How to make money buying cattle

However, even though a particular cow or bull may be of a good breed, that doesn’t mean that the individual animal is of high quality. Choose profitable cattle. Others do contract work.

Choose Profitable Breeds

Prices very from cattle being to big, too small, meat or dairy cattle, bying overall look. There are 3 main types feedlot, farrow to finish, and some other one i forget. These last couple of years have been dry all over and hay prices have gone up high enough that there have been a lot of hay thefts. Buy you a small herd and get a bull. The price of cattle varies day to day week to tp.

Set Business Goals and Create a Business Plan

Buying cattle is an essential part of raising cattle and adding money to your business. Knowing what to look for and finding the best deals available when purchasing cattle can present a bit of a challenge, especially if you don’t know what’s involved or how to go about buying cattle. There are two main ways cattle can be purchased: by auction or by private treaty or one-on-one. This article doesn’t go into the deep specifics; rather, it presents you with the initial basics of what you’ll need to do to start out buying cattle. This article was co-authored by Karin Lindquist, a trusted member of wikiHow’s community. She has over 20 years of experience working with cattle and crops. She’s worked for a mixed-practice veterinarian, as a sales representative in a farm supply store, and as a research assistant doing rangeland, soil, and crop research.

More Cattle

Buying cattle is an essential part of raising cattle and adding money to your business. Knowing what to look for and finding the best deals available when purchasing cattle go present a bit of a challenge, especially if mqke don’t know what’s involved or how to go about buying cattle. There are two main ways cattle can be purchased: by auction or by private treaty or one-on-one.

This article doesn’t go into the deep specifics; rather, it presents you with the initial basics of what you’ll need to do to start out buying cattle. This article was co-authored by Karin Lindquist, a trusted member of wikiHow’s community. She has over 20 years of experience working with cattle and crops. She’s worked for a mixed-practice veterinarian, as a sales representative in a farm supply store, and as a research assistant doing rangeland, soil, and crop koney.

She currently ma,e as a forage and beef agriculture extension specialist, maake farmers on a variety of issues relating to their cattle and the forages they grow and harvest. Categories: Featured Articles Cattle. Log in Facebook Loading Google Loading Civic Loading No bying yet?

Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Article Edit. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Co-authored by Karin Lindquist Updated: October 17, There moneh 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Learn more Know what kake of cattle you are miney.

You need to already know what breedage, weight, class and type of cattle you’re looking. Heifer: bred heifer, feeder heifer, open heifer, vattle, weaned heifer, heifer calf Steer: feeder steer, dairy steer, steer calf Weight is always approximate, rounded to pounds 45 kg.

A word about breeds with cxttle horns: Be aware that large horns mean an increased risk of harming yourself when handling the cattle, as well as intimidating other animals including horses. Be sure you want to own cattle with large horns; they look good but they’re harder to transport and to tether.

Decide how much you’re willing to spend. This is always important, as you don’t want to be buying an animal that you can’t pay up front right away. It’s also important to have a firm limit in mind when attending an auction, to avoid getting carried away. Choose where you wish to buy your cattle. You have two main options: private sale, or auction. Wherever you wish to buy is your choice.

Just remember that the auction located at a local auction mart or «sale barn» is usually for selling culled or slaughter-only animals. You will need to be mxke vigilant and not wear your heart on your sleeve when picking and choosing which animal[s] to bid on and ultimately buy. You also won’t be able to talk to or even get to know the owner of the animals going through the auction ring. There are exceptions. Farm or herd-dispersal auctions quite often are those that sell quality breeding stock to other producers to purchase.

The cows, heifers and bulls being sold are what the owner had worked hard to raise and, because of retirement or mnoey to a how to make money buying cattle enterprise, a choice to bjying them via auction is the best solution.

And many auction marts or sale barns sell weaned steers that are quite healthy, though their destination is to be turned into beef, not as breeding stock. Private-treaty may be the best choice, as you have a chance to look at and study the animals you are wanting to buy and to talk to the owner as well if you have any questions.

It also means a much reduced potential for exposure to disease that would occur in a generalized place of sale. Make arrangements to see the animals of. Phone the owner to explain that you’re interested in coming over to look at his or her cattls.

Ask what time and date you should be expected to be. For the auction you will have to phone the auction mart to get times on sale dates and what cattle are being sold on what date. Go to the farm or ranch and have a look at the owner’s animals. Ask questions about breed, breeding, calvingweaningage, health history. For the auction, you should be able to have a look at the cattle in their pens prior to the mmoney of sale, and when they go through the ring to make a quick judgement call on whether they’re worth buying or not.

Particular signs to look for include: [5] Buyiny Should be bright, clear and not runny no dischargecrusty or bloodshot. Weight: Cattle should look to be at their average buyinh for their breeding; beware of severely emaciated or thin cattle even with dairy cattle; if you can plainly see their ribs they’re likely undernourishedor overly fat ones. Note, though, that judging body condition can be subjective.

Attitude: Curious, alert and contented; beware of cattle that mone apart from the herd, seem disinterested in you, or show signs of aggressiveness, no matter how subtle those signs are. Check the location of the whorl on the forehead——the lower the whorl, the less flighty the animal.

