Can't keep doing this or I'll lose the farm! Go Broke? You tell me!
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- Опубліковано 6 бер 2024
- Can't keep doing this or I'll lose the farm! Go Broke? You tell me! Come along today as we talk about the reality of small farms like mine. How we need to find a balance with our livestock that doesn't run the farm into the ground with expenses. Tools/Goodies on my Amazon page here: www.amazon.com/shop/stoneyrid... (Stoney Ridge Amazon Affiliate Page)
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How Stoney Ridge Farmer earns a living: ua-cam.com/video/jkupcoZb6ag/v-deo.html Getting nailed with piles of comments on this one...mostly about equipment...folks this is about cattle/land and hay costs...the cattle side of the business must earn it's keep. Clearly I can afford hay...this is about earning v/s spending on the animals...you've gotta understand the diversified income here
If it is about the land/soil, then figure out how many head your land will maintain when you get your pastures restored. I would guess that number would be about 2.5 acres per cow. You have 80 acres of pasture, then you could do about 27 cows. The calves up to 1 year don't count toward your 27. The steers, if you decide to keep past 1 year to feed out on grass, count against your 27. The hay costs now should just be to cover you till your soil is good and you get good grass/clover growth. Goal is to NOT bring hay in. Any hay you do feed is from the spring flush when you have more grass than you know what to do with, and that hay NEVER leaves your property. Good luck! I'm doing something very similar but started with 4 cow/calf pairs and have 60 acres to work with so will get closer to 20 adult animals and have my own hay equipment and a 6 acres alfalfa field as part of the 60 acres.
Sell calves little bulls and heifers keep your brood stock open more pasture land you said in previous video that was future make that priority
There’s a lot of iron and steel on your farm. You can only drive one at a time. Keep a select few that are used and sell the rest. You’re either a regenerative farmer or a used car collector. Just my thoughts.
TRUE
Couldn't Agree More
As a Financial advisor, I would suggest it is time to start getting lean. Maybe time to start thinning down assets that are not being used, vehicles, equipment, etc.. Not only for the initial cash from the sale, (short term) but also the savings from insurance, maintenance, time cost etc (long term). Tough decisions for sure, but the relief will be felt in multiple ways. Just a thought. Slow down growth of the farm and Projects. I understand there is a balance with UA-cam and Farming. I would think that the content from getting lean would be awesome content as well.
Hello, I am from Chile and I need a translator, sorry, no translated language, I would add that you must plan your livestock work. How much grass do I need per year, for how many cows, Use the holistic management of Aln Savory, Voisan, which gives you plans and statistics to manage your pastures. You will have to see how to improve your pastures by planting or improving what you have. I congratulate you, you have a nice ranch, but a lot of investment requires a lot of planning. I'll give you an example, the only thing I have is a 30-year-old truck and a horse, with that I handle 50 animals. With the little I worry about investing in bales for the year by counting the animals. I don't have more than I can feed, plan. Greetings.
I agree that getting lean would be great content as well. And I have also thought that there seems to be a LOT of assets around for a first generation farm.
I agree . Are you running a business or a hobby farm. Does make for good content.
WestTexas, that looks like good advice. Professionals can make good suggestions.
Do cost comparison of less hay because less herd.
Find the right herd size to rotate around farm without touching the said proper section for 60 days for grass rest.
That is optimal. Especially as hay costs increase. Don’t by baling equip. That’s wrong direction cost wise.
Bales are only supplemental then and backup. Just enough bales to help heal certain areas
FYI I’m in same position now on a smaller scale. I sent two weaned steers from here of 7 on 12 acres in IN.
I can remember my grandfather’s only farm truck when I was a child. He still drove that truck 30 years later before he passed. As a life-long farmer, he understood how to make sure he could feed his cattle. It was about his animals, not what he might have wanted.
I'd imagine your grandfather had to make similar decisions.....can't keep every animal that's born on the farm....maybe you're confused ......we are not talking about "not affording" hay....we're talking about the financial decision to stop spending and take some return by selling some animals ....as every farm/ranch does my friend. This is simply about learning when to "lean out" the herd for profitability
@@StoneyRidgeFarmer well with all do respect. The title of your vid set the tone for your viewers. Maybe a different worded title would get a different response from people. “ Time to Lean the herd- making money on a farm” instead of i might go broke
Amen to that.
Since you have about 4 ATVs that all seem to be the same and you usually use only one of them, I would say sell some of them to finance the farm. You can buy these toys again in the future when your farm is finally self-sufficient. For now those cars and ATVs are just locking your working capital. For now focus on building a self-sufficient operation. It's no use having toys lying idle on the farm when you haven't yet broken even
Well rolling out bales of hay can cause waste cows won't eat spoiled hay ( or at least mine won't) so I place my hay in a fence line feeder I built myself ( UA-cam taught me) I cut my hay usage from 3 bales to literally 2 bales every 4 days with 25 to 40 head of cattle and I also startled doing salad bar grazing look up Joel salarin salad bar beef basically you plant a variety of clover grass and grains that thrive year round . Hope this gives you some insight
*Salatin
Good stuff 👍
Good day from Ontario. Yes hay feeder of some type, will really pay off. Thanks
Good advice. He stills other issues for it to be sustainable. Prime example my dad had 45 milk cows and my uncle had 45 beef and we farmed around 200 acres and we had enough for all those cows and usually had left over. Don't get me wrong the soil was really good.
