Getting OUT Of The Cow Business So We Bought MORE Cattle!
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2023
- Getting OUT Of The Cow Business So We Bought MORE Cattle!
We've decided to get out of the cattle business. The first step in moving that direction was to.........buy more cows?
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Efficiencies come with specialization. Resilience comes with diversification. Businesses frequently adjust to find the appropriate balance between those two approaches. It's great to see these business strategies being applied in real-time. Thanks for sharing.
I have heard your "this is what works for us" comment before and actually shared it with my daughter earlier today. It was about her vegetable garden. This wisdom applies to many different things (farm, business, etc.).
We’ve come to the same conclusion on our small farm here in central Virginia. About 45 acres just isn’t enough for a cow calf operation. Thanks for sharing your thought process and reasoning. It’s much appreciated!
why go cow/calf and not look into butchering and selling your own stock
Congratulations on seeing the niche you want to be in and making the decision on how to continue doing what you love. Blessings Abound.
I like your business aspect of farming in how you calculate what’s needed and what reality is for your farm to be successful. You know when to pivot and it seems to continually help your business. This is what farmers need to also take into account, to me.
Chuck I don't care if you buy 100 goats, I love this Chanel. 💜
Greg Judy said sheep are the best for income. Lambs born in Spring are ready to breed in fall. Twins or triples means you can double or triple original investment. More animals per acre too.
The Shepherdess says the same, she is running sheep on 30 acres or so in Texas
I give you a lot of credit, you are figuring it out as well, plus getting the farm up to snuff.
As it is, you do a whole lot with the pigs. Let another farmer get the steers ready for you, does him good and you good. And on all this you are building the farm relationships you need and want.
Thanks for the encouraging words. Appreciate y’all watching.
Pete wisdom too funny I enjoy you both ! For me it’s all about the process I may never be a farmer but a lot of what you guys do applies to a lot of small businesses. Thanks !
😆 we enjoy watching Pete. Thanks for watching.
Sounds like a great plan. We appreciate you sharing. Have a blessed day.
Makes perfect sense Chuck, great video again! Your pasture looks so lush and tasty, I’m almost tempted to have a bite….lucky cows!👍😊
It’s doing really well so far this year.
blessings to you and your family and the beautiful land!
I've been looking for a channel like yours for a while! Just a down to earth operation with clear how-to. Great content, you've got a new subscriber.
We are launching our operation in earnest this next spring with broilers and pigs in central Louisiana.
I've thought about running a flerd with Hairsheep and two finishing steers. Would be quite a change and not sure if I'm ready for that so will probably just stick to sheep right now. First generation farm and all pasture and sheep netting on 30 acres. Love your content!
The last thought you spoke on was interesting because that’s exactly what I’ve learned by watching your videos. What fits for me and my land.
It’s all about your individual context. Thanks for watching. Good luck on your farm.
Awsome advice, wish you much success
Great content as always. Keep up the good work.
Thank you sir!
Moooooving on. Good for you guys!
Thanks
Great explanation and exactly same conclusion I have come to here in Central Kentucky.
Makes sense. We can only do 2 on our 5 acres. But we also have 2 litters of pigs. We have registered berks still for sale if you or anyone else is interested. We would really appreciate the referral.
We’ll do!
❤ thanks for the good information
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing. We are in the same dilemma. We would need to lease land to have a suitable cow/calf operation. I am looking at dairy. But it is great to understand your thinking and approach.
Not dealing with well train cows is so hard. Sales barn cows can be so mixed in temperament. And that takes more time and money so it's almost like a waste of money. Very good to buy from someone you know if they have good handling. I don't think most people realize how much freakin effort sales barn and cows who don't know take. It's an ecosystem for sure. But ya, always put up chicken netting when calf are born but that's more time. respecting the wire is such a lesson. Then you need a rotating nursery paddock. But I agree, if you are under 100 cattle you should probably not be in the cow calf biz. Exception maybe milking herd. 60 cows. Maybe quality heritage breed production standard stock. Because those aren't really about meat per se. But it's more profitable if you can get a production heritage breed and selling stock that's been tested in rotation. Because if you keep the genetics good they are worth so much more. And have the data to go with it.
Sounds like you got a plan to make the transition. Good luck!
Working on it for sure. Thanks
I kinda like that “Pete” segment you’ve been sliding in at the end lately. Good advice or a decent sit down explanation always seems to round the video off and leave us in a good spot.
Thank you! I enjoy doing that part. May do some more of it.
Good stuff neighbor!
Thanks! Y’all come see us sometime
I've contemplated just buying and finishing for 6 months. No hay to buy or feed. No breaking ice. Every animal unit being sold for beef. Hunt all winter.
Great job being fluid!
Thanks
Am in the same boat bud. As soon as cow prices climb to where they should be, I'm sending them down the road.
