I am hoping to start a cattle farm in the next couple of years,

What the fuck

>>885292

lol'd

Work for a farm first, at-least a year, this is not a if, but or maybe, just fucking do it.
You may absolutely hate it, then you know not to start a farm.
Try and find a course on livestock agriculture as well, it should teach you on what to do and how to do it. Find out about the business side of things (Supplying retail stores, marketing e.c.t.) and save alot of money.

Wow this board is fucking terrible now.

>>885261
>Also maybe starting at 30 head in a confinement barn

Cattle are a way of turning grass into money. If you don't have a least one acre per head you will lose your shirt.

>>885312
>Work for a farm first, at-least a year, this is not a if, but or maybe, just fucking do it.

Solid fucking advice.

Also, Angus are good stock, but maybe try for something a little less maintenance intensive at first. I always have trouble putting weight on Angus without without feeding grain out the ass.

Been working with cattle for 8 years now, ask me anything you need help on and I'll try my best.

>>885261
Big mistake, livestock and especially cattle is the most labour and money intensive thing you can do. With no experience you're already fucked.

If you really want to go that route you should go work on a farm for a year or 2 and learn as much as you can. Once you're ready to try it yourself start small till you really get shit figured out then think about expanding.

File: tumblr_mw0e6538Ig1s62hqko1_500.png (443KB, 479x720px) Image search: [Google]

443KB, 479x720px

My farmer friends have told me it's something you have to be born into. Just getting the land/equipment from scratch is a huge pile of money.

I know it sucks. I've always daydreamed about a cozy farmhouse, country girl, et cetera.

Thought of becoming a large animal vet? You could make a lot of money and still live in the country. Maybe even gradually start hobby farming.

>>885261
Agricultural engineer here, I've been breeding and selling cattle for almost 20 years (I have more than 200 now).
First thing you'll need is experience. Go to a cattle farm where they work with beef cattle and work there for a few years, until you learn the absolute basic things about the raising process. I'm European but I'm sure you have some agricultural courses in the States as well, that could give you a kickstart.
>>887265
>My farmer friends have told me it's something you have to be born into
That's bullshit, if you're dedicated, you can learn every trade. Dealing with cattle isn't exactly rocket science, but you'll need great knowledge and lots of experience.

Another thing you should know that starting a profitable farm is really expensive. You'll have to buy a farm, buy/rent fields, buy a shitton of equipment, most likely you'll need a huge loan and in that case not a single mistake is acceptable, because it can end your farmer career prematurely. That is why before anything else, you need experience.
What I wrote here is pretty simplified, but essentially this is the way you'll start a farm.

>>887399
>That's bullshit

But it really isn't. I'm >>886167, and in my part of the country (USA) the land is worth so much more with homes on it that when people inherit land they sell it to developers for hundreds of times per acre what field rent is around here. Being born into it isn't just about the equipment and land that your family owns, it's also about the connections they have established.

That said it only really applies to dirt farmers. You don't need nearly as much space for cattle, and you can realistically buy everything you need relatively cheap. As far as courses are concerned, I'm currently a second year ag student (animal science) and have learned fuck all about small scale production, I would advise he saves his money.

OP, I raise a bunch of animals for meat, steer included. You gotta have an idea for how you;re going to sell it, first. I don;t think it's feasible to raise steer unless you;ve got a solid business plan to sell it.

Secondly, although we will always eat beef, the people who are willing to pay top dollar are starting to turn away from it.

>>887265
That's mostly true. You CAN start from scratch but you'll need to already have a lot of money saved up. Basically if you have the ability to save enough money you're already doing something that's giving you far more income then farming likely ever will. Many will save enough to start very small and basically use it as a hobby while still working a full time job then expand as you're able to

There's also a lot to learn and a lot of different ways to do things. You can ask around and talk to every farmer you see and they will all give you different advice while telling you all the other advice you've been given is completely worthless. Basically what I'm getting at is it's far easier to have grown up around a successful operation and learning that way then to just jump in and try to figure it out on your own with zero experience. That's where working for a farmer comes in, not as good as growing up with it but far better then just jumping in and making costly mistakes

>>885261
Bro just so you know the pic you posted is not a cow its a pig

>>885261
Don't do black angus, you want something like Scottish Highland cattle or bison to stand out. They have much much lower fat content so they sell well to health nuts.

>>887399
I don't think he was referring to the knowledge required. More so the likely hood that it's beyond most peoples finances to start a farm from scratch.

Farm profitably takes a lot of knowledge. Simple things like tractor maintences, utes, welding, fencing, bores, pumps, all need to be dialed in fairly well or you'll be loosing money real quick.