Start small and keep learning. I visited my farmers market the year before I started to sell. I would not count on living on a farmer's market money for the first few years. I would also suggest to you to row some veggies, but also offer some meat since you have cattle already. People are appreciating meat grown locally.

Welcome to market gardening.

Check out Stockman Grass Farmer for info on Rotational Grazing. Id put at least 50 acres into rotationaly grazed cattle, you can raise 40 head rotationaly grazed with a profit of around 100 dollars a head sold on the commodity market or 3x-4x that sold retail.
josh

Thanks but profit verses work is why I have never owned cattle. Dad is 82 and has kept around 30 since he retired to have something enjoyable to do. He makes very little off of them every year. but then again that is not his goal. Raising crops brings more interest to me than animals.Even with long days at harvest time at least you can go to sleep afterwards. I have gotten up at 2 in the morning with dad many times growing up and a few times since with cattle that were delivering their calf backwards and have to get out and help them deliver.The work for 100 dollars a head doesn't even began to interest me.Otherwise I would have my own cattle on it. Normal stocking rates in this area are 2 acres per cow calf pair. Rotational will increase that a bit but on 50 acres that is $2500 for 50 acres. At just 2 hours a day for a year, which is a modest amount for winter feeding alone much less yearly care and checking on them daily, that is 3 dollars an hour. Even if rotational doubled your profit that is 6 dollars an hour. If I enjoyed animals enough it might be different but I don't.

myfamiliesfarm. I have heard a lot about selling meat but I am not sure about the demand for that around here. Plus there is the issue of finding a dependable processor nearby. Dad quit having cattle butchered years ago. He believed that they were keeping all the better meat to sell themselves. Some of the last meat we had you couldn't have sold to anyone.

First , cow calf is not what Im talking about,it is a losing proposition, stocker cattle is what Im talking about, it is half the work. The NRCS EQIP program is paying for 50 percent of fencing and water improvements. They also are paying a incentive per acre for rotational grazing. Stocker cattle dont have to be finished, you can buy 300 pound weanlings and raise them for 8 months to 800 pounds and sell them, and not have to winter them, you can put 3 to the acre that size rotational grazing, and you can easily earn a pre tax profit of $15000. Further your stocking with goats, theres a huge demand for them.

All Im trying to suggest is maximum use of your farm. 8 to 10 acres of vegetables is a lot, unless you want to grow for contract for a canner. Then youll need harvest equipment, which is expensive.
josh

prmsdlnfrm. Thanks for the input. I realize you are making suggestions and I appreciate it. I did not mean to be offensive in my reply if I was. I check into it.

I don't know what will work in your area, but I know there is 1 vendor at my market that grows a smaller size cow, Piedmontese beef. That is their ONLY product. I don't think they have 'outside' jobs besides the beef. They do well enough to be able to take credit cards, which is not cheap.

We also have a few other people that sell beef, pork, lamb and chicken plus eggs in the area.

I also, realize that cattle are alot of work, but so is veggies.

I still recommend you start off small, and since you may have the equipment, try just a few beef cows. And DON'T try to grow acres and acres of produce without knowing where you will be able to sell your produce. You could get rid of your produce at an auction, but you will NOT get the best prices.

Grass finished beef is very popular (and expensive) around here, as is local pork and chicken. There are a few vendors at our market who sell quite a bit of it. In order to sell at the market though you would need a USDA inspected butcher. There are not a lot of them around and these vendors have to drive pretty far to drop of their animals and then go back and pick up the meat.

Hi Mike:

I'm with you on the cows - been there, done that! LOL

Jack

myfamiliesfarm. Thanks. Believe me I know all to well about the veggies. My dad raised corn when I was growing up to feed the hogs and cows. He never bought a corn picker till I was grown. I am the youngest of three boys as well. Dad never bought anything he could get by without. So when that 20 acres of corn was ready I picked my two rows at a time by hand and threw it into piles. Then got the tub and loaded them into the truck. I shucked and shelled many a bushel of corn by hand using an old hand fed corn sheller. I still have that sheller. And yet I have a lot of found memories of that.

