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O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle.

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J Schwiebert

02-12-2008 05:33:53




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O. K. here. I am going to use round numbers so the math will be easy to do. Cattle here are a rare item. Hay is almost in that same class. First time we have not had some hay in 10 years. Reason our buyer got out of the dairy business. Now here is my question. Acres are 100. If I fed cattle on this 100 acres and raised the feed necessary for them, what would be my net income compared to 50 Bu beans, 75 Bu wheat and 150 Bu corn at todays prices including imput costs on the same 100 acres?

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Larry59

02-12-2008 19:06:26




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
IS the rule of thumb still one acre per cow for grazing only in summer?



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RodInNS

02-12-2008 14:54:02




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
I think it would depend largely upon what equipment you have NOW. If you're mostly equipped to make hay and feed cattle, that's probably the only real practical route for you. 100 acres and cash cropping probably won't work unless you already have or have access to the gear you need cheaply... If you need to dump a pile of money into gear to make it happen, it probably won't work on paper.
It sounds to me like you're mostly set up to make hay and feed cattle...

Rod

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J Schwiebert

02-12-2008 17:52:57




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to RodInNS, 02-12-2008 14:54:02  
No: We have no hay tools nor does anyone in this township feed cattle.



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rrlund

02-12-2008 11:30:42




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
One thing I was going to add to my last long winded reply J,was that the brains at OSU or MSU extension could probably give you some numbers,but they take in to account so many things that just are so far removed from the real world,they are about useless. Shoot,some of the big guys around here are always telling me that according to MSU,I shouldn't even exist.



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J Schwiebert

02-12-2008 13:25:44




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to rrlund, 02-12-2008 11:30:42  
Rick to be honest about it I have not thought cow/calf. I just figgured on the feed to finish them and of course no pasture. Next part I get to sub for the ag teacher while she is on maternity leave. I was going to use it for a story problem for them to solve. One of the students used to have dairy cows and that was where we sold our hay (50-50 shares. I think they fed beef cattle for 2 years after the cows were gone. Another related wrinke came up at 4-H Advisors council on hogs as it is too late for this years steers but with the increases price of feed there kids are going to loose there shirts at current market value. To everyone I appreciate all the answers. J.

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rrlund

02-12-2008 15:19:56




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 13:25:44  
Ya,I figured from the subject line that you meant buying feeders. All I can give you for figures,and you know you can get better yields down there than I can up here,is that I figure 1 acre of corn for every calf that I finish. In a normal year,about 1/3 for silage,2/3s to pick. As far as hay,there are 59 500-600 pounders in one pen,getting silage too,they eat 1 900 pound round bale of second cutting hay every other day. There are 45-48 in the finishing pen,they get more silage and grain. They're going through 1 bale every other day too,so the equivilent of one a day total to them all,plus the free choice silage and grain. Maybe you can put some values together from those numbers.

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randallinMo

02-12-2008 10:30:05




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
Everyone's costs are all over the board. With that said, I think your average cost per calf will run somewhere between $320.00-$400.00 per year. Assuming you can run 50 cow calf pairs on your 100 acres (which is a big load and not probable) and assuming you get a 100% calf crop (again not probable) and can sell these calves for $1.10 per pound weighing 650 pounds, your gross income would be $35,750.00. Your costs will be $20,000.00, net income = $15,750.00.
This "net" number looks WAY over optimistic to me. Reality says to lower this a minimum of 50%. None of this takes into account your investment in the breeding stock or facilities. I personally think if you can make $100.00 per calf, you're doing good. You need to REALLY like cattle to justify doing it.

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Nebraska Cowman

02-12-2008 09:31:32




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
At today's prices it will probably loose you money to run the feed through lvestock. But that will change. I'm keeping my cows.



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Keith in NW MO

02-12-2008 08:16:56




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
Where could you possibly live that you could run 75 mother cows on 80 acres?



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J Schwiebert

02-12-2008 09:33:21




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to Keith in NW MO, 02-12-2008 08:16:56  
Here is another angle. I can cash rent this 100 acres around here for somewhere between #14,000 to 15,000. How many cattle does it take to make that back?



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rrlund

02-12-2008 11:26:36




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 09:33:21  
If you're talking finished cattle,I have Angus and Angus cross cows,I breed to Angus,so all black and black baldie calves. Finished,over a years time on average,I wind up at just a hair under $1100 per head gross. So,probably 14 finished steers or heifers (for some reason I do better on fat heifers than steers) to gross what you would renting it out. I guess,just figure how many you could finish growing feed on those acres,less the cost of feeders. Then figure the value of the feed in putting it through them instead of selling it. That's where you and I have it over the big feedyards that buy all their feed. Yes,the cost of growing it is up,probably double a few years ago,but November futures for fats are around $102,vs 75-80 a few years ago.And there isn't any expansion going on in the cow herd,so it looks like prices will hold. So,yes,we could get more for that feed by selling it than we could a few years back,but we aren't PAYING market price for it.

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rrlund

02-12-2008 08:44:43




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to Keith in NW MO, 02-12-2008 08:16:56  
Michigan. I know,you guys down there figure one pair to 3 acres. Keep in mind that I'm only talking about pasture. I rotational graze. I put up about 140 additional acres of hay to get them and their calves through the winter plus all the corn silage and grain that I put through the calves to finish them.



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rrlund

02-12-2008 06:44:58




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 Re: O/TAll you cattle feeder, Feeding cattle. in reply to J Schwiebert, 02-12-2008 05:33:53  
I honestly don't know J. I've been thinking about putting a pencil to it myself and doing the opposite. I'm wondering of pasturing 75 brood cows on 80 acres and using everything that I grow on the rest of the ground to feed them through the winter and to finish their calves really makes sense. My big fear is,if I sell them,pay the capital gains,change operations,then politics change and the ethanol boom goes bust,I could be REAL sorry. I can tell you,I'm as well off as I was with 60 dairy cows,if that goes anywhere toward answering your question. Only problem I've got with them is I'm still tied down to them. It's a whole bunch easier to get somebody to do chores than it was when I was milking.

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