Is this a good deal?

GBov · #1 02/26/12, 08:57 AM

http://daytona.craigslist.org/grd/2870233544.html

We were just about to close on a farm but with its falling through I am back stuck with just one acre

but not one to cry over lost farms I am trying to get some easy beef started. On one acre I do know all the feed/hay will have to be bought in but they should be cheaper to feed than my pigs proved to be lol.

So are 10 week old bull calves a good way to go? Or should I hold out for something a bit older? And if I get them, can I castrate them at that age by banding or will a vet have to do it?

myersfarm · #2 02/26/12, 09:06 AM

And if I get them, can I castrate them at that age by banding or will a vet have to do it?

yes you can band them

collegeboundgal · #3 02/26/12, 04:22 PM

great price on already weaned calves. and they should be still small enough to band. (on a side note- they have a bander for grown, bull sized, testicals. just, are you able to get to them without getting kicked in the face by a bigger/stronger animal?)

GBov · #4 02/26/12, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by collegeboundgal

great price on already weaned calves. and they should be still small enough to band. (on a side note- they have a bander for grown, bull sized, testicals. just, are you able to get to them without getting kicked in the face by a bigger/stronger animal?)

Would they be totally weened at 10 weeks? And what does one feed calves that age?

I really want to raise them on grass/hay but at that age do they need extra?

And before you ask, nope, we have never had a cow. Well, that kind of cow anyway *wink*

collegeboundgal · #5 02/26/12, 05:34 PM

most farms will wean at 8 weeks old. if you have a milk cow-I could see feeding them longer, but if just on MR, no, 8 weeks is fine. I would give them free access to a 16% grain and all the grass and hay they want. gives them a good start when they are growing their bones right now. ask the place where you're getting them what the calves are getting now and, unless REALLY under weight, stick with that. (hey, if it works for them and you like what you see, why change it?)

Callieslamb · #6 02/26/12, 06:38 PM

I guess I missed what you are trying to do. Are you going to have them (how many?) on your 1 acre for a while, then hopefully, buy a farm to finish raising them on? I am not sure you will like your acre too well once you're finished. How can raising a pig for 5 months cost more than a cow for 18 months?

I can't say that would be 'easy' beef. It will be expensive beef. Buying weaned calves is always easier than bottling them yourself. We buy a jersey babies for $10 or a holstein for $85 and put bag of milk replacer into each one - $65 here. We sell them at 4 months for whatever the going price for beef is per the sale barns - last year it was about $250 or $1 a lb. So, yes, I think that's a good deal, if they've been raised well and are in good condition. The seller has done all the hard work and taken a lot of risk. Why haven't they already been banded? Have they been dehorned? Banding is one thing to do yourself - dehorning at 10 weeks is another. Horns are not a good thing on a 1000 lb steer nor a good thing on gates or fences.

If I had to buy all the feed, I'd never re-coop the costs. If you're not doing this for the profit, then it doesn't matter as much.

collegeboundgal · #7 02/26/12, 07:30 PM

holy smoks GB! guess I didn't relize that you only have 1 acre. ummm yea, you would have nothing but a dry lot in a few weeks if not days putting 1 or more cows on only 1 acre! and having to feed them every mouthful they eat will get REAL expensive... sorry not what I'm sure you wanted to hear.

GBov · #8 02/26/12, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by collegeboundgal

holy smoks GB! guess I didn't relize that you only have 1 acre. ummm yea, you would have nothing but a dry lot in a few weeks if not days putting 1 or more cows on only 1 acre! and having to feed them every mouthful they eat will get REAL expensive... sorry not what I'm sure you wanted to hear.

We are looking for a farm and hope to have a farm but its not looking likely right now. Being tied to the school our kids are in is making it so very hard to find one in our budget so I am down to leasing an acre from our 4H club for now. I have two freezers packed with pork and one still walking round because he wont fit lol. Pigs cost lots to feed. LOTS MORE than I expected! So once this one is gone all the money I spent feeding the three of them is going to pay for the cows feed and hay and the cows themselves. Unless the seller would like a trade. That would be super

I do understand that with only one acre the (hopefully) two calves will get all they need from me and not the land. Thats if the seller still has them and gets back to me. Craigs list sellers are as bad as buyers at getting back to me

And no, I am not looking for a profit, just the best meat I can get for my family. The stuff they put in food nowadays is just frightening

collegeboundgal · #9 02/26/12, 09:10 PM

ohhh. gotcha.
well, in that case, maybe you could look at getting steers that are almost big enough to butcher. finish them out with some grain (because I like the grain fed tast, not saying you have to...) and that way you wont have so much invested in hay. (lots easier on your pasture to...

Callieslamb · #10 02/26/12, 10:22 PM

Okay - what kind of grass is available? Do you get enough rain to support the grass or do you live on sand hills in your part of Florida? How many days or months of grazing do you have? What's the stocking rate of the area near you? Can your 4H group help you with those answers? Does anyone else raise 2 steers on a rented acre from the same pasture? That will give you a better answer than we can here.

