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<blockquote data-quote="farmerjan" data-source="post: 1619579" data-attributes="member: 25884"><p>I used to figure it cost me 350 to 400 a year to keep a cow. Today it is costing over 500 to 600 to keep a cow. With the returns on the calves staying somewhat close to what they used to, you just aren't making as much money. I used to pay 7.50 /100 weight for feed/grain. Now it is closer to 8-9.00 /50 lbs. Hay has stayed the same and we are finding it is barely paying our costs of making it. </p><p>If I had the time to put into still raising 5-9 calves per year off each cow, then I could make some money. But still, not like I used to. I was getting .50 to .65/lb for holstein feeder calves in the 80's. They aren't bringing much more than that most months now. 40 years later????!!!! It takes 3 / 500 lb holsteins to pay the cow costs. I used to figure, 2 calves to pay cow costs, then 1 to keep and 1 for profit. (Or 2 to sell). Now it is 3 to pay costs, at least, and 1 for "profit" so nothing left. The 4th calf that often was a heifer to keep, or an extra to sell, so some money in the bank so to say. If it was a heifer that I kept, then I was increasing my herd, so adding to my bottom line so to speak. </p><p>Rents on land keep going up, so that goes against the "cost to keep the cow". All the little things. The rules like the calves of dairy background, have to be tagged. At 1.00-2.00 per tag if you don't get them from the vet, and the vets are no longer giving them out here. Sale barn costs have gone up. All the little nickel and dime stuff that really is just adding up. You can't make it pay like it used to. </p><p></p><p>Plus there are just too many outside influences. This opening up for the importation of South American beef, is going to hurt all the beef industry. There are fewer and fewer places that will take and feed out holsteins. They make great beef, and often grade up with the best. But, they eat more. And with the plants getting bought out and consolidating, there aren't the places to go with the dairy beef. There just aren't the outlets, so there aren't as many buyers competing for the feeders, so the prices are lower. With the price of feeder black calves here running from 1.20 to 1.60 in the 5 weight range, it is hard enough to pay costs. The buyers aren't going to pay much for the holsteins if they don't have anywhere to "go with them". I know several buyers that would pick up holsteins, even if they were primarily beef feeder buyers, because they had somewhere to send them. Now not so much. They get bought by the buyers that buy alot of the scrub stuff. So they just don't pay much because there is no competition at the sale yards. </p><p></p><p>Maybe I am just running out of energy to make next to nothing on my time and effort. Dairy cows do require a little more to properly take care of them. I love my dairy cows. But, I am tired of working for nothing for my time. At least the beef cows do not require as much effort to get a calf off them. But even so, we are seriously looking at what we are doing, and trying to decide the direction to go in. We are working too hard for too little return anymore. At least here in this area, the inputs are getting to be more than the return. I think that maybe it does work out in the areas that Dave is in. I would be better off scaling back and only raising enough to keep my freezer full, selling a few to pay out of pocket costs, and the hell with killing myself with the hours we put in. I loved farming, but now it is getting to be a job that I no longer love for the sheer enjoyment of it. And the bigger you get, the more that you need, to keep it going. Doing it more as a hobby would be more satisfying than it has been in the last few years of working this hard and going in the hole. Didn't used to take some outside income to keep it afloat. But it does now in this area. </p><p></p><p>A small farmer could make a modest living on a 50 cow dairy. Have a healthy lifestyle and provide for a family. They never went hungry and there was a little money for other things. They could sell 5 springing heifers off the farm a year that were surplus to them and that was like a nest egg each year; to be used to purchase a new piece of equipment or something. Now the ones milking 150 are struggling. Dairy heifers are bringing less than a bred beef heifer, less than it costs to get them to the "springing stage". A small "hobby" beef farmer could make a bit off a 20-25 cow herd on his back 40 acres. Now he cannot. Ask any on here that have 20-40 cows. They are maybe paying for their expenses. They have either inherited their land, or bought it with money from an outside job. Most are still doing it because they like it. We like our cows. But we are taking from our "outside job" to keep us farming. That is not good economics.