Hello all from Venezuela!

[Jassy]

Well welcome to Ranchers...sure is pretty country you live in...am excited to see more...pictures say a thousands words you know. Your english is very good, have you spent time in the states? Do you use horses on the ranch? How far are you from a city? Enuff questions for this moment...lol Welcome and enjoy...

 

[Red Barn Angus]

I'm always fascinated when someone goes to a completely new area and starts an operation such as yours. You have a significant operation and have accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time. What took you to South America? Do you have hired hands? Your cattle look good. If I'm too nosey just ignore me !

 

[Silver]

AAAAaaaack! A socialist! :lol: :lol:

Welcome to Ranchers, and thanks for sharing pics. I hope to see many more in the future. That's very interesting looking country, I'd like to learn more about it, and the economics of ranching there.

 

[Whitewing]

Welcome to ranchers.net. Prepare to become addicted!!!

How long have you been in Venezula and what is the biggest
problem you face as a rancher there? And how do you market
your cattle?

I've been here for a number of years.....came with the oil industry, but have been ranching for just a few years now. I'd say aside from finding dependable ranch hands, the biggest problem a rancher here faces is government interference with pricing.

I sell breeder cattle, especially young Charolais bulls to locals with small herds who want to put more meat on their animals and need new blood. Animals for slaughter are easy to sell, either live or "al gancho", weighed after slaughter.

I haven't sold any of the cross-bred animals yet, though they always draw lots of ooohs and ahhhs for their general appearance. They should be easy to market.

Very few Venezuelas castrate their young male cattle, preferring instead to sell the animals as heavier bulls. I'm castrating mine (the cross-breeds) and am pleased with the growth results.

 

[Silver]

Well welcome to Ranchers...sure is pretty country you live in...am excited to see more...pictures say a thousands words you know. Your english is very good, have you spent time in the states? Do you use horses on the ranch? How far are you from a city? Enuff questions for this moment...lol Welcome and enjoy...

I was thinking WW's english was good enough he / she must have spent some time in Canada :wink:

 

[Whitewing]

Your english is very good

Thanks. Being originally from Louisiana, that's quite a compliment.

Do you use horses on the ranch? How far are you from a city?

We do use horses on the ranch, daily. When the animals are being pastured they're rounded up that end of each day and spend the night in corrals. I do this to avoid theft. Most of my neighbors leave their animals out at night.

My place is about 10 kilometers from a small pueblo of about 10,000 people. I'm also exactly half way between two significant cities, each being about an hour and half drive, one to the north, the other to the east.

 

[Whitewing]

I'm always fascinated when someone goes to a completely new area and starts an operation such as yours. You have a significant operation and have accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time. What took you to South America? Do you have hired hands? Your cattle look good. If I'm too nosey just ignore me !

Thanks for those kind words RBA. Trying to get things done in Venezuela is like trying to push a rock up a hill.....really frustrating for someone who is accustomed to seeing a business move quickly.

The place was really crude when I bought the first 200 hectars....virtually nothing built, and what was built was in poor condition. There was also zero pasture planted and very few hectars of cleared land. Since then, I've added property yearly, buying out small neighbors. If I can buy an additional 100 hectars or so, I'll have the size ranch I want and will own the remaining pieces I want to buy.

I'm working with 5 full time hands right now; an engineer, a manager who is good with mechanics and welding, and three hands to cover the animals. I also hire locals for short term projects like fence construction, etc.

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Ahhh Lousiana. Splains alot about yer good english. :wink:

I find this facinating. Did you just up and decide one day that you wanted to ranch in Venezuela after bein down there for your previous oil field job? I can't imagine just pickin up and movin somewhere like that. But I think it's really neat that you did.

 

[per]

How do the long time locals accept a "foreigner" amongst them?

 

[Whitewing]

Ahhh Lousiana. Splains alot about yer good english. :wink:

I find this facinating. Did you just up and decide one day that you wanted to ranch in Venezuela after bein down there for your previous oil field job? I can't imagine just pickin up and movin somewhere like that. But I think it's really neat that you did.

I'd always been interested in owning a decent piece of property and had looked at land in the U.S. from time to time but never found exactly what I was looking for. I retired in 2001 and began spending more and more time in Venezuela as I'd always enjoyed the country.

I finally bought a house down here and a neighbor of mine in the city who headed the local National Guard office owned a ranch and invited me to hunt the place. I hunted his place for pigeons and doves a number of times and really liked the region.......rolling hills and nearby mountains. It was also generally a much drier climate than the city and I found that very attractive.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the place next to his was offered to me for purchase. It was 211 hectars or a bit over 500 acres. There were a few acres of the place cleared enough for planting, but basically it was pretty crude. I ended up buying the place for $32K. Since then I've added additional adjoining parcels and am up to about 930 acres.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of other parcels I'd like to add to the place, and probably eventually will, it's just that I'm staying really occupied these days improving what I've already acquired.

