, and easy enough to work on. ... ?

There isn't really a venison market yet, it would be nice if they could make that happen. We sell our excess bucks that we do not want to use as breeders to hunting preserves. You can sell 200 inch antlered bucks for 5K all day long. It usually takes them about 3 years to get there, depending on quality of genetics.

 

[corl]

A New Holland baler for small bales would work on your tractor. The weekly newspaper "The Lancaster Farmer" has ads for sale and I am sure there are similar publications where you live. I baled hay for years just cutting it with a disk mower, raked it and baled it. You can find a sickle bar mower for your tractor cheap and a half worn out rake as well. The old balers may have knot problems but they can be fixed. Stay away from wire balers which are also cheap if you find them but the wire is a mess to use and dispose of without the cows eating it.

 

[TSO]

A New Holland baler for small bales would work on your tractor. The weekly newspaper "The Lancaster Farmer" has ads for sale and I am sure there are similar publications where you live. I baled hay for years just cutting it with a disk mower, raked it and baled it. You can find a sickle bar mower for your tractor cheap and a half worn out rake as well. The old balers may have knot problems but they can be fixed. Stay away from wire balers which are also cheap if you find them but the wire is a mess to use and dispose of without the cows eating it.

Great, thanks. I've seen some NH 273 and/or JD 14t / 24t balers around ... is that similar to what you're talking about?

There isn't really a venison market yet, it would be nice if they could make that happen. We sell our excess bucks that we do not want to use as breeders to hunting preserves. You can sell 200 inch antlered bucks for 5K all day long. It usually takes them about 3 years to get there, depending on quality of genetics.

You know, that's something I never even thought about. Are they difficult & expensive to keep? What type of "area per deer" do you like to stick with?