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what should I look for in a ranch?
If it is cattle you are wanting to raise, look for GRASS and lots of it. Cows need fed hay in the north, so that adds another problem so best to stick with yearlings for awhile. You have to have money to buy yearlings, and a place to run them. If it is farming, I don't think you would like NM. Anyway, the places where we have been in NM.
This is hard to say and even harder to hear, but until you have money, you are a tire kicker. It's fine if you want to look up property online, but when you get a realtor (ugh) involved the first thing you will be asked is, "do you have the monery?" We've been tire kickers, so we know, but my point is start saving now. Anything. Everything. This won't be easy, and it will seem impossible. Sometimes it is...
The upcoming political climate will make it even harder. Lots of uncertainty abounds.
 
It can be fun, interesting, and educational to look at different areas and what it takes to run cows there. Starting out one of the best ways is to find a lease. You can build a herd without spending a couple million on the land required to run them on.
 
It will take a lot more infrastructure to run bison compared to cattle. With cattle you could rent some land put up a hot wire and rent some portable panels for a corral. Not so with bison.
so someone earlier told me that leasing land would be the best starting option thats a great idea but how many times can i close breed cattle if i start out with 100 cows and about 4 bulls
 
"how many times can i close breed cattle"??????? What?
well yeah cause I have been talking to the farmers in the area and they say that i could get away with a father-daughter type thing but how true is this and would it affect health, fertility, etc
 
Well seeing as how it takes two years from breeding to breeding a hfr you will have turn over in your bulls. If you are breeding hfrs you might want to breed them in a separate pasture or it might make better economic sense to buy your hfrs bred rather then wintering and breeding your own at least until you get established.
 
well yeah cause I have been talking to the farmers in the area and they say that i could get away with a father-daughter type thing but how true is this and would it affect health, fertility, etc
You would need to be careful, I mean REALLY careful. In line breeding the bad traits can be magnified. Larry Leonhardt did this, bred a son to his mother, I think he called that bull Echo. But he REALLY understood Angus genetics, probably better than anyone, so it was successful for him. I wouldn't try it, but good luck if you do.
 

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