Cut back on the equipment you have that you could live without. Sell some of the vehicles you don't absolutely need. Just a suggestion. Not trying to be sarcastic. What is the option of growing produce to bring in more income? Let people pick it themselves. There are many options. You have to ask your self what works for you. It's a tough decision.
I have no idea what I’m talking about, but one thought is to keep the pregnant heifers until you get to your acreages max. carrying capacity, then you can sell many more each year. Your pastures will improve quicker, and you’ll need less hay. For this year, sell off some toys.
I see a lot of sage grass which tells me that your soil is in the acidic stages. you need lime to correct this problem which will increase your grass production. also a mixture of legumes with your grass will increase the protein going into your cows stomach, plus it will feed the grass nitrogen which will produce more feed for your cows. Personally , I don't consider lime as a commercial fertilizer. soil testing will help you make decisions that make money and feed animals!
Lime & Phosphate
I understand the issue with commercial fertilizer and I fed the same way. However, either plant a variety of grass that can thrive in acidic soil. Phosphorus (phosphate) will also eliminate sedge if the pH is correct.
Also - I roll out my hay as well. I have found that the whole bale doesn’t need to be unrolled with that amount of head. Waste is too high.
Sell your cattle online versus the local market - if prices aren’t where you want locally.
Josh you should look into Sea-90. It is an all natural fertilizer and is completely safe for the cows. If you sprayed it on the pasture you moved the cow's off I can tell you you they couldn't eat all the grass that would be there when they rotate back to that pasture. I have been using it for 3 years
Thought he was, or was that another channel I’m thinking of?
Anyway, if it’s what I’m thinking, it’s seaweed & horse manure.
@@sunshine3914No manure involved, it's basically sea salt with all of the minerals. I use it in my garden and it works miracles. I also put some in a salt grinder for culinary use as well.
So we were sort of in that boat with hay. To make more we needed a bigger barn and upgraded equipment. But the cost would be more than we could produce, and renting is tough with land developers snuffing around picking up anything not being used. After looking atbour options we chose Christmas trees. Huge demand in our area and our location and ground is perfect. We will still do hay, but just not expand😊. Sometimes hard choices lead to better decisions ❤
I would take about 5 to auction which should get you through the rest of this winter. By the time to feed hay again you should have sold beef.
Thank you for your service.
Josh, Here’s my 2 cents. Reduce your head count some. Second if possible cut/bale hay on one or 2 fields.
Third build a place to store hay inside. Outside storage of hay here in Kentucky is roughly 50% loss just due to weather.
Store as much hay inside as possible.
Fourth I would work toward feeding cattle inside. (Reduce waste but capture fertilizer that you can spread later)
Lastly change up your breeding schedule so that when you are ready to part with the cattle when grass production is at the lowest and hay cost is highest.
I agree with you 100% but I'd like to add to it.. Sell a few of the vehicles he has that's not essential to the farm. I think I counted 9 in the last couple videos.
Selling the cows now does not solve the long term issue which is your land can’t support that many cows, at this point. You have to figure out how many head your land can sustain and stay within that. With that much property you should be able to take hay off it to help supplement what you have to buy in the off months. Haying equipment isn’t cheap, but selling off unused iron can offset the cost and or cover it. Over seeding a cold season rye can help in the winter, while having lime brought in can help with growth all around. Eating an elephant one bite at a time has to be the mindset, if pasture quality can’t support 50 cows, you can’t have 50 cows. You can figure out a plan to scale to 50 and slowly execute, ensuring you remain profitable while you work to your end goal. Getting too big too quick and not remaining profitable is the downfall of every small business.
The first thing I thought of is to cash in on some of the toys. Then I start reading the comments and find I'm not the only one who thinks that way. I'd keep all the cows and keep growing the business.
toys earn, cows earn very little....you've gotta understand what I do for a living here my friend...this isn't just a farm with 50 cows...I employ staff, content creation is my "day job" cattle and the farming side goes along with it...but the cattle need to earn a profit also
Seems like an early spring here in Texas. Hold on as long as you can and pray for green grass on the horizon. Reap the benefits of that beautiful manure as long as you can to benefit the soil. That’s your platform so stick to it and see where it takes you.
Reduce your stock count. And, it's none of my business, but maybe you don't need all of these cars you seem to keep buying. You could start a used car lot with all the vehicles I see.
I've said that in the beginning, and the great big barn is full of trucks and not farm equipment. You could have built the barn half that size and added on later. Maybe put some good fertilizer on a field and grow your hay faster and bail it yourself. The truth hurts.
