Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
If you want a few cows but do not want the expense of a bull, you could start with weaned
calves that you raise as stocker cattle. You could let them grow larger on your pasture, then
sell them to another buyer who will finish them, or you could grass finish them yourself. If
you start your cattle operation with cows that were recently impregnated, you would not need
a bull for another year. If you start with new cow-calf pairs and you plan to rebreed the cows
the next year, you will need a bull within about three months. You do not need a bull if you
plan to use artificial insemination.
If you are serious about starting a cow-calf beef operation, you can use one bull for every 20
to 30 cows as a rule of thumb — if you have the land and skills to support it. If you feel that
might be too much to handle at first, you could start with ten cows and perhaps share a bull
with a neighbor. For example, if you plan to calve in the spring, you could share a bull with
someone who plans to calve in the fall. Plan to keep two to four calves for your beef business
and sell the rest on at sales barn, where large producers usually buy them as part of the com-
modities market. Large numbers of buyers and sellers congregate at sale barns for auctions.
Buyers usually include feedlot operators who finish their purchases for beef, or background-
ers who fatten up the calves more before selling them again.
If you start small, you may have more land than your cows can keep up with, so you should
just give them a section of your pasture that you can subdivide into smaller sections. Then ro-
tate your herd through these subdivided sections. You could take the sections of pasture that
you do not use for grazing and cut them for hay, which you could sell or use for your own re-
serves.
If you want a larger operation, your herd size ultimately will depend on your land, as your
pasture only can support a certain amount of animals. Knowing your financial goals will give
you an idea of what you want your farm to look like in a few years. If you already own a
farm, a big part of the equation is filled in for you: Your maximum herd size will be determin-
ed by how many animals your land can support. The term “animal unit equivalent” (AUE)
comes into play here. This measurement is calculated based on the nutritional requirements of
an animal relative to a 1,000-pound cow that is with or without a nursing calf. The calculation
assumes that 1 animal unit will consume 26 pounds of dry matter per day. Dry matter is the
feed in plant material after moisture is removed. As you can see from the following table, not
every animal will count the same, and the same animal will not count the same at various
points of its life. A calf is worth .50 an animal unit, but when it grows to 1,000 pounds, it will
be worth a whole animal unit. A mature bull is worth more than 1 animal unit.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search