How big is your operation?

[klintdog]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but I think it would be neat to find out about some of the different operations we have on here. So, tell us how many cows you run, how many acres you farm or use for pasture, and how many you calve out. I'll go first:

We are located in ND and run approximately 60 head of Gelbvieh cattle and 30-40 head of Commercial cows.
Total we have around 2,500 acres that consists mainly of pasture, hayland, and some wheat ground.

This year we'll be calving out 65 head, starting Feb 1st and should be done by April 15th.

 

[justme]

we have about 30 cows mainely Maine-anjou and Maintainer.  We have 250 acres on our maine farm and do another 100 in hay on a hog farm.  We have a large amount in CRP (was in it when we bought the farm) and luckly it makes the farm payment.  Were hoping to get down to 20 cows here and have about 8 replacement heifers.  Decided to go for quality not quantity ecspecially with grass being scarce and hay being expensive this year.

Small operation, but enough for me when my husband works off the farm.

 

[klintdog]

Good point justme, let's add in whether you work off the farm or not.

Both myself, my wife, and both of my parents work off the farm as well.
I manage an insurance agency for a bank and do personal/crop/farm insurance. I also do website and graphic design in my 'free' time.
My wife is an elementary and high school music teacher for the local Catholic school system.

 

[inthebarnagain]

We are in Southern Indiana and have 40 head of Sim-Angus cows, we try to save all the heifers that we have for replacements because we are gaining some pasture. 

My husband works out of the home for a power plant and along with the farm I work at home doing medical transcription for a company in Texas.

 

[knabe]

5 cows
semen tank
work off farm for all income
cattle is a hobby and somewhere between break even and slight loss

 

[renegade]

Oh we just got started a few years ago and have done between 2 and 8 head of show calves the last few years and now have some good heifers and plan to get a small herd. The place we are on right now we are using about 10 acres but when we buy it we will get 60 which is more than enough for us and we all work off farm too

 

[Malinda]

I am small time. I have 2 donor cows, a few cows I A-I or use the herd bull on and the rest are all recips. A grand total of 12 Shorthorn cows. There is one pb Angus recip cow running the pasture. I usually tell visitors she belongs to the neighbor and I just haven't hauled her home yet! Just kidding.

120 acres, mostly hay and pasture.

I do not have a 'real' job off the farm and am the chief cook, bottle washer and farm hand.

I live in southwestern Ohio, almost half way between Columbus and Cincinnati. This area of Ohio is rolling hills and lots of pasture land with grain farming and cow/calf operators.

knabe mentioned a semen tank. I have 2 tanks and  am so paranoid about them that I keep them in my office where it is heated/A/C and I have them refilled on a short schedule....just to be sure.

Malinda

 

[MYT Farms]

Just for myself, I own 8 head combined. Registered Angus and Angus X commercial. I live on 50 acres. The rest is leased ground. I am currently a full time student with a weekend job as a tractor repairman. Makes enough to keep me in the business and pay feed, semen, ect.

 

[Beach Limousin]

We own and operate 240 acres, with 40 cows, 10 replacement heifers, 1 herd sire prospect, and 1 proven herd sire (all Limousin). We a.i. around 70 percent of the herd, and use the bull on the rest. We bale around 100 acres of others people's land on a 70/30 split.

My dad is an electrician, and mom helps me with the farm. I am a full time college student and do most of the record keeping and management.

 

[fluffer]

80 mommas (Gelbvieh, Simmy, Angus, and any mix of the 3)
2 bulls (We AI everything at least once)
390 acres some owned some leased
I work off the farm, Hubby works pt in livestock sales and the rest of his time is on the farm

We breed our cows with the slaughter value of the offspring being very desirable.  Most of our customers get paid by what is on the rail.

Fluffer

 

[farmboy]

we downsized a bit since the last thread like this. weve got about 10 cows now. were feeding two replacements and have a show heifer and a steer too. we own about 115 acres of pasture and woods. we also have some cows running on my uncles land in pike co. ohio carrieing our first AI calves we've had in about 10 years.

 

[shortyjock89]

We have about ten Shorthorn and ShorthornPlus cows, with three replacement heifers getting ready to calve this next spring.  We have one herd bull, one herd bull (or fall born steer) prospect, four show heifers, and a steer that needs to get sold, or I guess we might drag him to a county fair.  We also farm about 1200 acres of corn and soybeans, and about 20 acres of hay.  We hope to double our farmground in the next five years or so.  Dad also sells seed and can fix about anything.  Fitting and selling calves is how I make most of my money, and I'm a full time college student.

 

[CM Cattle]

We have around 80 head of Angus cattle that will be calving in the spring, on around 400 acres. We don't raise any hay, we buy 1000 pound square bales of alfalfa out of Wisconsin for the show cattle, and grass hay for the commercial cattle. I am a full time student, and have 5 show heifers, and 2 steers for the 2009 show season.

 

[chambero]

My wife's family runs a little over 200 hd of momma cows (commercial Angus and crossbred [Maine & Simi]) plus about 60 hd of yearling heifers each year.  Most of the cattle and land are owned by my 70+ year old in-laws and my wife and boys and I constitute most of his "help".  I have a "real" job that I show up at on Monday morning to recover from chasing cows all weekend.  We'll AI about 1/2 of the mature cows and all of the yearling heifers each year.

We show our own calves right now and sell some calves for show to each year plus quite a few replacement females.

No farming at all other than some wheat pasture we graze and then bale for hay.

 

[amss101]

We gave up!  3 steers, and 1 heifer--which we won't keep...16 acres.  And can't live off that-ha!

 

[amcosgra]

Northern Indiana with around 120 acres of pasture, about 50 acres of hay, 275 acres of grain, and 65 head of Registered Polled Herefords.  We have currently 11 replacement heifers, 3 herd bull prospects, 2 herd bulls and in search of 2 more.  We haven't AI'd anything for about ten years.  Dad had a bad hip and just got it replaced and I am going to AI school this winter so we are startin back up.  We are both insurance agents for our jobs.

 

[Lazy G]

We run a small cow calf operation with 25-30 commercial angus cross cows, with a couple show cows as a hobby. Were in Nova Scotia, and we all work off the farm.

 

[tadpole]

We run thirty cows with most of them being angus and about 5 to 10 being more clubby bred.  We will have our second set of ai calves this year and are trying to get into the clubby business.  We also run around 3200 acres of corn and soybeans with thirty acres of hay ground.  Im still in high school and do all the breeding and both my parents work on the farm.  We also have 250 to 300 head of feeder cattle in hoop barns.  Located in North Central Iowa

 

[Doc]

I have 26 momma cows right now. Up until 2 years ago when dad died we were running about 60 momma cows. All reg Shorties except one 1/2 blood Maine & 2 black recips. Usually everything gets AI'd once or an egg stuck in it & then the bull is turned in. We usually consign to the TN Beef Agribition, a sale in Clemson,SC  & maybe one other & sell some privately. I flush a few cows each year & like Malinda , I have 2 semen tanks. I think I have enough semen I could AI everything for the next 20 years & never buy any semen. I work off the farm as an equipment sales rep. I've been raising Shorthorns since 1970. I live about 20 miles due north of Nashville, TN right off I-65.

 

[aj]

I can take off in a pickup and not get to end of the property by sundown.