Let someone else raise the calf to break even.
My favorite thing to buy to beef is 2 to 3 year old culls.
We just had a new processing facility open in Ivy Log west of Blairsville Ga.
We had a 17 month British White processed there.
What we really liked was they gave us the live weight which was 835lbs. Then they give us the hanging weight which was
601lbs. That is an excellent percentage yield.
Of course it really boils down to breed type and feeding program in the long run.
This processing facility is set up also on a type computer system that we can track our animals all the way through the processing procedure.
Sounds like a nice facility. That was a very efficient animal!
The British White performance as grass fed has done well for us. They are a rare old heritage breed that are worth considering.
I had a logger tell me. I should cut all my black walnut trees down when they're 18 inches as opposed to 30 inches because the wood is prettier. That's not a true story, but it's meant to point out the obvious elephant in the room. Which is killing light weight, why?
Sounds like a good plan
Just an idea but in my area I know of a couple of guys who raise a few cows for beef they go to the local dairy farms and and after the last lactation breeding them will an Angus or Hereford or some beefy cross and then take the cow that is bred. Put that cow on pasture a year later they have a cow for burger and large beefy calf to raise. Just an idea I know what works for some don't work for all
A lot of people don't understand how much money that farmers invest sometimes I don't see how they are making money
Learn as ya go huh Chuck! Hope Saundra is doing OK after riding the pig to town!
Cool thanks 😊
Thank you!
One concern Id have with buying stockers is you’re forced to ride the market wave when you purchase, unless you’ve got a deal otherwise. When the live market is high like it is now, your profit per animal is significantly less than when the market is a dollar a pound for a stocker animal.
That’s very true. We’d also be in a better position when prices are down. I’ve bought stockers at $1.00/lb and I’ve paid $2.25 lb. They both generate cash flow and sometimes that’s what we need to survive and not a huge profit. Another reason to have other enterprises to rely on and not have all your eggs in one basket. Good point! Thanks for watching.
Don't focus on money, enjoy the life style.
Completely understand and have asked myself the same questions but my conclusion was the complete opposite. Takes a lot of money to buy stockers, that capital comes from somewhere, borrowed, profit from cattle sales or from some other money making endeavor but it goes straight to the bottom line.
As someone that grows and uses corn I have a lot of ground that’s basically doing nothing 5-6 months a year and has cheap feed just sitting there. That’s the key to a successful cow calf operation, cheap feed
Farmbuilder, who does Cull cows, said you really need about 50 pair to profitably run a cow/calf operation, which is in-line with the numbers that you present here.
Good less competition, because we are increasing our heard
Your pastures look great. Are you guys getting plenty of rain?
Some. It’s been a little dry but we are getting what we need.
Ótimo Trabalho
If you want to make a small fortune raising cattle, you need to start with a large fortune.
Good point in many cases. Love the humor, too.
100%!
True story ❤
More appropriately: “If you want to lose a large fortune... raise cattle.”
When you are filming videos, what are you using to record them? (Phone, camera) Also do you have a link to the mic you use as well? Love your videos and have learned a ton. Thank you.
Yep. If you don’t have the ground then you don’t have it. Just keeping a bull to breed with ties up 2 acres. Only thing your own cows are good for under 100 acres is not getting market spikes buying feeders, controlling quality of the feeders and having them when there is a feeder shortage
So you need to buy 2 feeder cows a month to replace the 2 you send to processing? how long does it take to finish the cow out at a decent market weight?
“Baby mama drama” 😂! How’s the wife feeling after that hog ride?
She’s doing good. A little sore but no worse for the wear. Thanks for asking.
Interesting. Hope you and miss 8 seconds are doing well
She’s doing good. 😆
Chuck great video. 2 questions. 1) your finoshers your going to do more of, at what age or weight do you guys get them an how long will you hold onto that average animal? 2) in the background is your chocken tractors, how do you keep the predators from diging uder an getting in? Thank you
I like to get them at about 700lbs. We keep them till they are finished. That depends on the animals performance, grass, tune of year etc.
Oh and chicken tractors. We have an LGD so that helps. They move everyday and we’ve never really had anything dig under them.
I think a lot of your issue is that your limited space. My cattle are part of a herd built over 20+ years, and they are a vital part of the fertility program on a crop producing farm. They are a tool to be utilized, and we’re also a mirror image of beef on dairy methodology. We’re getting a beef cross from a dairy breed, but we’re not a dairy looking to get more out of the lower end of our herd by breeding to beef. We’re very much a beef focused enterprise, we keep our cows and calves on pasture together until we ween at 6 months, then we put our cows in to dairy production for 3 months, followed by a 3 month dry off. 1/4 of our cows are being milked at any given time.
