coulee
Member
Hi everybody,
This has been an interesting conversation. I just have to make a couple comments. I was raised on a ranch, spent my college days studying how to make ranching profitable and sustainable. When I got out of school I thought I had the secret formula, which was, match your cows to your environment, have a terminal bull to match what the boys in the feedlot like and a body could make a living.
I am not the sharpest tool in the tool box, it took me about 10 years of looking at financial records of cattle operations across the country to realize there was no secret formula because when ever I think I know of a way you can't raise cows and make a living some rancher or farmer shows me that it can be done.
One of the most profitable herds ND I have looked at calved in January and had big Simmental heavy milking cows that liked to twin.
I have looked at a very profitable herd in IA that weans calves very early, less than 100 days and puts them in the feedlot. At 7 months of age they are kicked out on corn stalks and forced to compete with the cows. The heifers that fall apart are just put back in the feed yard and fed out. This way he can winter his heifers for less than $50.00/head. He is breaking all the rules for developing heifers
I have a producer in MN that is renting out his pasture for $50.00/acre and they need 3 acres/cow for summer grazing. He is drylotting his cows on by- products, corn and corn stalks for about $0.45/head per day over the summer, and thinking about expanding.
I have gotten to the point where I am very careful about what I say because a body can't tell profitability by driving in the yard or looking out over the fence. Don't get me wrong, there are folks that are going to go belly up when this market turns south, but unless we have access to the numbers and the numbers are accurate, we won't know who.
One of the things that really surprises me is that is seems that ranchers are a sometimes little quick to judge their neighbors way of doing things. Heck, I am guilty of it as well. But if we really don't know what is going on in our neighbor's ledger, we really don't know much.
This has been an interesting conversation. I just have to make a couple comments. I was raised on a ranch, spent my college days studying how to make ranching profitable and sustainable. When I got out of school I thought I had the secret formula, which was, match your cows to your environment, have a terminal bull to match what the boys in the feedlot like and a body could make a living.
I am not the sharpest tool in the tool box, it took me about 10 years of looking at financial records of cattle operations across the country to realize there was no secret formula because when ever I think I know of a way you can't raise cows and make a living some rancher or farmer shows me that it can be done.
One of the most profitable herds ND I have looked at calved in January and had big Simmental heavy milking cows that liked to twin.
I have looked at a very profitable herd in IA that weans calves very early, less than 100 days and puts them in the feedlot. At 7 months of age they are kicked out on corn stalks and forced to compete with the cows. The heifers that fall apart are just put back in the feed yard and fed out. This way he can winter his heifers for less than $50.00/head. He is breaking all the rules for developing heifers
I have a producer in MN that is renting out his pasture for $50.00/acre and they need 3 acres/cow for summer grazing. He is drylotting his cows on by- products, corn and corn stalks for about $0.45/head per day over the summer, and thinking about expanding.
I have gotten to the point where I am very careful about what I say because a body can't tell profitability by driving in the yard or looking out over the fence. Don't get me wrong, there are folks that are going to go belly up when this market turns south, but unless we have access to the numbers and the numbers are accurate, we won't know who.
One of the things that really surprises me is that is seems that ranchers are a sometimes little quick to judge their neighbors way of doing things. Heck, I am guilty of it as well. But if we really don't know what is going on in our neighbor's ledger, we really don't know much.