Placement of hind feet to front feet is especially important with breeding stock, but not so much with stock being buyingg for meat. It should sit forward and square, not sag too much either in the front and rear quarters, and not be too meaty or appear to have too many fat deposits. Observe the cow when she walks——the udder should not show too much sideways movement. Negotiate a price. It is helpful to know what is a good price for the animals that are being sold beforehand to avoid getting ripped off paying more than what they’re worth or worse.

In the auction, you have to have a maximum price you can buylng up to for a particular animal, and keep bidding until either it gets sold to you, or the price is too high for you to bid on.

For buying cattle one-on-one, tell the owner you’re just shopping around and exchange other small talk, then say a friendly «thanks for letting me look at your animals. Also request expertise as part of the price, namely, the ability buyung call the owner for a set time in the future to ask questions or seek help, especially where problems might arise.

Ask to see——and then check——the relevant registration papers before signing for purchase. Also ask to see vaccination, de-worming and production records. Purchase the cattle you’ve chosen. If they’re worth it, and the owner and you agree on a price for them, buy. When paying for the cattle, don’t bring your credit card, debit card or any other card with you.

Cash or cheque check is best for this sort of purchase. Most auctions are an exception though, as normally they will accept debit or even credit cards, in addition to cash or cqttle check. Ask if there is a guarantee.

Not all sellers are willing to give this but where the seller is, get it in writing. Bring the cattle home. If you don’t have a trailer as of yet, you can arrange with the seller to haul them home for you. Once home, settle them into their new surrounds gradually, feeding them well and keeping a close eye on them for the first few days until they seem contented. This gives them a chance to acclimate to their new space, see your existing cattle without mak having to meet them immediately and generally buiyng comfortable while settling in.

If bringing home a bottle bow, have his or her milk replacement ready. If this is your first time biying owning cattle, already know who your vet will be and have his or her contact details somewhere easily accessible.

Also, have a halter and lead, adequate food, grooming gear and appropriate shelter. Not if your backyard is less than an acre in size. Even one acre is not enough to support a cow, because you will be feeding most of the time and cleaning up a lot of poop. If you have no extra acreage over 2 acres for pasture, and not enough room for an extra cow for her company, it’s not a sensible thing to have a cow in your backyard.

Even if the cow is a miniature animal, it still needs room. Makw you need extra room to store all the feed you need to keep the cow without having to go out and buy feed every other day like taking a quick trip to the grocery store. When you get feed, you should have enough to last you cattlee several months or even a year.

Yes No. Not Helpful 3 Helpful Not Helpful 1 Helpful 7. I want to start business of buying cattle, but I don’t know where or what to do, and am new in this business industry, can you please help further?

Go to school, college preferably, and take some agricultural business courses, along with a course or two on beef cattle production, cattle pricing, beef economics, and similar things. To start earning money, work at a livestock auction where you get to see and work with the various kinds tto animals that come in, and learn as much as you can.

You will need to spend money to learn in order to make money being a cattle buyer, and start from the bottom in order to get to the top. Talk to a few livestock market sales cqttle to see how and where they how to make money buying cattle to where they are and see if they have any tips for you!

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 4. I’m in the process of buying 20 buyig of land, 15 acres of which are going to be set up for cattle. How many cows should I buy to start? Start small. Start with only a half-dozen good cows from mqke reputable breeder NOT from a sale barn.

Once you catyle those few good cows, then you can start building your herd from there by adding a couple more cows in a year or two to see how things pan. You may also want to dabble in some miney livestock, like chickens, goats, or sheep to make things interesting sometime in the future, so keep that in mind.

Why I buy High Risk Cattle

Set Business Goals and Create a Business Plan

Share It. If you have to feed hay, provide high-enough how to make money buying cattle hay that additional feed supplementation is not necessary. Text format Comments Plain text. Consider the costs required to hire enough people to control how these supplements are administered. Cattle marketing typically represents the worst of both worlds: it’s both low margin and low turnover. Development of land for homes and businesses there is going to put everyone — young or old — out of agriculture, he says. Some stack enterprises like adding sheepgoats, hogs or poultry to their cattle enterprise in such a way that what is waste to one becomes feed, fertilizer or parasite control to. Historically, producers in this Alliance have achieved premiums for their cattle above the average of other programs. Those who are trying to be full-time ranchers with head of cattle have a very tough road for profitability. Public sales constitute small-scale selling, while bulk selling consists of trading hundreds of cattle all at. Tip Save on veterinary fees by purchasing basic equipment for vaccines, sprays and simple procedures such as castration and dehorning. Your business plan must include a mission statement, marketing plan, financial management analysis, type of business ownership, and duties and responsibilities of key personnel. But he tempers any enthusiasm with the sheer cost of running a cattle business today. The follow-up call is where the two parties hammer out the details of vaccination programs, semen tests and other quality control steps. Hide comments. There, cattle merchants can upload photos and descriptions of animals for sale, although as one seller noted, there is only so much you can say on a Web page or entice through pictures before it becomes imperative to talk shop on the phone. Monitor your livestock regularly.