# Looking to start a dairy farm. Need help.



## yanks26 (Jul 20, 2009)

Right now I am a junior in college and starting to plan a dairy farm after college. I will get hands on experience at school since they have 100 dairy cows I can work with. 

Can anyone give me some advice or tips on whether this is a good idea or not?

I am open to anything. I love cows and chickens but I feel that dairy farming is a market that is still available to enter into. What do you think?


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 20, 2009)

My first question is, do you have any experience at all with dairy cows? 

Second is, do you love farming, including milking?

Farming is something that you do because you love it. The pay is not great and it's long hours.


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## mully (Jul 20, 2009)

Farmer Kitty said:
			
		

> My first question is, do you have any experience at all with dairy cows?
> 
> Second is, do you love farming, including milking?
> 
> Farming is something that you do because you love it. The pay is not great and it's long hours.


YES YES and hard work and sometimes nasty


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## wynedot55 (Jul 20, 2009)

king cows is rough back breaking work.an the dairy comes before going out with family.an you better be prepared for low milk prices an high feed prices.get all the hands on traning you can.an then get a job working at a dairy when you get out of school.


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## yanks26 (Jul 20, 2009)

Yes I do love working on farms. I, without a doubt, want to run one of my own later in life. I would really love to do one with animals and chickens catch my attention first but that industry is saturated and has no room for small companies to get in. So my next favorite interest are cows. I don't know exactly what I want to do yet with them I just know that I want to have cows. I am starting my research now on dairy farms and want to hear what you guys have to say about them. Thanks so much for  the input thus far!


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 20, 2009)

Now that we know you are really truly interested in dairy farms, I would say go for it. 

As pointed out already, it's something you need to love and is a lot of work but, I personally love the work. It's a good place to raise kids and teach them responsibilities too.

Learn as much as you can now, before you get your cattle. We do a good portion of our own vet work and mechanical work, which is a great way to save money. Saving money is the biggest way to make it as a farmer that and learning to not over expend. Always, plan for the lean times. If you can't make the loan on $9 milk then don't take the loan out or you will regret it when the price drops. 

Study, work hard on the farm they have there, and don't be afraid to ask us questions. Remember, there are no dumb questions. If you don't know, it's smarter to ask than to go about it blind. We are here to help.

Welcome to the world of cattle, whether it be dairy or beef.


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## Imissmygirls (Jul 20, 2009)

I would add that winning the lottery would help. Dairy cows are very expensive to buy and you should buy the best  you can afford.  Research how small a herd you would need to start with to pay the rent on a dairy farm plus their feed, etc etc
I am told most banks on the east coast of USA won't discuss loans without a minimum  herd size of 60 and you can figure at least $2000 per head to buy a cow. That's 120K minimum initial investment if you are talking about a dairy herd to make a living. 
On $9.00 /cwt milk, it logically can't be done.


Went to a local minor league baseball game with a milk promotion theme. A dairy farmer friend tells me he bought 2 glasses of beer there. Cost for the two glasses of beer was more than he was paid for 100 lbs of milk.
Something is wrong with that picture.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 20, 2009)

Up here you need at least a million dollars to start in building facilities for milking and buy cows.  The federal gov't also has a quota on how much milk is produced per dairy farm.  Go below that quota and you're out of business.  

To really get into business you'd have to time your cows to milk 365 days a year...pretty much by switching the lower lactating cows with the ones that just calved. Which I'm sure means either calving year round or calving twice a year.  

Then there's the feed.  Dairy cows need higher quality feed than beef cattle ALL the time, as they tend to consume a lot in order to produce a lot of milk.  Which means either owning a lot of crop/hay land or renting or buying feed.

Most cows are AI'd, although I know of one or two dairy farms around here that have Jersey bulls to breed their heifers.  Keep in mind Jersey bulls are the most dangerous bulls of any breed of cattle, beef and dairy.

Calves have to be sold as well, and most if not all of your bull calves will be steered and sold as feeders.  Selecting top heifers as replacements take a good eye and knowledge about the history of the dam and sire to decide whether to include them in the dairy herd or not.

Those are a few things I know of that should be considered if you want to enter the dairy business.  And of course lots more that I didn't mention and that the others did and didn't mention that should also be thought about and researched.

Anywho, good luck with your endeavours.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 21, 2009)

Actually, price of cattle are down right now. But, remember, if the price of milk goes up so will the price of dairy cattle.
Dairy Replacement Cattle  	
Top Quality Springing Holstein Heifers 	1100 - 1375 Top 1450
Plainer Quality Springing Holstein Heifers 	800 - 1100
Good Quality Short Bred Heifers 	900 - 1125
Good Quality Springing and Recently Fresh Cows 	1000 - 1500
Good Bred Back Milking Cows 	800 - 1450
Plain Quality and Common Cows 	Market - 800
Dehorned and Vaccinated Open Heifers 350-550# 	350 - 650
Dehorned and Vaccinated Open Heifers 550-750# 	450 - 800
Dehorned and Vaccinated Open Heifers 750-950# 	650 - 950
Top Quality Holstein Heifer Calves  	200.00 - 280.00 per head
Plain Quality Holstein Heifer Calves 	50.00 - 150.00 per head
Quality Beef Calves 	70.00 - 140.00 per head
Started Calves 	50.00 - 150.00 per head
Light and Off Quality Calves 	30.00 & Down

One way to help with the expense would be to spread it out. If you know for sure that you want to go into dairy then I would evaluate whether or not you could afford to rent or buy a farm now. Then start buying heifer calves. It will be a couple of years before they will be milking so you will need to be able to afford this on the income you currently have but, if you could buy a calf here and a calf there. 

