How do you get started raising cattle?

Answer 1

First of all, get a pile of books on cattle, and start reading. Read them once, then read them again and again until you have soaked in all the details. I'd start with Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle or Dairy Cattle. Another book to get your hands on is Beef Cattle Science. There is also Dairy Cattle Science as well by the same author (M.E. Ensminger). For more books, type in "Cattle" in Amazon search and you will get more books to see for you to read. A few books on forages will also help you on pasture management and hints on harvesting forages. These books will give you details of how to raise cattle in not only just raising them, but health, breeding, calving, finance, marketing, feeding and planning forage management. Another source to go to is your local extension agent who will give you much more info for your area, such as stocking rates, soil types, grass types, etc.

Next, see if you can get hired at a farm or ranch that raises cattle in the way that you wish to raise your own. Work at that place for a year or so to get a feel for what to expect in raising cattle.

If you want to raise dairy cattle, you had better have a LOT of money in your bank account, because you will be spending it on first buying land, then building facilities, buying machinery and equipment, and buying cows and (here in Canada) quota. Start by making up a business plan that includes goals and objectives for the day and weeks ahead as well as for the next 5 to 10 years ahead, financial plans, marketing plans, and plans for your herd. Going into detail won't hurt a bit, but always be prepared to expect the unexpected. Have your plans, feed, facilities, watering, Fencing and equipment all done up before you purchase your first herd of cows.

If you want to raise beef cattle, you are going to have more choices to make than for raising dairy cattle, since there are more sectors to beef cattle than there are for dairy. Do you want to go commercial or seedstock? Do you want to background weaner steers or heifers or start a feedlot operation? Or, do you want to contract-graze cattle on your pastures? Or do you want to do a mix of some or all of the above? All of the above take much planning, facilities, fencing, equipment, land, money and marketing skills. Like I mentioned above, a business plan will help you out here in the same way that it would a newbie dairy farmer, as well as a bit of knowledge as to what each sector of cattle-raising involves:

- Commercial operations involve breeding and raising cattle for beef. Beef cows can be pure-bred, straight-bred or crossbred, and the calves are sold as feeder or stocker calves for a profit.

- Seedstock operations involve breeding and raising cattle to be sold to other seedstock and commercial producers. Seedstock operations breed good purebred cattle (primarily one breed) to sell the offspring bulls and heifers to other producers. What breed you wish to raise is up to you, as there is no "best" breed to go with.

- Backgrounding or Stockering involves buying weaned calves (~6 months of age), growing them on a 85% to 90% forage diet, then selling them to the local feedlot at either 800 lbs or 1000 lbs. The steers or heifers (can't really raise both unless you got the proper facilities), are fed hay and/or silage in a drylot in the winter and pastured in the spring/summer/fall. They are then sold to feedlots to finish.

- Feedlots or finishing operations buy cattle from backgrounding/stocker operations and put them on a 85% grain diet until they reach target weight to be slaughtered. All cattle are on a drylot during this time.

- Contract grazing involves an agreement between you and a producer to graze their cattle on your land for a set period of time or vice versa. Often these involve stocker cattle that are being grown to be sent to be slaughtered, but it also involves grazing beef cow-calf pairs.

When have your plans, fencing, facilities, equipment and such in place, next comes the part of buying your cattle. Be picky. Go with your gut. And make sure you ask all the necessary questions before you make your purchase. The best place to get your cows for your beef and dairy cow-calf operations is one of two places: dispersal sales either on farm or at your local auction mart, or privately when you meet the owner and discuss prices and other things about the cattle you wish to purchase. With dairy and seedstock producers, you have to be much more picky than if you are a commercial producer. But all three sectors must have GOOD, healthy foundation cows with good temperament, conformation, and breeding that you are looking for. As a commercial producer you can allow for crossbred cows to have in your herd, or you can purchase straight-bred females. Start small, and start with cows that have already experience with calving if you can, particularly bred cows with calves (3-in-1's). Also, start with the breed[s] that you both like the most if you don't want to start with the breeds that the market calls for.

Backgrounding, finisher and contract-grazing operations have a much bigger lee-way in terms of purchasing cattle. For the first two, make sure you buy a relatively uniform herd of one or two different colourations, no matter the breed. You will have to be a little more flexible if you purchase a few wilder calves, but make sure your whole herd isn't like that. The biggest thing you have to worry about with backgrounding and finishing cattle is how you're going to feed them so that they all reach target weight. For the latter (contract-grazing), have a good repute so you can have multiple producers to form a contract with for grazing. Contract grazing involves you having good pasture management for you to graze someone else's cattle on your pastures in a set period of time, no matter what breeds you are dealing with.

Raising cattle isn't about one simple little thing. It involves a whole pile of different things that you should and have to look into before diving in head-first. Also, make sure you know what you're getting into so that you don't go in over your head the first time at it and end up having a trainwreck to deal with.