Nicky
Well-known member
Sounds cheap to me for what hay is going for in most parts of the country. Those with cheap feed don't realize how much wintering costs are a part of life in some areas.
3 M L & C said:Would a person not be better off stocking more animals and feeding them some? I understand open winter, my uncle lives in southern oklahoma and is always blowing about it. But if you have enough grass for all year then couldn't you have twice the cattle in the summer. I don't know maybe my view would be different if I have never been crack deep in snow.
3 M L & C said:If you had the cattle on there half as long that's not overgrazing. I would probably do it like they do if I could, I'm just saying thats not the only way. This year with the harvest going to be so early our cattle will be on stalks by labor day. One person tried to do this around here, graze grass all year. We had a huge ice-snow storm in November. All that grass that was out there the cattle couldn't eat it had 3/4 inch of ice on it plus the snow. The ground never did get all the way cleared off all winter. That grass wasn't worth much by the time spring came around and everything started growing again.
Larrry said:The way I look at it is the less a cows feed come into contact with iron before you feed it is almost always the cheapest way to feed cows
3 M L & C said:Larrry said:The way I look at it is the less a cows feed come into contact with iron before you feed it is almost always the cheapest way to feed cows
If the grass has the same value all year yes. But how much more valuable it the grass when its green or put up hayed at the right time than in winter when it's 2-4% like FH says. Everyone has this theory that less work equalls more profit. That's not always the case less work does equall less cost, but like I said earlier its not how much you spend or save its how much you make. Profit would probably be a better word, but I did say make earlier.
Doug Thorson said:A different way to look at things.
Land cost is the thing that all the free thinkers that try to SAVE the profit from a cow don't figure, probally because it is paid for. Between what I am buying ad what I lease I pay $12.99 per acre per year. If I push my place and run at max stocking rate(20 acres per cow) that adds up to $259.80 per cow for land. There are several people around here who do the no labor-no hay-no expense route. They all figure 35 acres to graze year round and have grass through the snow and just the fact that you have to KNOW you can get through if your plan is to spend nothing. That 35 acre figure adds up to $454.65 per cow. That figures up to $195 difference per head to run at max capacity. I spend a little more than some on wintering but that is the reason. This year it will cost $2.35 per day for 160 days. That is figuring the hay I put up last year and carried over at this years price. If I only figure what I have into the hay it cost me $1.56 per head per day.
After reading that you all know what is meant by the old saying
"Figures don't lie but liars figure"
Doug Thorson said:A different way to look at things.
Land cost is the thing that all the free thinkers that try to SAVE the profit from a cow don't figure, probally because it is paid for. Between what I am buying ad what I lease I pay $12.99 per acre per year. If I push my place and run at max stocking rate(20 acres per cow) that adds up to $259.80 per cow for land. There are several people around here who do the no labor-no hay-no expense route. They all figure 35 acres to graze year round and have grass through the snow and just the fact that you have to KNOW you can get through if your plan is to spend nothing. That 35 acre figure adds up to $454.65 per cow. That figures up to $195 difference per head to run at max capacity. I spend a little more than some on wintering but that is the reason. This year it will cost $2.35 per day for 160 days. That is figuring the hay I put up last year and carried over at this years price. If I only figure what I have into the hay it cost me $1.56 per head per day.
After reading that you all know what is meant by the old saying
"Figures don't lie but liars figure"
A person needs to look at their land cost. If you can't get a return on the land why bother. What could you rent it for is a good figure to start at
Doug Thorson said:A person needs to look at their land cost. If you can't get a return on the land why bother. What could you rent it for is a good figure to start at
If I started there I would just quit and rent it out. They are paying high for grassland to break around here. I could easily sell the cows, pay down as much as I could, rent the ground out, put $75,000 in my pocket every year after the payments I would still have and still run 50-60 cows in the draws and other unfarmable ground. I must like work because that seems like a good deal but I think I would be sad every day seeing my land farmed.
Larrry said:A person needs to look at their land cost. If you can't get a return on the land why bother. What could you rent it for is a good figure to start at