Another way is to find a dairy farmer to work for that would be willing to work out a deal of paying you in calves,etc. verus a pay check. You will still need a place to keep them and feed--also something you maybe able to work off.


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## MReit (Jul 21, 2009)

I definately recommend working as an assistant herdsman and then graduating to a herdsman. It will give you first hand experience without you jumping into a huge investment like that right away. You'll learn soooo much and still have the help of the farmer just incase your unsure of something. Plus it will really get you preped for the hours and devotion it takes.  No, it won't feel great not getting paid too much and devoting all the time to a farm that isn't yours- but if you still love it after that, then you know you'll love running your own farm


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## country freedom (Jul 21, 2009)

WildRoseBeef said:
			
		

> Up here you need at least a million dollars to start in building facilities for milking and buy cows.  The federal gov't also has a quota on how much milk is produced per dairy farm.  Go below that quota and you're out of business.
> 
> To really get into business you'd have to time your cows to milk 365 days a year...pretty much by switching the lower lactating cows with the ones that just calved. Which I'm sure means either calving year round or calving twice a year.
> 
> ...


Why are Jersey bulls the meanest ? I thought the entire breed was the most docile of all the breeds of cattle.


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## wynedot55 (Jul 21, 2009)

a jersey bull was born to get meaner than snott.its just part of them being a bull.an holstein bull is meaner than snott.


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## MReit (Jul 21, 2009)

Yeah, jersey bulls seem to make up for their lack in size with attitude. Jersey cows can get the same way.  Jerseys seem to either love you or want nothing to do with you, and they could be sweet and then kick the crap out of you while milking..Holsteins can be that way also, but seems with my experience that they have more of a "I'm a cow-this is my job" feeling towards life. They are docile cause they are small, but they can be fiesty and will take every advantage they can. At the jersey farm where I work, there are a handfull of holsteins on the whole place, all very sweet. The jerseys will shove and pick on the hols for no reason at all- despite the huge difference in size. Very interesting to watch if your into animal behavior.


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## wynedot55 (Jul 21, 2009)

thats because theres more jers than hol in the herd.an the jers will gang up on the hols.now if there was more hols than jers.then they would gang up on the jers.


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 21, 2009)

We had a jersey with a huge attitude! Every couple of months she would let out kicking. She was nice enough to let you know a couple of milkings ahead that something was going to happen. One milking I had her head tied around to her hind leg and she let out kicking. By the time she stopped she was upside down with all four feet sticking up in the air. I had a really good laugh at her expense that night!


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## wynedot55 (Jul 21, 2009)

i wish you had a pic of her upside down in her stall.


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## Imissmygirls (Jul 21, 2009)

I still maintain that part of the jersey's kicking during milking is a super strong letdown reflex.  I have absolutely NO scientific backup for tht thought- but after nursing 5 children, it's a mom thing.
And they are so hormonal. nuff said.


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## jhm47 (Jul 21, 2009)

I have watched many bulls being "collected".  The handlers are very careful when collecting the Holstein bulls, but they are super extra careful when collecting the Jerseys.  From what I've heard, the Jerseys are the meanest of all.


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## kstaven (Jul 22, 2009)

I agree on the bull comments. Jersey bulls are the meanest I have ever had on the place. Must say that my Jersey cows and heifers are very calm and easy going. I have only had one exception to that and even she calmed after 3 months here and getting used to my routine and ways. Now she lines up like the rest awaiting her turn to get milked.


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## MReit (Jul 22, 2009)

wynedot55 said:
			
		

> thats because theres more jers than hol in the herd.an the jers will gang up on the hols.now if there was more hols than jers.then they would gang up on the jers.


Thats a possibility, but when I didn't have anywhere to go with my two milking jerseys a hols farm took them in, and they never got any crap from the hols there. I guess every situation is different.


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## amysflock (Jul 23, 2009)

yanks26 said:
			
		

> Yes I do love working on farms. I, without a doubt, want to run one of my own later in life. I would really love to do one with animals and chickens catch my attention first but that industry is saturated and has no room for small companies to get in. So my next favorite interest are cows. I don't know exactly what I want to do yet with them I just know that I want to have cows. I am starting my research now on dairy farms and want to hear what you guys have to say about them. Thanks so much for  the input thus far!


In our area, at least, there is still a market for organic, free range chickens and eggs, so I wouldn't necessarily rule it out. Granted, it wouldn't make you rich, but there are buyers for country-fresh products. Folks seem to be more interested in knowing where their food comes from and urban folks, in particular, are willing to pay a little more for organic and free range. You might check with your local extension office to see what things are really like in your area, and check with producers or CSAs in your area for more info.


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