Rammy's Ramblings

[greybeard]

popular slang (in Texas anyway) for 'cattle business'.

Many trailer dealerships rent 16' bumper pull stock trailers for about $70/day last ad I saw. U-Haul used to, but I believe they stopped a few years back due to liability issues.

 

[Baymule]

Maybe you oughta get sheep. Or buy a steer to feed out for your freezer, sell half and keep half. The half you sell would pay expenses on the half you keep.

 

[Rammy]

My plan for next year. Just get a few to keep the grass ate down and get one steer for the freezer. No more partnerships.
As for sheep, Id have to redo the fencing. Right now its 5 strands of hotwire. Wouldnt I have to put up sheep/ goat fencing? I priced it a while back snd it would cost me about 4 grand to put that up. Thats if I got the good woven wire.
Im also not sure I could woman handle a 200 pound sheep that doesnt want thier feet trimmed. Otherwise, Id be talking to @Mike CHS about buying some sheepies off him. Id go for goats but have seen what happens when they get out and party on someones car. Yikes!

 

[Baymule]

What price per roll and how many feet? Sheep and goat wire or non climb horse wire?

I like your plan for next year. Do you have a truck to pull a trailer with? If you are going to be this cow raising Queen, ya' gotta get the impressive equipment so you can keep up with all the other cattle ranchers! LOL

 

[Rammy]

popular slang (in Texas anyway) for 'cattle business'.

Many trailer dealerships rent 16' bumper pull stock trailers for about $70/day last ad I saw. U-Haul used to, but I believe they stopped a few years back due to liability issues.

Yeah, the CO-OP has a trailer but its too small to accomodate three large cows. Two maybe. My truck is set up to haul bumper pulls. My intentions was to get a trailer one day, but money and divorce put a stop to that. I almost had the truck repossessed after my divorce but was able to get it refinanced to lower payments.
I may call around to see if there is someone who rents trailers large enough to handle 4 cows. Might be cheaper than buying one.

 

[Baymule]

Or you get a network of like minded friends that you can swap out with. I have a cordless drill and circle saw. A neighbor has a trailer and generator that he uses when he has work of that nature to do, but since using my cordless equipment, has borrowed them several times for work around his place. So much easier to take cordless drill and saw to repair a gate off in the pasture than hitch up the flatbed, load the generator and haul it to the spot that needs work. LOL When this neighbor had a major tear down to do, we loaned him the dump trailer and since we couldn't help with the tear down, we bought lunchmeat, mayo, mustard, cheese and bread for the friends that came with their equipment to help him.

So find friends that you can help with their projects and they can help with yours. Hard to find, but good people are out there.

 

[Rammy]

 

[farmerjan]

@Rammy, what I would do is have the stockyard put the check in your name...unless this neighbor is the one who is going to haul them in to the sale for you? Then I would present a COPY of all costs involved, and write a check for half the amount received MINUS the costs incurred. Also, you need to allow for the cost to haul them... don't know the going rate there, but around here it is about $4.00 per mile if you figure in the time the hauler spends to come and load. We pay about $150 per load for a friend that comes and helps load and hauls them about 25-30 miles to the stockyard. Amounts to about $10 per head if they are feeders and he can haul between 14-18 according to size. Plus it includes any time he has to wait in line til they get unloaded.
You can call the stockyard/sale barn and ask what it would cost to get 3 head hauled to the sale... there are usually guys who do it and the sales will normally have a list.

All this said, you are way ahead to NEVER do anything in partner with anyone who isn't willing to pay their part up front. We had a person approach us once to do a partner type thing. They offered (and DID) put money up, up front, to buy an animal that they wanted to get raised up for beef. We supplied 2 (for company) at the going rate at the stockyard, and they had a few acres that they had access to. We split all the costs right down the middle....they bought some grain, we paid them. We supplied the mineral since we were buying in bulk...they paid their half. By half way through, we both agreed that it seemed to be working, so we just kept a copy of receipts, til it was time to ship them. They were very similiar in size so we took ours to the stockyards, took that weight and figured it about equal to theirs; what ours brought per pound was about what was fair and decent so they got their meat. We took all the copies of receipts, added up each and made sure we had paid about an equal amount and we were good. I think we owed them about $30 over what we spent compared to what they spent. I might not have fed as much grain just because we don't feed alot, but they did more "work".
But in most cases, you would be buying them together as you did. BUT, the money needs to be paid up front, you do not need to be the bank. So I would say that what you need to do in the future, is as @Baymule said. I would get 2 for company, you pay for them, no partners. Keep one for beef, sell the other. Or advertise and sell one as a beef, PAID FOR before it leaves your property. Sadly, the nice guy routine leaves one getting screwed over most every time. Selling a half for beef is okay, but make sure you get at least a decent deposit before it goes to the slaughter house, or else you make sure it all gets returned to you in nice neat packages...
Vacuum packaged beef will keep for years in the freezer with very little degradation....so you might only have to kill one every other year, and sell steers every other year. But 2 will do better for company. And if you have any kind of fences, sheep will be a quicker turn around moneywise. Or plain out rent the pasture for CASH MONEY...but make sure you get enough to cover the water costs. They supply everything else. Written lease, set amount of time...all in black and white.

 

[Baymule]

Or you could raise a couple of feeder pigs......next to your favorite neighbor's fence......

 

[Rammy]

He already has a account or seller number at the stockyard. I would have to go up there an get one so the check is in my name and I dont know where it is.
I definitely made mistakes on this. Im not dping it again with him. Im just going to do what @Baymule suggested, as well as my Mom warning me not to do this, and just do it myself next year.
I am the one doing all the care and upkeep. If he wants cows he can get his own. Heck he has more property than I do anyway.
Thank you. All your replies has given me alot of info and tbings to think about.