Cars and quads, a way more than necessary.
TRUE
I totally agree about the car lol and other crap is a smart idea.
Why can’t you sell all of the beef yourself? Wouldn’t that be more profitable?
@@bruceflynn9711 He's working towards going direct to consumer, however it's involved and the processing has to be done by an USDA certified abattoir. Which is also expensive, plus it takes awhile to get the flow of finished beef setup. He has way too many toys. ATV's, SxS's, tractors, cars, trucks and so on. There is a John Deere that almost never gets used, He could get $15K to $20K for it probably.
I have a 130 farm in Kentucky 40 acres in pasture and remainder in crops. I find the cheapest weaning calfs I can find when the grass starts to come in and leave them on my pastures until it frost when grass stockpile starts to die off. I then sell them all and do it all over again next year.
Simple... 'conservation of resources' is the key. You can apply that to Finances, Equipment, Land, Livestock, Food, Water, etc, etc.
Have you had a look at high yield cover cropping and strip feeding they cattle.
Crops like kale and radish intermixed with grasses. commonly used on small farms in aus and NZ.
Its a bit more work each day to move your strip fence. but the cover crop will feed the soil as well as the cattle as you move them through the paddocks
family used similar to feed 30-50 head of cattle and 20 horses through long winters across 2x 5-10 acre paddocks with 1 round bale of silage hay every 2nd day in each paddock. ( horses also got some barley each day as well)
Here with good grass and good soil it takes 2 acres per cow. This gives us a small stock pile of grass for the winter. I believe with the cattle you have now you will be over grazing the land and that would set back what you are trying to accomplish with the soil. Great video as always
I have poor soil as well, almost completely DG. To correct this, I've be chipping dead trees and composting all organic waste. But, it's not enough, so neighbors with horses, chickens, etc. all that waste bedding comes here along with green waste from the county. All free other than time. Tilled into the top 8 inches first round and every other round just gets spread around on top. It's only been 6 months since I started this and have been able to add 4½ of compost to 10 acres so far.
At least in my area there are loads of free sources of compost or compostable materials. I have spread seeds for soil enhancing plants over a few acres to help break up the DG, get Nitrogen and Carbon into the soil as well. I don't run cattle, but the grazers I have love the plant diversity/selection and are doing incredible now.
Good luck brother.
Love watching this guy!!!
I am just making a suggestion based on my dad's farm. This will not help in the short term but more for next year . I would separate your best 25 acres of grass and use it to produce hay. After the harvest I would open that area back up for grazing. That way the cows will fertilize that area.
My dad had a farm of 125 acres of very poor land that supported 50 head of cattle. He harvested food stock such as rye that grows on poor soil. It was cut green to make a hay product. Good luck.
Gotta understand that when you cut hay, you've gotta put something back.....we have zero top soil on the farm, we've gotta build that up in order to grow the best forage and hay, then we'll start harvesting in rotation, but for now we're regenerating the soil....we've gotta build our soil first brotha
@@StoneyRidgeFarmer I respect what you are trying to do. There some grass crops that thrive in poor sandy soil and will build the soil because their roots extend very deep to extract nutrient from below the top soil and use the carbon from the air to build nitrogen in their roots. Unfortunately I have been away from the farm too long to remember the name of the grass. I know rye grains do very well on poor dry sandy soil.
Your idea of daily rotation of your fields is excellent and allows the grass to recover. Are there any poultry operations in your area that want a place to dispose of the manure. Excellent for the soil.
Again I wish you luck.
Should have overseeded some of the pasture in rye. It would be ready to graze to now and alleviate some of your hay consumption by now.
That's what we do and it grows basically all year in sw washington...cut our hay cost in half...its a cheat code....*and winter oats
I have heard this too. I did it for 2 seasons. But I have also heard rye will eventually choke out my fescue.
@@roberthilton9884Where he lives here in NC that isn't happening. It will do well in early spring and late fall but soon as daytime temps start hitting 80 degrees that stuff has had it. It is gone.
Good to hear. I am in Georgia so maybe I'll go back to seeding rye in the winter.
@@roberthilton9884 I've found that if you graze it or mow it right at the dough stage of the seed head it will terminate...sake with buckwheat,oats and winter wheat..we usually graze it and then roller crimp the leftover
This is going to be an unpopular opinion on youtube but you should consider getting bale feeders. You would save anywhere from 20-50% of your hay. Yes I know, it doesn't follow the "spread it on the pasture and let them free graze it and build soil" routine BUT you're not going to be in business if you don't start saving feed. If I was in your shoes I would:
1) Sell 10-20% of your bottom performers
2) Purchase 3 maybe 4 round bale feeders
3) You can move your bale feeders to prevent erosion/build up of waste OR scrape it up later and hire someone to spread it.