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="farmerjan, post: 1619579, member: 25884"] I used to figure it cost me 350 to 400 a year to keep a cow. Today it is costing over 500 to 600 to keep a cow. With the returns on the calves staying somewhat close to what they used to, you just aren't making as much money. I used to pay 7.50 /100 weight for feed/grain. Now it is closer to 8-9.00 /50 lbs. Hay has stayed the same and we are finding it is barely paying our costs of making it. If I had the time to put into still raising 5-9 calves per year off each cow, then I could make some money. But still, not like I used to. I was getting .50 to .65/lb for holstein feeder calves in the 80's. They aren't bringing much more than that most months now. 40 years later????!!!! It takes 3 / 500 lb holsteins to pay the cow costs. I used to figure, 2 calves to pay cow costs, then 1 to keep and 1 for profit. (Or 2 to sell). Now it is 3 to pay costs, at least, and 1 for "profit" so nothing left. The 4th calf that often was a heifer to keep, or an extra to sell, so some money in the bank so to say. If it was a heifer that I kept, then I was increasing my herd, so adding to my bottom line so to speak. Rents on land keep going up, so that goes against the "cost to keep the cow". All the little things. The rules like the calves of dairy background, have to be tagged. At 1.00-2.00 per tag if you don't get them from the vet, and the vets are no longer giving them out here. Sale barn costs have gone up. All the little nickel and dime stuff that really is just adding up. You can't make it pay like it used to. Plus there are just too many outside influences. This opening up for the importation of South American beef, is going to hurt all the beef industry. There are fewer and fewer places that will take and feed out holsteins. They make great beef, and often grade up with the best. But, they eat more. And with the plants getting bought out and consolidating, there aren't the places to go with the dairy beef. There just aren't the outlets, so there aren't as many buyers competing for the feeders, so the prices are lower. With the price of feeder black calves here running from 1.20 to 1.60 in the 5 weight range, it is hard enough to pay costs. The buyers aren't going to pay much for the holsteins if they don't have anywhere to "go with them". I know several buyers that would pick up holsteins, even if they were primarily beef feeder buyers, because they had somewhere to send them. Now not so much. They get bought by the buyers that buy alot of the scrub stuff. So they just don't pay much because there is no competition at the sale yards. Maybe I am just running out of energy to make next to nothing on my time and effort. Dairy cows do require a little more to properly take care of them. I love my dairy cows. But, I am tired of working for nothing for my time. At least the beef cows do not require as much effort to get a calf off them. But even so, we are seriously looking at what we are doing, and trying to decide the direction to go in. We are working too hard for too little return anymore. At least here in this area, the inputs are getting to be more than the return. I think that maybe it does work out in the areas that Dave is in. I would be better off scaling back and only raising enough to keep my freezer full, selling a few to pay out of pocket costs, and the hell with killing myself with the hours we put in. I loved farming, but now it is getting to be a job that I no longer love for the sheer enjoyment of it. And the bigger you get, the more that you need, to keep it going. Doing it more as a hobby would be more satisfying than it has been in the last few years of working this hard and going in the hole. Didn't used to take some outside income to keep it afloat. But it does now in this area. A small farmer could make a modest living on a 50 cow dairy. Have a healthy lifestyle and provide for a family. They never went hungry and there was a little money for other things. They could sell 5 springing heifers off the farm a year that were surplus to them and that was like a nest egg each year; to be used to purchase a new piece of equipment or something. Now the ones milking 150 are struggling. Dairy heifers are bringing less than a bred beef heifer, less than it costs to get them to the "springing stage". A small "hobby" beef farmer could make a bit off a 20-25 cow herd on his back 40 acres. Now he cannot. Ask any on here that have 20-40 cows. They are maybe paying for their expenses. They have either inherited their land, or bought it with money from an outside job. Most are still doing it because they like it. We like our cows. But we are taking from our "outside job" to keep us farming. That is not good economics. [/QUOTE]
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