Best location to buy animals
 

Im looking to have a business plan and im looking for prices and locations to plan for buying cattle, both for milk and beef, any particular locations that you prefer? maybe online or on site, or are auction houses a good deal?

I see that you are new to the forum.
Your asking a question that would be hard to accurately answer. You give no geographic information about yourself. And you don't speak anything about prefered specific breeds or homestead site specifics.
I'm sure with more detail there will be folks that will impart some sound knowledge. You may even find a neighbor.

well thats my thing im asking generally given that i still dont know where would be the best place to settle (im planning to move to the us and become a farmer there) and for breeds i would imagine they depend on the location and such, so mostly saying from your experience and in your area what works for you?

ok I will just add my thoughts here....we utilize our county extension agent...he knows all the cattlemen and many of the other livestock owners in our general area...and I think that the best place to purchase animals is from another farmer...you can see not only what they have to sell, but also how they take care of their animals....and ask questions....for me, I think the sale barn, or auction house, is for selling....not buying....I would probably not ever buy animals online....

when I have only a few animals to sell I start with the agent...and he has often helped me make a connection with someone looking to buy...or vice versa...once you know what area you will be settling in, then you can even come back here and see if there is someone near you who can either help offer suggestions, or perhaps even sell you something you can use...

again, I have found that buying healthy stock directly from the farmer has worked well...you may avoid animal illness and you are less likely to bring disease or other problems onto your property....good luck

thanks that helps a bunch, i dont know where to settle, mostly thinking of florida given that i know family there, or near chicago or buffalo, atho i never have done farming in cold or snowy wearther.

any idea of the cost of a cow with a heifer?

Beef cow bred 3 rd stage $2000. Holstein springer heifers supreme $2450. Jersey registered 2 year old bred heifers 3 rd stage$ 2200 6-800 wt feeder heifers black brought 1.90-2.45

You still haven't mentioned your location. What's your timeline on moving?

you can sometimes find livestock auction reports for the state you're checking out, and that will give a picture of where prices are at regionally. Right now cattle prices are very high, even dairy bull calves are going for near $500. Cow calf pairs $2500 and up.

I still dont know where to locate, thats why im asking, opinions are good to know, moving timeline is probably around 6 months or so.

is 3000, a good idea or a cow and calf pair that produce a good amount of milk? lets say around 5 gallons?

$3000 is on the very top side of what I have seen. I had one guernsey seller that "eased me into the sticker shock with her language" at $2500--no calf. You will want to find a source that focuses his genetics on production vs. show. We have been scrubbing the Guernsey association list, and have found little on the production side. Most are show folks. That price seems typical for registered show stock.

For beef, I have had great success buying good "culls" from people I trust that can sell me an older but reliable cow. They need space for her younger progeny. It's a great way to start a herd, IMO.

thanks thats good information, yes i do look for the best genetics that i can get and create too with the animals, i do prefer more on the milk part than the beef one.

You need to pick maybe a couple of places and search for some market reports near those areas.
Prices off the farm will reflect market prices in most cases.

Dairy cattle aren't usually sold as pairs since the calves are taken off the dam at birth. Beef cattle aren't normally run through DHIA so I don't know what sort of production to expect from one.
I think you need to pick dairy or beef and focus on one type.

Man if given the choice of long cold snow ice winters or somewhat warm all the time to farm I sure would pick the warm state. Gezz just think of all the money saved in tring to keep water unfrozen and chickens from frozen wattles. And just the thought of trumping through the snow to feed makes me jealous. And if you have family in Fla I sure would be heading that way.

And welcome to the site I have been here about a year and this site has some really great people and a lot of information.

thanks, ill keep an eye on florida or near florida locations, and so not so good to have double purpose cattle for both dairy and meat?

What are you trying to accomplish with your animals?

mostly to milk them.

A few random thoughts.

I'd be more worried about land prices than cattle.

As for where to buy, I don't trust anywhere. People dump problems at salebarns. But nobody sells their favorites, unless they're getting out of cows. You can ask why they are selling, but I don't usually believe them. To get good ones, almost have to offer more money for ones they don't have for sale.

Five gallons of milk daily is alot. Many get tired of that much milk, unless you want to raise hogs or something. Hopefully you are an experienced milker. Challenge to learn to milk that much all at once. Also need to feed higher producer right or can have problems.

I recommend to newbies to get a few gentle beef heifers, breed to jersey, and milk them for a few years until their jersey cross calves are ready to milk. Can breed the crosses to beef for a beefy calf for meat. This gives you a chance to phase into it.

As for warm vs cold climate, cows have more trouble with heat, as their rumens are big heat producers. Also, black cattle get hotter, so I'd try for red or lighter color.
http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2007/June/CT1033.shtml
　

If you want to make milk, get a dairy breed and leave the beefers at the market.
If you are looking into intensive grazing there are some great genetics from NZ for Holsteins.
There are a few dual purpose breeds that will produce a good sized animal and make OK milk such as the Normande and Fleckveigh and the Milking Shorthorn. Harder to find them just floating around at sales barns though and they will demand premium prices. These breeds will fit in a heavy grazing system.
I wouldn't look to crosses unless it would be something like a holstein/jersey or holstein/swiss cross.
Never been a fan of crossing dairy animals to beefers.

Hey Dj, for milking i was looking into getting automatic milking, not robotic but atlest a few sits direct to a milking tank to store the milk and cool it. Im already looking at land at http://www.landandfarm.com/, mostly thinking of florida might move all the southern states.

to sammyd also im used to double purpose cows, given that we dont have the best climate, or the most profitable milk i imagine, so we use dual purpose, mostly holstein/swiss i believe it depends we have serveral breed. But you are right probably going with a mostly dairy breed, probably holstein, still looking at all that tho. Thanks for the info guys love it and the more info the better

Florida is very diverse and several climates in one state. What part of Florida.

thats to debate im still looking but there are a few good places, some new gainsville still, im looking

What country are you from?

venezuela, zulia to be exact the state where i have the farm, near the Villa del Rosario

I've seen some pics of some nice ranches in Venezuela.

we do have them but political and economics have us fried, we are getting about 12 cents the liter of milk for example, cold milk