4) Consider putting out a molasses lick tub along with their pasture - make sure there's ample salt/mineral
You will be shocked at the amount of feed savings you will get with feeders, if you really must spread the hay on ground to build the soil then consider spreading just 1 out of the 3 OR consider bale unrolling during times when you know you have enough hay. Rough math says you could put two bales in feeders, spread the third bale, and then just spread a bale a day for 2 more days. Hay feeders are standard practice in Wisconsin because you can't unroll bales where there is 4-5 feet of snow. You can still build soil while trying to save your hay.
When unrolling hay you only need to unroll what they will clean up in two to three hours. I know you are trying to build up your soil but there has to be a balance somewhere. Are you buying quality hay or just whatever?If it is higher quality hay it will be very expensive to use i t t for ground building if they are wasting a lot.
Are the cows the only asset you have that could readily be turned into cash? Not sure what you deal with the TYM Tractors is, but it seems as though we haven't seen you use your JD in forever. If your deal on the TYM tractors is long term, could you possibly turn your JD into cash, and keep the cow assets until they bring you a greater profit? Also, I believe you said you are selling the Raptor. If so, could proceeds from that bring you some hay? Bottom line is that culling the herd will slow your progress on reaching your goal with the farm. Other assets may not be helping you as much as the cows are.
Around here, he could exchange that Raptor for 800 - 1,000 round bales.
@@sunshine3914he's already selling it
he coukld ditch the old 5 speed cummins for about the same lol@@sunshine3914
Traditional small business cash flow business. Solution: reduce inflows (1-time and recurring expenses). Increase outflows (sell off a number of animals). From my limited perspective, you need to generate cattle commensurate with the amount of inputs (hay) the property can produce. If that means you have 10 head, you have 10 head until that number goes up.
Until further notice, I would also hit pause on discretionary infrastructure expenses ... structures. equipment. vehicles. etc ... until your cash flow is net positive on whatever you intend to sell to the community.
Its funny, when we had cows i couldnt get them to eat snything but our hay. No corn no pellets, no sweet or molassas. I was dead worried theyd be tough, but they were fully tasty, best beef ever! Short horn belted crosses 😊
You have a lot of “toys” relative most 1st gen farmers.
New chutes, new tractors, latest technology, etc cost $$$$
Just saying.
Yea that raptor wouldn't be found on a farm growing up and none of our equipment was new or needed to go to the dealer for repair, just a session with the crackerbox.
Neither would that big ole expensive and highly unnecessary squeeze chute
He does have a lot of fancy stuff. My grandparents ran a 130 acre farm with 35 head with a 1948 Ford 8N and a Farmall from the 1930s. And this was in the 80s.
@@franciscodanconia4324Same for my dad in the 80s, but his herd was a tax write off & his weekend hobby. Weekdays, he drove in style.
@matthewkirby4245 definitely a UA-cam farmer. You can't live off of 50 beef cows and a couple chickens and have everything he has.
I often thought you were going pretty quick on head per acre when the land is not suited for fast recovery. It's hard to go slow and fix a couple things/pastures when you have a big picture in mind. For me, control smaller areas while prepping the next sections.
Can you go to round bale feeders to slow down the hay loss until you can graze? Then in the fall you can go back to bale grazing to build soil. That way you can sell off less cows... Just a thought.
I was thinking about the round feeders myself then there not peeing and popping on it
Problem is they totally destroy the area all around a feeder...kind of a step backwards as far as fixing the soil/pasture goes
One thing I've never noticed, or seen a video on, is minerals for your cattle. With poor land, cattle will be deficient in certain things and they try to eat more to make up for these deficiencies. A good mineral program is important, and will help reduce the amount of hay they consume.
ua-cam.com/video/tFeX2bEk7vs/v-deo.html here's what you're looking for brother
OK, I once suggested you get chicken house liter spread across your fields. You said there just wasn't any chicken houses around your area. Which I found to be not true. You have Holly farms in Wilksboro, so that means there are chicken farms up there. There will be both laying houses and grower houses. Chickens get rotated out every (I forget how often) weeks. Every time they go out, someone has to clean out the houses, which means chicken litter mixed with saw dust. Which it doesn't take long to decompose. The people that clean out the houses, be it the farmer or someone the farmer hires to clean out the houses will be stock piling chicken litter/compost. Who ever cleans the houses will also either a. have a spreader truck, or B. sell their litter to someone who does. It has to be got rid of! So my suggestion is to go to Holly Farms, find the (mostly) local chicken farmers, and contact them. This will heal your land a lot faster, and allow you to raise more cows. Now, a smart farmer will earn money in different ways. Like you, you earn or will earn from your farm, and you earn from You Tube. Now (and this part you won't like) When you build the fancy mega shops and buy all these vehicles, it's difficult to us viewers to think you have money woes. With over 3/4 of a million subscribers, and all the views and comments, we have learned that you make a good living at this you tube games. So, one hand feeds the other, you have one great money maker now(you Tube), so invest in the other(the cows) with increasing your grass growth with the litter, more cows, and maybe even to bail some of your own hay. Also, you have the property, you yourself could put 3 or 4 chicken houses on your property, Ad in some pigs, and then you'll have or eventually have 4 strong earners. If you look at some of the "out west farms" you'll find a model of pigs chickens and cows, where one basically feeds the other. And they do it on a lot worse land than what you have. Now, I know all of that model is not what or how you wanna do things. But, there are parts of it that would help you out and stay with your same focus of 100% grass fed beef. So take care of the pennies( toy, cars and so on) and the dollars will come. Not a short term fix, but a long term that will get yo where you want to be faster.