Mike, that brings up another possible product. Squirrel corn for those 'crazy' people in town feeding squirrels. Maybe if they feed enough, the squirrels will all move into town.

I planted some sunflowers this year, basically because the seeds were cheap. I was surprised that by only planting 1 row and using very few seeds, those seeds paid for ALL of the seeds. I have enough for 4-5 more years and the seeds are already paid for. I'm going to try some other easy flowers this next year.

myfamiliesfarm. Maybe they will take the Coons with them. I'll have to think about that one. I've wanted to live trap the Coons but I haven't figured out what I am going to do when a skunk gets in it. LOL. To many other animals and pets to use killing traps.

I have sold the Squirrel Corn for the last several years. I do it at the end of the season and carry over some for the beginning. I don't sell tons, but it is just a novelty. It is pure profit and exercise for our family. We have lots of corn grown around us. We go out and pick up the dropped ears after harvest is done. The kids think it is fun to find them. It is like a big scavenger hunt. Give each kid a bucket and have fun.

I had a dog that used to take care of them, unfortunately the dog has died.

when you catch a skunk in live trap fill 55 gallon barrel full of water, take small tarp or large sheet of plastic hold it up in front of you as a shield, quietly talk to skunk as you slowly approach, if he sprays it hits plastic, drape plastic over cage, dunk cage into barrel till skunk drowns.
josh

Thanks prmsdlnfrm. Not so sure I can talk quietly to a skunk though. I've read up on rational grazing also. I did not realize it could raise stocking rate so much. No one I know in the area does it. I am checking into cost and considering testing this on the 5 acres tween tha creeks that joins my house. Another issue I have with cattle is the fact I do not see my house monday thru friday from november till febuary in daylight. That would work well with stockers though.

-I may be out of place to tell stories here but I have to tell this one I thought about after an earlier post. I was about thirteen and one of my best friends spent the night with me. His parents worked in the local factories so farming was not a familiar subject for him. He woke up during the night to go to the bathroom and returned to wake me up saying "Mike Mike there are pigs in the bathroom" I got up to see what he was talking about and there was about six newborn piglets in the bathroom. Now this was dead winter. He was freaking out at this and I told him that was normal. Dad normally put them in an old unused wellhouse but on this particulat night he dropped the heat light and broke it. I would have loved to see his face if it would have been a calf. And yes that happen to.

I have learned through my inlaws and my wife, what is so normal to us is so foreign to town folk.

I met my wife, a suburbanite from outside Indianapolis, whike in college, and I remember the first time taking her home to meet the folks, and I honestly didnt think about how she would react, cause to me it was normal.
First my folks live back a lane a half mile off the road, you first half to pull off the road and open a pasture gate and drive the half mile through a series of pastures and open 4 gates. When we got there I asked my wife/girlfriend to open the gates, its normal for the passenger to open the gates isnt it, customary even. And she opened each one, but what bothered her the most was that the house and yard was surrounded on 4 sides by pastures, and you parked in a pasture, and the cows stuck thier heads through the fence in the yard to eat grass, she went on and on about this, told her family all about it, they couldnt believe it, what s more my mom had a calf in the kitchen feeding it a bottle, my goodness, we were the Beverly Hillbillies, I thought for a while she wasnt going to marry me. Funny how well shes adapted, LOL, now her family cosiders her a Hillbilly.
josh

Mike: I can relate with that story many times over. I grew up on a hog farm (parents still at it somehow) We would always have boxes of baby pigs in the bathroom. It was the best when we just happened to stop by my parents house with our kids and there were pigs in the bathroom. They freaked out and by the time to leave, we had to pry the piggies from them.