 

[nmhighdesert]

Welcome and thanks for the pictures and story. I would think with your climate you will have lots of folks heading your way, I've got the team hooked up now, not sure what we will do when we get to Panama about crossing the canal. Wish me luck

 

[per]

Welcome and thanks for the pictures and story. I would think with your climate you will have lots of folks heading your way, I've got the team hooked up now, not sure what we will do when we get to Panama about crossing the canal. Wish me luck

Should be able to get across when the lock gates are shut. Would really suck if they opened when half way across. :shock: Or maybe when a ship is at the right level just scurry across the deck. :?

 

[bverellen]

Nope, I'm a gringo.

HeHe. I've been called the same down here, ALOT!!!! Usually they include the adjective of LOCO

Your Meztizos look alot like my Coriente bunch that I started out on. Is that a breed name or a word that translates into mutt?

Interesting that you serve ice cold drinks on fenceposts with the silage for your cattle! (pic #4).

Welcome to Ranchers.

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[Anonymous]

When it turns 40 below up here on the northern plains will you take in boarders :???: :wink:

I should be able to learn how to speak Louisianan- I learned how to understand Canuck :wink:

 

[Whitewing]

Nope, I'm a gringo.

HeHe. I've been called the same down here, ALOT!!!! Usually they include the adjective of LOCO

Your Meztizos look alot like my Coriente bunch that I started out on. Is that a breed name or a word that translates into mutt?

Interesting that you serve ice cold drinks on fenceposts with the silage for your cattle! (pic #4).

Welcome to Ranchers.

<><

Thanks for the welcome bverellen! Are you in S. Florida? Corriente cattle do appear to be considered a breed and yes, I suspect that my mestizos would also be interchangable with them as far as looks and temperment. I suspect they're something of a S. American Longhorn without the long horns. :?

The mestizo cattle down here are often pretty much on their own.....no pasture available, water where they can find it, no vaccinations, basically living wild on a piece of fenced-in property.....or on someone else's property if the fences aren't in good condition.

 

[Whitewing]

When it turns 40 below up here on the northern plains will you take in boarders :???: :wink:

I should be able to learn how to speak Louisianan- I learned how to understand Canuck :wink:

Oldtimer, I visited your neck of the woods many years ago when I was working in the oilfield. Drove from Louisiana up to Sidney and then up to Plentywood to collect samples for analysis.

I recall talking to a pumper from Plentywood and asking how the heck he could stand those winters up there. He chuckled and told me that actually the coldest he'd ever been in his life was when he was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana.......said he recalled a December day when it was 40F, 100% humidity, and he was soaking wet playing army. "Never been so cold in my life, before or since".

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

When it turns 40 below up here on the northern plains will you take in boarders :???: :wink:

I should be able to learn how to speak Louisianan- I learned how to understand Canuck :wink:

Oldtimer, I visited your neck of the woods many years ago when I was working in the oilfield. Drove from Louisiana up to Sidney and then up to Plentywood to collect samples for analysis.

I recall talking to a pumper from Plentywood and asking how the heck he could stand those winters up there. He chuckled and told me that actually the coldest he'd ever been in his life was when he was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana.......said he recalled a December day when it was 40F, 100% humidity, and he was soaking wet playing army. "Never been so cold in my life, before or since".

Hey if you've been to Plentywood you were only about 30 miles from where i live. If you were north of Plentywood even closer. It's pretty tropical up here. :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Whitewing]

When it turns 40 below up here on the northern plains will you take in boarders :???: :wink:

I should be able to learn how to speak Louisianan- I learned how to understand Canuck :wink:

Oldtimer, I visited your neck of the woods many years ago when I was working in the oilfield. Drove from Louisiana up to Sidney and then up to Plentywood to collect samples for analysis.

I recall talking to a pumper from Plentywood and asking how the heck he could stand those winters up there. He chuckled and told me that actually the coldest he'd ever been in his life was when he was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana.......said he recalled a December day when it was 40F, 100% humidity, and he was soaking wet playing army. "Never been so cold in my life, before or since".

Hey if you've been to Plentywood you were only about 30 miles from where i live. If you were north of Plentywood even closer. It's pretty tropical up here. :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

My last stop was 7 miles from the Canadian border. :wink:

 

[Hanta Yo]

Welcome aboard, Whitewing :wave: Very interesting reading these 4 pages Looks like clearing can be quite a job :shock: What do you do to clear the brush and trees? I'm thinking in Brazil the govt only allows some clearing, no problem where you live?

Most people here are friendly, and I'm glad you decided to join up :nod: :tiphat:

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Your Mestizos to me look more bramer than they do coriente. Smaller than bramer, but that's what they look like to me.