Only way we can make cattle farming work is putting our chicken litter on the pastures and hay fields and cutting and baling our own hay . You made a very good point in your comment
You're a smart guy, you already know the answer, ain't nothing I can suggest. Keep up the good work
Prayer always works for me.
Have to stay within parameters of what your place can produce. Sometimes drought,weather controls a lot of what you have to do. Its hard as we tend to fall in love with our bovines. Good luck.
In Richmond County in southern NC I have seen several cow pastures with very green grass all winter. Not sure what type of winter grasses they planted but the cows look happy grazing on it.
Josh, I am in Franklin County, VA and similar soils and climate as you have. It takes 2 acres of pasture per cow/calf. Using that factor on 85 acres, a maximum of 40 momma cows should be kept to allow the grass to regenerate and maintain the top condition of the grasses. That leaves a few acres for steers and bulls. That number may also allow some spring cuttings of hay. Fall over seeding is a good idea, the growth on that may provide some hay as well. I think the idea of either leasing cows to another farmer, maybe on a calf division basis or just renting them out directly to other farmers or homesteaders. Good luck. Tomg
If you can find a local farmer or land owner that does not want to cut the grass you can get them to let you bail the hay. buying it is probably cheaper if you have to buy the equipment but if you have the equipment?
Do what needs to be done Josh When its all said and done you will be better off and you can continue to do what is right for the land and your animals some lucky person is gonna benefit from your decision you'll be in good shape I know you're a smart man and will come out ahead good luck and God bless you for doing the right thing on your farm
Reduce herd to a minimum and Invest some of that money into soil samples. Apply lime per the soil samples.
Stop looking at commercial fertilizer as evil. Have it applied to help mend the soil as it works hand in hand with the lime application.
If don’t produce or remove the hay those nutrients should stay in the soil with ruminant animals.
Focus on trying to heal the soil, stock pile grass, and limit your stocking density until the ground can support more mouths to feed. This will reduce the need for extra hay in the future.
Good luck!
You are doing a great job my friend! Your land will start sustaining your herd better in the next year or two and the number if days feeding hay will start dropping significantly. You would of had those extra 30 days last fall if it were not got the drought. You have done it right. Even though we would really like to buy one of your 500 lb steers I know good and well you are going to be able to sell way more than 3 for beef this fall. Our little operation sold 2 last fall and your reach is so much longer than ours. Your cows are beautiful so I know it will be hard to cull some, but keep us in mind Miracle does need a few and it means a lot on how well these were raised.
Josh, no matter what, it's not going to be easy. With that said, what about this;
Do you have any pastures that you could grow your own hay? Even if you get someone to bail it on the half's.
Is there enough green grass starting to grow, that you could reduce the amount of hay you put out each day? Maybe, if you cut down on the amount of hay, don't unroll it. Maybe it will force them to graze.
These are just brainstorming ideas.
I hope it helps!
I’m a Texas rancher, if you can’t make it with hay prices at $40 then you need to cut back and before you say anything, I’m giving $140.00 per bale of hay here also I’ve cut my herd do to severe drought conditions.
We confine our cows to one pasture to concentrate the manure load during the winter. Then rotate to a different pasture the next winter. We’re still in the trial process but it seems to be working
Congratulations to the people watching and commenting ❤ your all correct... too many toys... also 4 cows per acre .... your overstocking and you might need better rotation of fields...
Are you a UA-camr that is a farmer…. Or a farmer that is a UA-camr….?
both
You've got a plan Josh, hang in there. Do what you have to do.
Just curious, when are you calving? Calving in May/June will reduce your costs considerably. Then think about using cull cows for Grassfed Beef, instead of steers. Try keeping the calves until May, then sell all of the steer calves. Expose every heifer calf at 15 months old,for 45 days. Those that breed, keep, those that don’t, sell as heavy yearlings. We never rolled out the hay, we just set out enough bales (in a line) to last about a week. Expose your cows for 45 days, too, any open cows become Grassfed Beef (need to be sure they’re fat, before processing). Happy to help in any way that I can, just shoot me a message.
so...we try to calf around April, during the spring flush, but this year has been a little different. We live in a very temperate climate here in NC so calving times can virtually be year round. I agree with calving in the spring flush, but I don't agree so much with butchering culls who aren't thriving. Nothing like a good grass finished steer butchered in June when the grass is peaking. Vid coming soon on what we got from the sale barn, I was pleasantly surprised for sure
A few points form experience from a family that sold direct to consumer grass fed and finished beef for 20 years now.
