What type of cattle operation?

[rsf31tmp]

I live in central, IL and could maybe do a pasture of 8-10 acers. There is very little water, so I would have to haul or run a hose a good distance. I would like to do a bull and a few breeding heifers. Maybe I would better with a few beef feeders? How many cows should I be looking at? What breeds would be best. What style of operation should I be looking at? I could use a part of a tool shed for shelter, how much space per cow should I use?

Thanks for your input.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Your better off with stocker cattle, preferably those that have just been weaned and you're pasturing for a few months. They tend to consume much less water than breeding bulls and/or heifers do, plus you can put a few more of these calves in your pasture than you could with some cows and a bull. As far as breeds are concerned, Hereford-Angus cross calves (those lil' black baldies) may be the best for your area. Even some Angus calves are good too.

 

[rsf31tmp]

when you say "stocker" are you sayin I should buy bred heifers or older cows that are bred....let them have their calfs and then sell them off? The older cows go through less water?

I know a guy about 3 miles down the road who has about 50 herfords and sometimes uses an angus bull?

heifer calves or bred cows?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Nope, I mean beef steers, not cows nor heifers. Beef steers that are being used for backgrounding or stockering operations, they take up less space and drink less water than cows or older heifers do. Weaned heifers do drink slightly less water than steers do, and can also be sold as stockers without needing to have them bred.

If you were to keep the heifers, you would have to wait for a good 9 to 10 months to get them bred, then another 9 months before they calve out, and another 6 before you can sell their calves and start over again. Out of all that time (which is a total of 2 years), the bull you will have will only be able to work for 2 months out of the year and will spend most of his time doing nothing else except eating and sleeping. Bulls tend to be pretty hard on fences, even if they're in with a herd of cows that he's already attended, since they can smell a cow in heat over a mile away.

If you want to make a buck, start by buying and selling stocker steers, maybe keeping one or two back for your freezer if that is your intentions are.

Besides, I forgot to ask, what ARE your intentions of having a few head of cattle? Are you wanting to sell them to make some extra money, want to start a breeding operation, or are you just wanting them around to keep the grass down and maybe get one or two for the freezer?

I'm not giving you any input on stocking rate since that's variable as far as soil quality, forage biomass, quality and quantity, weight of the animals you want to have and their rate of intake, as well as the overall health of your pasture the year you graze them. You will have to talk with some local farmers/ranchers and/or go to your local county extension office to get some stocking rate numbers for your area. Most stocking rates are based on a system of AU per acre per month or per day, where 1 AU = 1 x 1000 lb cow with or without a calf that consumes 25 lb of forage per day. If you raise calves that have an average weight of, say, 600 lbs, your AU decreases to 0.6 AU (which makes you have to do some more calcumalating to get the correct stocking rate for your pastures).

Hope that helps.

 

[herfrds]

like wildrose has said do stocker cattle. If you have just a couple of heifers or cows I would look into to doing AI instead of a bull.

 

[rsf31tmp]

good stuff.....pick up a few young steers and heifers....sell off the steers and/or put some beef in the frig. Have my buddy do some AI's on the heifers and pick up a few more steers while I wait? Sounds great!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Keep in mind the amount of feed and pasture you will need. As these heifers grow, their nutritional and average daily intake increases. Also, it depends on whether you're willing to find the extra cash to buy hay and supplement feed to feed the heifers through the winter. I know in IL there are times when pastures do go to the pits and folks have to dig out hay to keep their animals happy, but most important question is, are you willing to do it? Hay prices do get costly, remember that. And heifers, especially for a novice like you, can get to be a royal pain the arse to care for, calve out and wean their calves from. Steers are better for someone like you to look after than heifers are, since they only need food and mineral, water and shelter.

So if you're not willing to risk the extra costs of buying hay every winter, stick with stockers ONLY. Keep the calves on pasture for as long as you can without having to buy extra feed to feed them, then sell them when they've eaten as much of your pasture as you are willing to let them. Repeat for the next year when the grass has reached a good height. Maybe even adopt some rotational grazing practices so your 8 to 10 acre lot will last you longer, like, for instance, allow only a quarter of an acre per day or per 12 hours, or depending on how long it takes for them (however many steers you have) to eat the grass down in a 1/4 acre paddock.

 

[jhm47]

If you're planning to calve out some heifers, be SURE to use a proven calving ease bull. There are many such bulls available through several AI companies. Genex, ABS, Select Sires, are three of the main ones, and if you'd like some advice, I'm a Genex beef representative, and can give you some pretty fair insight on which bulls that I would recommend. Good luck!

 

[goodhors]

Know that heifers with hormones, cows and bulls, are much harder on fences than steers USUALLY are. All cattle will test a fence, but heifer or cows in season, a bull smelling a heifer on the wind, often will go right thru a fence, electric or not. You don't want to be chasing loose cattle, they are a real liability. No reason to meet ALL the local law enforcement guys!

Steers don't have active hormones, no urge to breed, so they tend to stay home better with good food in front of them. Some breeds or families of cattle can be more flighty, but most crossbreds are quieter. Some individual animals can make a liar out of me! They just come crabby and never improve.

The smaller steers just weaned, are a good idea to keep on your fields. Then sell them at your destined age or weight. Less invested in them, so you keep more money. They need less feed, fields can have more head and still grow well.