I’d love to see you pull back in numbers to be a start to finish operation, and dang it, get your customers turned on to lamb and seek out the ethnic populations that buy goat. It’s a lot more work though. Your not reliant on the sale barn being direct to consumer on both ends of the equation, so what your planning has great potential. The right way is what works for you, but don’t close off to other ideas.
Mushrooms, tree fruits, their is so much out there. I can’t believe what we make selling luffa. My gosh land is such gold.
What about those South Polls C'MON
Good move.
Thanks
If for no other reason personally would keep couple for personal use I am vegetarian by proxy lol they eat grass I eat them
Another great video! love you guys! What about switching over to sheep??? :) I personally want a small farm with meat sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. :)
We had sheep at one time. Couldn’t keep them alive. 🤣
@@SheratonParkFarms I remember watching your videos back in those days :) Maybe better land for them here at the new farm? price of lamb up here in BC is pretty high!
@drydenstewartinc.7710 Do you have wolves up there? Coyotes in our area made all neighbors and my father get out of sheep decades ago. And the number have only gone up.
@@ricksanchez7459 Actually the area I live in we've destroyed the wolves, and the mountain caribou that they hunted here. We have Coyotes still but a few lgd's keep them out of the pastures.
@@drydenstewartenterprises 👍
What are you doing to sell a couple beef a month? Seems like strong demand
We’ve built a customer base over 6 years and advertise the value.
I'm not a farmer but it seems strange that you can pay someone else enough for a finisher cow, to then turn around and send it to the processor in a few months and make money doing that. Like I said, I don't understand the economics of it.
That’s actually a great question and May be a video topic. Couple of things.
1. We put weight on the cow while it’s here and weight equals dollars for us in a finishing herd.
2. We “value add” by having the animal processed. Meaning it’s a more marketable product to more customers. Very few people would but a live 1000 lb cow but LOTS odd people will buy a pound of ground beef. (Supply/demand)
3. We take most of the “middle men” out of the transaction. We are the grocer, marketer, transporter and grower of the animal.
Great question!!
have a very aggressive sow and need to know how y'all gather the free range piglets. I have her piglets running around like rats and she is wanting to fight me when I try to gather them for castration. Anything like that in your library cause I can't find anything . HEEEEEELP
Do you sell livestock over the scale? Or do you put it all in a package?
And if you're putting it in a package. Why is there an issue regarding profit?
Just curious do you go to the Stockyard in Canton NC to sell?
No. We typically go to Turnersburg. Canton is about 2 1/2 hrs from us.
We took two Longhorn heifers to Turnersburg on Memorial day..cows were selling high. I was pleasantly surprised
whats the race of your dog? please thanks eH!
We have a red Australian cattle dog, a blue Australian cattle dog, a black lab, a Great Pyrenees and a little mixed mutt.
Where's my girl Sandra 😭
Running a weed eater right now. 😆. Looking for a pig to ride. She’s doing good. Thanks for adding about her.
How much for Mongo
Send me an email. Chuck@sheratonparkfarms.com if you are interested in buying him.
We decided the other side is best for us. We love having baby animals, but don't have the land to finish a bunch out. So we're a breeding operation and sell off those lambs and piglets rather and only raise to butcher a few for ourself.
What is a coal cow? 😅 sorry I'm not a cow person.
“Cull” cow. It’s an old cow who is finished having babies. They can be as old as 12-15 years or more. Good question. I should have explained that.
How long have you been rasing cattle
We are in our 2nd year of being serious about it. Had a couple years ago but we aren’t counting that.
Do whatever works for you but I have known a few people lost a lot of money on feeder cattle, also some made a lot for a time the problem is that it depends too much on the market swings and timing. It's almost like gambling to me.
My Global suggestion is everybody get out of cattle and get into goats. Cleaner great milk, and easy keepers. reduce the global crap level🙏🙏
Nope.... stay in cattle, get them off grains and rotate them daily. Stop politicians from private jets.... they pollute more.
Then by your reasoning we should reduce the number of politicians - because they are the biggest producers of crap!!
No you're absolutely going the wrong direction you learn by failure it's the only way to every time you fail you've become more of an expert then the person on the sidelines trying to get into you need to keep going keep learning keep failing and it will pay big
Count your blessings every time you fail because now you have a problem solve and it's through solving that problem is where the wealth is keep a journal ask questions and the thicker the journal it represents your knowledge base so keep going don't quit or go another direction just because you took it on the chin, Michael Jordan failed many times tiger woods failed many times Mimi of our greatest inverters failed, celebrate failure it's God's biggest blessing
You need to get those cows preg tested so you are not wasting 9 months feeding nonproductive cows
curious how the market is going to affect your retail pricing since you will be paying premium for finishers. Many butchering operations and old school stockyards depended on this model for centuries (literally). But in this volatile time with continued supply chain issues and the fact inflation isn't helping any, can you continue to depend on a single source for your finishers. The auctions are a mess lately.