1. “Getting over the hump” with direct to consumer beef it takes 2.5-3 years to see a return and honestly probably 5 years to really gain stability.
2. Currently get rid of the worst animals you have. Anything boney, skinny or has long narrow body and legs will consume more feed than the other animals. Anything that is not fat on grass get rid of immediately.
3. Separate the cow financials from that “other” income. If the cows can’t pay for themselves soon then they are not a viable operation.
4. A smaller group of cows will allow for a much greater stockpile of winter forage. This will exponentially decrease hay cost as herd decreases.
5. Add a second animal to the farm that benefits what you already have. Sheep would defiantly boost your profit margins quickly. 1 cow equals 7to 10 good hair sheep. That means you can remove 10 cows and replace with 70 sheep. Sheep also twin very often so you can expect to have 100-130 lambs to sell or finish. Sheep are ready to breed or butcher in 1 year. They process grass in a way that the stool is perfect fertilizer far better than cattle. When ran with cattle you break the sheep’s parasite cycle thus making the herd more robust. Plus with rotational grazing the you do they stay away from parasites already. Sheep also graze differently than cattle so they aren’t competing for all the same things and they are way less picky. You have a great perimeter fence that is better than most will ever have. Your friend Greg Judy easily breaks sheep to hot wire so you have the path to a successful farm paved already.
6. There is organic fertilizer that helps both with short term growth and long term soil condition. Luckily I know a guy to get it from.
7. Keep after it. Know one got anywhere from quitting! God bless.
As a cattle guy myself sometimes we have to reduce the herd size to survive, id sell off the younger ones and some of your oldest cows, as for steers if you have the market to sell processed beef at a profit if try and hold as many back as you financially can.
Dich the thought of keeping all. Keep the heifers that consume more and produce the most calves.
Lots of good comments Josh , I like the idea of diversifying your pastures to stay regen , longer growing season less hay reduce the herd this year make a plan for next and see how it goes chalk it up to experience and move on ! Thanks good content !
Think how many more cars you could buy after auction
I have read over 100 of the comments and they are full of very good and real solutions. All you need to do is take everyone of your comment responses and throw them in the trash and quit defending what is not working. It doesn’t work for a reason. Taking criticism and accepting some defeat is hard as I have done so in the past.
nothing is defeating me brother....I'm just gonna sell off some cows because we've got too many and the winter is almost over...not sure what you mean by taking criticism and defeat...nothing is defeating me...watch the video my man. Most certainly don't live my life in a series of "quits" if ya get my drift
Josh, as owners of cattle ourselves, we have the same situation. So, we’ve gotta take a few to the sale barn. It’s hard to let them go when you spend so much time with them. But it’s part of raising cattle.
Get some feeders to contain the hay when you feed. Theyll stomp 30 percent of it into the ground. With a feeder containing it the girls are able to eat 100 percent of the hay.
Awesome video very informative
Short term vs long term goals. You already have your answer for the short term, those long term goals aren't going anywhere.
Stoneyman buddy sell you some off keep on keeping on buddy enjoy watching
We go through some pretty tough times sometimes here in Australia. Have you considered bulk applications of poultry manure or litter in lieu of chemical fertilizer. Huge boost to the pasture grasses and adds nutrients and adds organics to the soil very quickly. I have also used liquid fertilizer made from seaweed. No chemical additives and very good for the soil. You would use a boom sprayer to put it out. Also have you considered putting out molasses for your cattle. Gives them natural energy and extra protein. You could cut back a bit on the roughage or use a lesser quality.
I was also thinking that you should oversow your pastures with annual rye and/or oats along with your chicken manure. How do you add essential elements for your cattle? You need mineral blocks to provide the elements that your cattle are missing. You will also have to add the minerals back into the soil to keep your grass at its prime. consider urea too as it will help your cattle digest what they have. Selling your cattle is not smart as that is the product that makes you money. You may sell some cattle now but you will have to either buy more with calves to make up for your loss in a years time. You are thinking too short term.
Also I think you might be surprised when you take them to market they are bringing really good right now
If he can hold off about a month the price will be much higher. Grass is starting to really get started in NC. Saw people mowing today. I would say his rotating and cutting back on hay drastically. He moves cows frequently so I don't think he needs to do much. Steers would be all I would sell now. Ì would let the impact of fires in Texas/ NM hit before selling many.
Hey josh another great video!
Sell some stock to get you through in the short term. If there are hay baling contractors in your area then look at get them in to bale up your own hay in the spring/summer. It should cut the cost of your bales down drastically. You may not have the same rotation of paddocks available for your 12hr hour paddock shifts but with a reduced heard you may be able to push out the rotations to every 24hrs anyway.