My mom really gets mad when this event happens. Usually my dad would put them in the house first thing in the morning when he discovers his error not getting the sow to the farrowing barn during chores. He does his chores, gets distracted, other things happen and it is noon. The little pigs get out of the box and poop all over the bathroom. I can still hear my mom's voice when she got home and found that mess!

Calves in the truck, bathtub, bathroom, in a pet carrier in the back seat of a truck, I have seen and done most of it!

Josh: There is an old saying If you see three guys in a truck, how do you know which one is the true cowboy? The one in the middle. He doesn't have to drive and doesn't have to open up the gates.

I taught my wife to drive a stick shift when we were dating when we were putting up electric fence on stalks. She learned kinda fast. However she threw me off the tailgate several times. Funny thing, I had to replace the clutch about a month later.

Thanks for the fond memories.

I grew up in the suburbs and didn't move to the sticks until I was almost 40. But having now lived way out here for 20 years I think there is one three letter word that seperates the country from the city. Mud.

Its funny
Mud, or country pavement, our house stays muddy this time of year
. .
~
O
LOL

I grew up on the farm that I'm living on now, but we moved to 'town' (population 100 people and 200 dogs). My mother had a reputation for saving orphan animals. My sister and I knew that we needed to take our 'baths'(no shower in the 100+ yr house), we had to take them the evening before. We never knew what animal might be in the bathtub when we woke up. I'm glad Mother only took in sheep, pigs and cows. That was enough. Of course, several of the babies didn't make it, but several became our pets.

Enjoyed the stories folks. Population 100? We have a population of 700. I feel like city folk now. LOL.

now the population is 50 good people, 100 thieves and 500 dogs. Hope nobody figures out what town I'm talking about or the house will get burned down. One of those towns.

With me, you'd never know what wild animal (dead or alive) I'd drag home. I ran a trapline and kept my hides in the freezer till I got around to pelting them. You might have to move the muskrats to get to the sweet corn. My folks were unbelievably patient, but Dad kinda balked at me skinning skunks in the basement.

Now, my wife is from the suburbs of Chicago, and did she ever have culture shock!! The most amusing thing was her confusion as to why everyone in the country had bubbles in their yards. Come to find out, she was referring to propane tanks.

Brook

I never heard them called 'bubbles'. LOL.

At market last year I sold baskets of hickory nuts I picked out of our yard and they sold out every time to people who fed their squirrels. I had a few "regulars" who came to buy nuts.

Andrea

I've sold buckeye to people that wanted to exercise their hands. I had one nurse buy a bunch of them to take to FL, she worked in a nursing home.

What's "buckeye", Marla. Ohio is the Buckeye State - some sort of grain, I thought - like "buckwheat.".

Jack

It's a nut, native to Midwest. I sure wish I had a picture, but you can't upload them. I'll try to describe. It a smallish nut, smaller than walnut. They're ripe when the skin/hull splits. The inter nut is dark brown and looks like a large flatter acorn, just darker. The nuts are very smooth and it seems when you hold one of them, your hands automatically moves them around so that your hands are exercising. If I remember and can find one, I'll send 1 to you.

Hey Brook, good to know another fur trapper, and you married a bigger city girl than I did :0) LOL
My wife shrieked the first time she caught me skinnin a big ole boar possum. Around fall the first year she moved out here she started noticing all the deer hanging in folks yard trees, youd thought she was watching a horror flick.
josh

Yeah, I live in a subdivision in town but am not quite housebroke. I've also got a little more class in that I hang my deer in my garage--actually it's just a lot nicer to cut them up in there. You should have seen my neighbors the first time they saw me hoisting them up. I get some strange looks on trash day after deer season also. My wife's a total convert by now. In fact, she even field dresses and hauls out her own deer--that is, between dry heaves. Probably the most traumatic experience for her was frog gigging. Coon hunting was a bit much for her too.