The finishing steer idea is worth pursuing. If you time them so you have the most grass and have to buy the least amount of hay, you might be able to do this MUCH cheaper. Doing this will allow the bulk of the purchased feed go towards beefing him up, not growing his legs taller. Work the numbers and see which way ends up cheaper for you. Would it be cheaper to buy them at 250, 500, or 700 lbs? How much grass does it take to put 1 lb on a steer? How much grain? Hay costs me way more per day than grain does. I'm not sure if that's the right way to look at it, but I see people say they are going to raise gras-fed to save money. If you have the grass - it is cheaper, but if you're buying the grass as hay, they might put on weight cheaper to feed them some grain.

It wouldn't be impossible to raise 1 steer on 1 acre if it's the right acre. 1 can do one steer and 6 small sheep on 2 acres - but I run out of grass as soon as it stops raining due to my sandy soil. Until the rain stops, I have too much grass, then zip- it's gone. I have to keep rotating them around so I don't get a pasture of bare grass and tall weeds. In winter - I count on feeding 1 bale of grass hay a day (in a good year that's late Sept - early May) and it costs me $4 each small bale of grass hay. If the winter is really cold, I will have to feed 2x that amount. I tried to time our calves so they are their smallest when I have to feed the hay. Then I can count on 1/2 bale a day. It's hard to find dairy steers in August -and I find it's just as hard to raise them in the heat as the cold.

If there's grass available, your calves could refuse to eat the hay. Maybe others have had more success with that than I have. Once the grass is green, my animals will stand at the fence with a sad look on their faces until I let them out. They have to be really hungry to eat hay after that green grass taste is in their mouths. To keep them off the grass when you don't want them there, you should plan on a strong fence.

I hope it works our for you. If I had run the numbers before we started raising beef, I'd never have done it. It would have been cheaper to buy a beef at butchering size from someone else. We're gradually getting the costs down though. Raising our own 1 at a time, hasn't proven to be cheap or easy.

GBov · #11 02/27/12, 06:24 AM

Thats why I love you guys, you ALWAYS come through with the ideas and info

We have been toying with all the ideas but I think we will probably go for a finishing steer, esp. as no one wants to trade my huge, tender, tasty hog for their steer/heifer/calf.

So I think we will buy another freezer, put pig in it and keep saving for a steer.

Sandy soil, no. Pure sand? Yes! We are on old dunes here so there is just a skim coat of sandy soil on deeeeeep white sand. So any small pastures round here are bare sand in no time. And the acre we are renting is only half grass and the other half sand pines so even less grass.

Sure am bummed out about that farm but two days before closing we discovered that the sellers name was NOT on the deed and the land had been sold six times in the last ten years. The word scam came to mind and we pulled out but oh the plans, the PLANS we had for that land! *sigh*

sammyd · #12 02/27/12, 07:38 AM

We raised many steers on our 2 acres. up to 4 animals at a time. Bought a lot of hay and grain.
We usually buy them in so that they are ready to graze when the grass is good. Most times they will be tethered around the place while the bigger guys are out on the pasture. By July I'm usually starting to break into the hay supply for the bigger guys. The smaller ones can make it till winter tethering since we can use the neighbors a little to keep the grass down around the arbor vitaes....
The older guys go away in Oct and the cycle starts again next spring.

We can usually find hay for less than 3 bucks a bale. Decent stuff not rained on old grass. We have branched out and bought our own hay making equipment and make hay on a few small patches around the area that most sane folks wouldn't bother with. Plus we also have the option of buying a decent patch of standing hay if the opportunity arises. Buying quality alfalfa for 25 an acre (a real steal) and baling it ourselves saved a bunch...

Callieslamb · #13 02/27/12, 08:44 AM

I hope you can do well with this project. Somehow, we have to try. Can you sell that pork by it's hanging weight? Send it to the butcher and sell it in halves or 1/2-of-a-1/2? I pay $2.50 a pound for pork that way.....can't stand to raise pigs.

If you are on sand, then you won't have to worry about a muddy mess in the pasture when it's overgrazed. That's one good thing.

Sorry about the farm sale not going through. Can you make them pursue getting the title cleaned up? Did someone else advise you to not do it? Are you going through a realtor? If not, I hope something else comes up soon for you. I'd not hesitate to make my kids move- in fact, we had to due to a company move..twice...... but that's us. Making plans is a lot of fun.

BobDFL · #14 03/01/12, 12:31 PM

You could also do what I did last year, which is buy a 4-Her's market steer that didn't make weight (here in Osceola County the minimum Market Steer size is 1000#, the one I bought was 920# and gave us 504# in the freezer). This way you help the kid by at least letting them break even on the project. I did the same thing with a hog this year (couldn't afford a steer, a lamb, and a goat this year).

GBov · #15 03/01/12, 03:13 PM

Found a fantastic deal on a Dexter cow with one month old heifer calf at side, checked if it was OK to keep them at 4H till I find something to rent, was told fine, contacted the seller, arranged to go see them this weekend only to get a call from our 4H leader and be told they had decided to not let me keep a cow there after all. No reason, just no.