I'd say lean back on your heard size. Bring older cows that have done their jobs, and some market weight calves- Check local auctions for pricing and try to sell when the cost per pound is up.. market off some of your freezer steers (sometimes doing a bid for meat on a steer could help bring in a higher price for the steer- I'm sure your viewers would do a bid/auction on meat cuts -say number 1-50 slots, doing 10-20 dollars a slot, then raffle off numbers that are different cuts/bundles of meat...). I also understand your choice to roll bale so that you can create good soil but perhaps rotate with feed stations and then rolled out bales, moving the station to different locations- they won't waist as much.
Your doing the right thing, you know it. Your land is your asset, your animals are your product that you produce. Sell off half your product, protect your land and it will produce more animals, rinse and repeat.....the circle of life. Selling off vehicles and equipment is a temporary fix.
gotta understand....we're talking about cows and hay here...not equipment that earns me a living producing content on social media....folks forget that for some reason...the farm and feed is a totally separate setup
Basic economics would say sell sufficient to cover hay shortfall. The stock to sell is those that are not breeding stock. Never sell good quality breeding stock. Consider next year using silage rather than hay (I don’t know if you do that in America) you could make your own clamp by using first cut hay.
What about setting the whole bail on end in the field like you talked about a while back that to me seemed to cut waste so instead of 20 you could get away with 10. Good luck hope everything works out.
The only way to reduce the hay consumption with feeding only grass/hay is to sell cows. Here in East Texas, on 85 acres, I would keep 20 mama cows if you are doing a cow/calf operation and sell the calves at weaning time. That will give you a little over 4 acres per head which should get you through most growing seasons without having to supplement hay. You may even be able to stockpile some grass in the fall to graze on going into the winter to save on hay. I figure 5 rolls of hay per head, to be on the safe side, to make it through the winter. Which that all depends on how long your winters are. You can keep the few steers that you are going to process, just keep in mind they will add to your herd count which will affect acres per cow. The amount of forage your land will produce in a growing season for grazing should be used for stocking rates.
I have always wondered if it is cost effective to plant winter wheat and rye in the Fall to reduce the need for as much hay and it grows right up to the start of the summer not to mention it makes great hay. It seems like it would work in areas that don't have snow cover like here in NC.
Mine dig through the snow to get at it...its a game changer...cereal rye grows anywhere too
Josh it sounds like your ratio for feeding hay and quanity of animals isn't worked out. Start by keeping your best brude cows, then your best feeders and figure out how many feeders you want to move to sell for beef. Do you have someone available to make hay off of your pastures to keep for yourself. This would also help your pastures also.I cut a couple of my pastures for hay. I cut the first cutting and this keeps my pastures growing when I can't get my small herd into these areas before it gets ahead of me. It is tough thing to figure out. Cattle prices have been good around our area here in SW Pennsylvania. Farming is never easy, that is why everybody doesn't do it. That is why we love it, farmer rod
You once told me on a live “ instead of saying you can’t do this or afford that say/think how you can do this or afford that” keep it positive
I would reduce your herd size to a point that the amount of grass and hey your land produces can sustain the herd. Concentrate your grazing rotation to the point it heals one section of land at a time. Then you can increase your herd size. Also, increase your chicken production. Use these meat chickens over the rougher land areas to increase the butt fertilizer and further heal the land.
I would recommend you look at g&g livestock in hillsville Virginia. He pays better than the luck of draw at the auction.
I agree rolling bales out is better for the soil, but when hay gets tight .. we always used a bale feeder to minimize waste. I wonder if you started with bail feeders now if you could stretch your hay enough to get you to spring.
We also had a little less cow to acre ratio than you did and we had room for our own hay production.
Hay prices have gone through the roof in NW Arkansas. We have 3 cows...one going to butcher next month...so our issue is much smaller.
Well it happens Josh, steer's are easy money now. If you got any cull cows now is the time. I. In central Alabama this last fall was tuff alot mire hay fed locally than normal. I spreed a little rye grass thats giving me relief now. Good luck it will improve you have grown pretty fast.
Seems like cows waste more hay when rolling it out when we do it. Might try leaving it in the roles see if it helps any
That's his way of rebuilding the turf
Whatever isn't eaten become soil nutrients. That pays dividends down the road.
I been experimenting on how to unroll only what can be consumed in one or two days.
I now raise it up with tractor loader out of reach, til time to unroll a lil more.
It also helps that my hay starts at the top of the hill.
As hard as it is if they don't calf they will have to go to freezer camp if you can sell it or sell them on the hoof. Remember they are organic, maybe there is an specialty market for this type of organic raised, grass fed cattle.
