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Post by milspec on Nov 30, 2020 21:14:52 GMT 10
We're contemplating getting into fattening steers. Just wondering if anyone has experience in this business who might have advice for setting up a small scale operation on 2-300 acres (150 acres native pasture plus open woodland). No yards are in place but I do have a basic crush to start with, boundary fencing only. Intent for 6 paddocks, yards in the middle and a laneway. Good water from bores, no irrigation license.
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norseman
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Post by norseman on Dec 1, 2020 7:46:09 GMT 10
milspec
Think long and hard about it and I know that you are good with your research! I've been breeding a few cattle over last twenty years and buying and selling here and there. I've never made any money off my stock always spending more than I recover! If I had my time over I would've gone with Boer Goats! Stress levels and work load go way up with cattle even on a well managed small holding! 2-300 acres would be good size while I've previously owned two separate acreages of around this size I've never run cattle on them so can't really comment.
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Post by milspec on Dec 1, 2020 8:17:11 GMT 10
milspec Think long and hard about it and I know that you are good with your research! I've been breeding a few cattle over last twenty years and buying and selling here and there. I've never made any money off my stock always spending more than I recover! If I had my time over I would've gone with Boer Goats! Stress levels and work load go way up with cattle even on a well managed small holding! 2-300 acres would be good size while I've previously owned two separate acreages of around this size I've never run cattle on them so can't really comment. Thanks for your feedback, were your cash outflows for feed, infrastructure or something else? We have no intention of breeding them. Just buying calves and fattening them so as to minimise expenses and effort with husbandry. |
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norseman
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Post by norseman on Dec 1, 2020 9:14:24 GMT 10
milspec Think long and hard about it and I know that you are good with your research! I've been breeding a few cattle over last twenty years and buying and selling here and there. I've never made any money off my stock always spending more than I recover! If I had my time over I would've gone with Boer Goats! Stress levels and work load go way up with cattle even on a well managed small holding! 2-300 acres would be good size while I've previously owned two separate acreages of around this size I've never run cattle on them so can't really comment. Thanks for your feedback, were your cash outflows for feed, infrastructure or something else? We have no intention of breeding them. Just buying calves and fattening them so as to minimise expenses and effort with husbandry. Supplementary feed especially, when you need it so does every other bloke so price goes up! Start small don't overstock go low for a year or two until you get a good handle on what your place can actually carry or it will cost a packet in stress, time and money. Infrastructure especially fencing you think you've got "good fencing" the cattle don't know that, to them it's all shit be prepared to do a lot of wire patrols and repairs! Transport costs, vet bills, Ivermectin Pour On etc and commissions on sales also add up. My intention is not to put you off doing this, it is to make you aware, do the homework and do your sums. |
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Beno
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Post by Beno on Dec 1, 2020 17:08:21 GMT 10
I’m with norseman it’s not all peaches and cream, steak and eggs yadda yadda yadda. Take a look at steer prices they are consistently around $6.50 plus at the moment for most classes all the way up to a bloody Ox. That’s a 160-200 kg animal going for $1300 plus each. That’s a Hefty investment for a 4 legged pain in the arse piece of meat walking around your paddock. Lose a couple to disease and dogs and ticks and duffers and any future profit can be gone months before you even sell the buggers. The money is never in primary production at the small scale. How about growing, mobile slaughter then sell at your local market or travel to Brisso with your boutique organic meat and sell to the yuppies at West End? I see plenty of coins doing that if you can market it well. It works i used to buy meat from a dude at a market and we had a good seller customer relationship. His Christmas hams were very good.
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Dec 1, 2020 17:57:52 GMT 10
Is it legal to sell meat in NSW that hasn't been processed through a certified abattoir? I don't think so.
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Beno
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Post by Beno on Dec 1, 2020 18:07:51 GMT 10
Is it legal to sell meat in NSW that hasn't been processed through a certified abattoir? I don't think so. There are a few punters who have gone through the hoops to do this legally out of a truck with full certification. It might be cheaper to go to a bigger plant but it might be too far away from Milspec. also you can be assured you are getting your beast and not some wormy inbred cow from shitsville |
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Post by spinifex on Dec 1, 2020 18:16:49 GMT 10
Add to Norsemans comments:
If you pasture feed ... remember to work in the costs of an efficient fertilizing plan for the pasture the pasture.
And the cost of limiting weeds/low feed value species (ie a good grazing pressure and herbicide program).
Fail to do that and the carrying capacity will drop relentlessly and your sup feed purchases and animal health bills will rise accordingly.
As for fencing - always electrify using a properly designed/rated system. Get an expert to help with the design.
