cattle people. What's a good price for beef cattle?

[Msbear]

My husband and I are moving back to my family farm and have app. 15 fenced in acres with nothing in it. Cows were in there a few years ago. A local farmer was using the fields and my dad never even charged him. The farmer would drop off a 3 ft. long zuchini every once in a while and they were square

Well, we're trying to actually make money with the farm. There is a plan to board horses but some repairs to the fence (barbed wire spots over the american wire) and the paddock as well as run in are in order before we begin advertising. Anyway, I was thinking of wintering some beef calves in there to make a few bucks and fill our freezer.. thought it would be a good use of space. The pasture has nice orchard grass mix as well as some alphalfa (it's next to our hayfield) The fella that bales the hay is going to crop share with us so we'll have some round bales for later in the Winter.

How many calves can we winter on 15 acres comfortably?

What is a good price to pay for say angus or some other type of beef cattle? heifers or steers?

What is a potential price per pound at a sale in the Spring?

I remember having cows in the field when I was a kid and remember it wasn't much work. Is there anything that I should know... assuming I know nothing

eta: I do know that they will most likely require graining as well as the grass/hay and Im doing more research and will talk with some local farmers. I realize there is much more to learn before jumping in.

Thanks!

 

[arabianequine]

I heard 2 acres per cow not sure on that though. I feed hay daily nothing grows here to dry. I also grain daily. You don't have to grain daily a lot of people will let them graze or feed hay up till about a month before butcher.....put them in a small area and feed as much grain as they want. I don't do it this way so I am not sure if you still give some hay. This puts on weight fast and marbles the meat so it is not as tough. You can get cheap feed for them like oat hay they can eat a little mold they will pick through if it is really bad they more than likely won't eat it.....also cheap grain....cracked corn, screenings, old stuff. I check around at feed lots and sometime trucks will drop feed cause they are so full, when loading and/or unloading, or some seed places have whole corn, barley, oats (buy molasses in bulk and put it on the oats) here for real cheap, I would crack the corn though. I feed 2 cows grain 2 times a day and they get about 5 qts per day to share some in the am and some in the pm. I get the cheap grain at the feed store like all stock, all breed, or sweet cob they love the sweet stuff that is sticky to touch. When we are raising pigs I get the other in bulk.....and in the winter more. I give free choice of grain till about 6 months old and especially in the winter it gets really cold here.

I can get bottle baby red or black angus bull or heifer for $150 each here. Jerseys here are free and suppose to be really good meat. Some people won't have any other beef I hear.

Good luck!

 

[Msbear]

Thanks so much

This guy will deliver to me. He wants 1400 for the 8 head. They look to be off the bottle and he said that is his "asking price" so, I can probably dicker.

http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/grd/1867706021.html

 

[Katy]

Quote:

 

[Msbear]

Katy, thanks a bunch. It did sound like a pretty good deal. Here's our local livestock exchange report http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/rh_ls752.txt

I do like the idea that they'd be coming from the farm and wouldn't have been exposed to all that nonsense from a barn sale. We're chatting with some local farmers today and may be getting some calves soon

I will be checking fences this weekend. But, all our neighbors owe us a few. We've had their cows in our field on more than one occassion and some of them for weeks!!!

eta: apparently he gave me the wrong price... It is 4500 for the lot. That seems a bit high but they come from an "organic beef" farm

 

[Katy]

Quote:
If they're 400 pounds that figures out to about $140 per hundredweight which is right at what the market is here.

Getting them straight off the farm is a plus.