Have you considered planting some acreage into some annuals with a no till to help extend your grazing season/ cut back on hay and they help the soil as well? We raise our beef cows (45 cow calf/ beef direct sales) in southern PA using the same practices as you from rolling hay, no spraying, no unnatural fertilizers to no vacs, ect.. We have planted and grazed our cattle on primarily sorghum sudan in the past and have added others like oats, rye, turnips or whatever you want without spraying to kill the perennials by either light discing to set the grass back or mowing if needed about 1- 1/2 weeks after planting. This year i'm doing about 14 acres to help with the hay consumption (lot cheaper for us than buying hay). As far as the cows, run your math, off load what you need to cover hay (heifers, older cows, bad moms) while prices our still high (we sold about 10 that didn't fit our program) . Keep the required steers for your projected sales for the next 24-28 months. We hold back our best steers and will keep an extra 1-2 as a buffer as we often pick up some random customers, you can always sell them outright if needed, but we've sold cull cows before steers cause we can make a lot more money beefing them. I hope this helps you in some way. Any note table changes from using Super Soil???
LOL freezer camp! I feel the same way about taking bilge plug out with the DNR. The boat comes out at (observed) public landing and back to property, and goes back in same lake. But they don't know that. Moooo! and Wooo!
You did the math and that seems to be what your operation can support. Do you have hay fields
Is there a creek on that farm? If you got water, you could get one of those irigation sprinklers and a pump, and shoot out water to get that grass producing at a higher level without using any chemicals or fertilizer.
It's a learning process.
Good evening Josh,
That’s a tough one decisions dicisions!
You’ve got too big of a herd for the land (and quality) you have. My grandparents ran about 35 head on 130 acres in East Texas. And it was very rich soil with good coastal.
Another thing you should consider is setting aside 10-20 acres as a dedicated hay field. Work over that area so it produces well. We had a 10 acre coastal field and were able to feed 30-35 head all winter off the hay from that field. All your cost is just paying to have it baled, which should be cheaper than buying.
Also seems like you may be over feeding. Three to four round bales for 50 head seems high. We’d feed about 5-6 square bales a day, roughly a round bale.
Sell off a couple trucks and invest in some haying equipment.
Disagree, he’ll Lose Grazing land if you hay bail it. And need to spend on fertilizer $$$ to rejuvenate the bailed fields. A Lose-Lose.
You rotational graze in other sections that you aren't haying! Whats wrong with using the cows manure as fertilizer? Try watching just a few acres videos and see how it's done, and he's only working on 40 acres not 150! I was raised on a dairy farm and we never bought hay!
@@ajlewis9454 I have no idea how many acres he has to graze. But, I believe he does mow them. That alone reduces their availability.
@@ajlewis9454 Pete has really good soil to work with and we dont, what works for him wont work for everyone (i love his channel BTW and watch every video). unless you have tons and tons of cow manure it problably wont have enough fertilizer to grow good grass in poorer soil. We use chicken litter (4 tons/acrea spread 3 times a growing season) and then we supplement that with granular fertilizer as needed, mostly nitrogen. does it cost $$$$$, yes but thats part of the cost of doing business. we cut and bale our own hay and we custom bale for some of the other small farms around us either on halves or for $$$$. a small farm better have multiple revenue streams or your not going to be a small farm for long in my mind.
video coming soon on the false narrative portrayed by some "youtube farmers" that's simply not true....I'm being honest with ya here...totally transparent and some are not! It's just fact....everyone isn't telling the whole truth the way that I am telling you
Question would it be freezable for you to grow your own hay in one of the fields? It may not be enough to get through the whole winter but it could bolster your supply. You could also check around for farmers or suppliers that have leftover or unsold stock that they need to get rid of and work out a trade of beef for bails.
Do you ever overseed for winter grazing?
Yep...move some and balance everything back out. Green grass coming to a field near you...soon
Sorry mate but I think ya have to much gear, Farmers around here who have 30 to 40 000 acres have 3-4 tractors, ya don't need 3 tractors on 150 acres reduce the number of cows as required but the expensive items are your machinery and vehicles and their maintenance. I don't see the need for a side by side and a ATV . so saying all that, yours is one of the better homesteading channels on the net. keep it up and all the best from down under.
Hi Josh, Hope that You can find a GOOD answer to allow the FARM / RANCH to survive?
BLESSED BE!
Batman
Understand what your product is and what the input costs are for the product. Any non-productive assets should be assessed for their value to farm and sold if not contributing. It's a fine balance, but pointless going broke if you can make smart decisions now. Right size, don't downsize.
Hi Josh. I personally would do anything to try and not sell any cows that are going to have calves this year. I know it won't put as much carbon in the ground but I would use your bale unroller instead of bale grazing. Less waste and you can keep more cows. In the short term. Just my suggestion. Good luck
Its too late to do this year but you could be baling hay from other properties. You might be able to lease someone else's fields for cheaper than buying bales of hay (but of course you'll pay in transportation cost of your equipment, the hay and your labor). Around me, some guys from the next county over come to this county and in exchange for cutting/baling the hay, they get it free (the landowner just wants his fields cut).
My thought would be to find someone willing to trade on the hoof for hay. They would get meat and you would get feed. You have to get over the hump of making the soil whole again. You also have to find the sweet spot for what your land will support currently.
Need to contact tree service companies and the county for wood chips. Use an out of the way area and cover it deep. Sell the minimum number of animals to make it work.