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norseman
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Post by norseman on Dec 2, 2020 6:27:44 GMT 10
Is it legal to sell meat in NSW that hasn't been processed through a certified abattoir? I don't think so. There are a few punters who have gone through the hoops to do this legally out of a truck with full certification. It might be cheaper to go to a bigger plant but it might be too far away from Milspec. also you can be assured you are getting your beast and not some wormy inbred cow from shitsville I have a goat and an organic beef place not far from me who do this. |
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Post by milspec on Dec 2, 2020 8:36:44 GMT 10
Thanks for the inputs, it all goes into the mix.
Re fertiliser for the pastures, a local suggested using manure from one of the nearby feedlots. Any thoughts on effectiveness/issues with that approach. I guess its organic which is nice.
Just from running our alpacas for a couple of years in drought & current conditions, I've learned quite a bit about infrastructure/fencing/handling/feed/vet care/pasture etc. It's been a good insight into what is needed to handle an animal.
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bushdoc2
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Post by bushdoc2 on Dec 2, 2020 20:49:52 GMT 10
Fences.
Sort out transport: easy to get someone to take them from the properly set-up sale yard onto a truck to your place, but who will take them OFF your place and how? Mustering wings? Loading ramp?
Wander about with a biscuit of lucerne etc. See who follows you quietly. The rest are the first to go to the meatworks. Ditto those who jump the fence.
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Post by spinifex on Dec 3, 2020 7:46:30 GMT 10
Thanks for the inputs, it all goes into the mix. Re fertiliser for the pastures, a local suggested using manure from one of the nearby feedlots. Any thoughts on effectiveness/issues with that approach. I guess its organic which is nice. Just from running our alpacas for a couple of years in drought & current conditions, I've learned quite a bit about infrastructure/fencing/handling/feed/vet care/pasture etc. It's been a good insight into what is needed to handle an animal. If using manure from a feedlot give careful consideration to managing biosecurity risks. For example, BJD spreads by manure. Although that particular disease may not cause economic impact for a steer fattening enterprise. Footrot might be another consideration - the bacteria for that could live in moist composted manure for years. Feedlots are rapid fattening operations so they will accept animals with high risk of some diseases knowing they'll be sold for slaughter before disease symptoms and productivity loses start. From a nutritive perspective; Manures are low in nitrogen relative to industrial urea. You'll need a lot of it applied to make good the N being removed by livestock - and that means haulage and spreading costs are higher. The low N per ton can be offset by having a higher proportion of legumes in your pasture mix. On the upside, manures are not prone to causing soil acidification in the way that using high amounts of industrial N can do. |
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Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Dec 5, 2020 13:02:08 GMT 10
I see this thread right away, but waited to see more details and input from your prospective of living in zone 6 - 12...
My brother in law is a contractor in zone 2 Alberta as we are in zone 2 also.. He cleans, maintains secondary stage finishing feed lots where beef is grain, high protein and such feed to finish just before processing.. He also custom plants, harvests cash crops and feed for first stage finishing, calf to 2nd stage ready animals..
Which ever way you go seems a lot of red tape to produce an animal to qualify to have someone else needed to cut, wrap, make it saleable... Like said, you don't want to end up with the money in animals you can't sell... Or the paper trail to back it up...
We have a friend with a small butcher shop.. We have talked a little about doing this with his and our pasture, technically the livestock all being his regardless where it is pastured, or finished out.. But then the biggest advantage to this is he already has the permits and facilities to process an animal to a saleable product.. Within the paper trail..
Lots to think about..
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Post by milspec on Dec 6, 2020 7:01:29 GMT 10
For those that have been there & done that, whats the thoughts on raising a niche breed for a premium grass fed beef to a farmers market vs fattening mainstream breeds for sale to sale yards?
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norseman
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Post by norseman on Dec 6, 2020 8:40:59 GMT 10
For those that have been there & done that, whats the thoughts on raising a niche breed for a premium grass fed beef to a farmers market vs fattening mainstream breeds for sale to sale yards? You breed them and profit all the way up the chain from paddock to plate as they say. More compact and more manageable little operation. |
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Post by SA Hunter on Dec 6, 2020 12:27:23 GMT 10
I'm partial to Murray Greys - best tasting beef I've eaten.
Never raised them, but used to buy them off the farm.
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Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Dec 6, 2020 20:37:57 GMT 10
For those that have been there & done that, whats the thoughts on raising a niche breed for a premium grass fed beef to a farmers market vs fattening mainstream breeds for sale to sale yards?
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From thinking about this from how things are here.. To sell it yourself, at the farmers market, or by phone orders etc.. You will still need some kind and paper trail of the individual animals and license to sell to the public.. Red tape jungle easy to drown in..
We can buy a live animal, with an ear tag, take it to processing live.. Or depending on the processors license, take it in whole skinned and gutted.. Only if the processor is licensed to take in wild game, can they take dead domestic animals..
I'm pretty sure there is more to it than this, but all that comes to mind this moment..
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Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Dec 6, 2020 20:42:10 GMT 10
Duplicate post... Sorry..
Please delete..
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