Brook

Im impressed Brook , you got the missus in the woods. Closest I got mine was to ride in the truck on the trap line. I tried to convince her to go coon huntin, wasnt going to happen. She does her best to ruin my dogs LOL, you aught to see my ole walker hound curling up to mama.
josh

Mike,

Find any books by Joel Salatin for great ideas on how to farm your acreage. I've included his website here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Polyface Farms

{{gwi:1037947}}
What is a buckeye?
A buckeye is an inedible nut which resembles the eye of a deer (or buck); thus called "buck eye". This nut develops on trees naturally grown and common in the state of Ohio. The scientific name is "Aesculus glabra" but the tree is widely known simply as the "Ohio Buckeye". It is a small, round tree. In average it grows approximately 20-30 feet in height and width. In the spring, the tree blooms yellowish flower clusters. They are typically the first trees to leaf out in the spring.
Ohio Buckeye has a dense oval to round form, branching quite low. Each leaf is compounded with 5-7 leaflets that are 4-5 inches long. Foliage is medium to dark green and may develop yellow or orange fall color.
Fruit is a glossy brown nut enclosed in a thick husk.
Why are buckeye trees found in Ohio?
The answer is in the soil and climate. Ohio Buckeyes can survive in a broad range of soil and climatic conditions. However, it performs best in moist, well drained soil. In full sun or in partial shade. Ohio's climate has perfect conditions for these trees to grow.
In any climate, they are susceptibe to leaf scorch. This problem results in browning of the leaf margins beginning in mid summer. By late summer to early fall, the trees look unsightly and are often partially defoliated. At this time, the buckeye nuts naturally fall to the ground.

and know you know the rest of the story. Good day

Eric

They are found all over the river bottoms and creek bottoms here in Indiana, squirrels like to throw them at you.
josh
IN has mean squirrels :0(

Eric, thanks for posting that picture. When I think of a buckeye, I think of the other side.

Josh, we have squirrels that throw walnuts and pawpaws. OUCH! They really hurt. Darn Squirrels.

Here is a picture of my buckeyes. Last year my neighbor told me that she always carries one around with her for good luck, so I tried it. Let me tell you these two have brought me nothing but bad luck this year. I think I will have to burn them and never try it again.

The outside shell (wish I had a picture of it) can be really evil. There are these big fat thorn things all over it that can hurt. Don't want to step on one of them barefoot.

{{gwi:1037950}}

This is a Chestnut, but I believe it's in the same family.

Eric

Eric, their hulls are very similar.

bagardens, One year I gave them away with that wives tale. It did get people to stop and once they stopped they usually found something to buy, or they 'donated' alittle for the free buckeye.

The squirrells love to throw them at you with the thorns on. My squuirrels are evil , we have so many walnut trees that they are a pest, dont earn enough money for the labor of loading them, cant leave them in the yard cause theyre a trip hazard and hard on the lawn mower, and the trees aint big enough for saw logs, further more when the squirrells cant get you with buckeyes or hickory nuts, they wait in the walnut trees and play bomb s away with walnuts, you know that little metal piece in the middle of a ball cap, it realy smarts when a walnut crashes from 30 feet right smack on that little metal piece on the crown of your head.

I got even with a mess of those squirrells last fall, umm, squirrell chunks with gravy and dumplings, and fresh veggies :0) hahaha
josh

I just can't eat squirrel. My dad was out of work for 2 years, and you know what we ate. There wasn't near as many squirrels after those 2 years. Years later, a girlfriend thought she'd get my to eat squirrel by telling me that it was chicken. NO WAY, I recognized that taste in 1 bite.

You may keep your 'evil' squirrels, I have enough.

Sorry, I did get a good laugh about your hat. Sorry, again.

2 years of anything would burn you out. When I was a kid dad was injured, and was only drawing temporary disability, and all we ate for months was soup beans, wont touch em now. That was only for several months not 2 years.

My wife laughed to, when the squirrell pelted me. She cheers the squirrels on, she says that they are just getting even with me :0)
josh