Beef Cattle Question

[SoonerP226]

Pretty sure I did, and you quoted me saying it a few posts above

Except these are not equivalent statements:

Very little ag on the east side of the state,

there's little ag on the east side in comparison to the west

I've been regularly putting about 300mi/weekend on my truck driving through eastern Oklahoma over the last two years, and I can tell you firsthand that there's a lot of agriculture on this side of the state. You won't necessarily see a lot of wheat, and you won't see full sections planted like you do out west, but there's still a lot of farming and ranching being done.

 

[2busy]

There are quite a few tractor dealerships on this side of the state. Guess they must be selling lots of lawnmowers...

Yes river bottoms are the main farming in the eastern part of the state. But down here you are not going to farm acres and acres of mountain land.

 

[Okie4570]

Except these are not equivalent statements:


I've been regularly putting about 300mi/weekend on my truck driving through eastern Oklahoma over the last two years, and I can tell you firsthand that there's a lot of agriculture on this side of the state. You won't necessarily see a lot of wheat, and you won't see full sections planted like you do out west, but there's still a lot of farming and ranching being done.

So it's realative I guess, you say there's a lot, I say there's not. I can tell you first hand there's not lol.

 

[Okie4570]

But Kingfisher is the Buckle of the Wheat Belt

Okay?

 

[jakeman]

O/T but I dont see how anybody could try to get into farming from scratch nowadays. Cost of land and equipment is astronomical. I know people still do...but most everybody I know who is a farmer has basically taken over previous generations operations and kept it going. Even still not all of them make it.
Props to the farmers, I'm glad they do it and I'm glad I don't have to!

40 years ago my grand dad told me he couldn't make it if he had a land payment.

Think about that for a minute.

You're in a production business, but in order to make money, someone has to give you your most valuable and expensive raw material.

He wasn't a rancher. He grew wheat, cotton and beans and bought calves in the fall to run on the wheat and sold them in the spring. I don't know how a guy could make it these days in a cow/calf operation. It would be difficult. The land we inherited, we lease to a cousin, and he farms it and winters a few calves. I come from a farming family, but those guys are all dead now. It's a lot easier to make money doing something else, and I never knew any of them or the neighbors that did it for the money. It was a way of life and a lifestyle. They weren't in it because it was making them rich. The "rich" came from the mineral rights underneath the surface. It's the way they were able to sustain the farms. Without the O&G money, they probably would have lost the land they inherited back to the bank. It's a tough business, and it's a tough life.

 

[Snattlerake]

Yes river bottoms are the main farming in the eastern part of the state. But down here you are not going to farm acres and acres of mountain land.

My ag teacher was from Henretta. He said when he moved to my town he found out real quick farmers don't talk about the acreage they have they talk about the sections.

 

[n423]

My uncle and aunt moved to Earlsboro in the early '60's. He raised enough cattle for spending money. He never quit his job at Tinker until he retired.

 

[Louro]

Damn! Shocked at all the replies. Thanks to everyone for their comments and taking the time to give their experience and to opine. I should have been more clear on my question. Would not be doing this to make a living at all. THe intention is to raise a couple/three meat cows to slaughter for the freezer. I don't have deep pockets and will still be working my career in construction sales so i won't have the time or deep pockets to do the cattle thing for a living. I'll look into the OSU extention office that was mentioned more than a couple times. Thanks so much for the info. I need to go back and read a lot of this and some of the videos and links provided. Thanks fellas.

Dang it you don't have DEEP Pockets, and I was going to make you my BFF lol. SoonerP226, gave you some good advice. I had a friend that was doing the same but he was paying primo dollar for his freezer meat. Not to mention that every time he wanted to take for vacation he had to call me to go and take care of his animals. He quit and now he got more time to hunt and fish. Now days he buys a half of beef and is happier. I lost when he quit, lol, no free beef.

 

[retrieverman]

Damn! Shocked at all the replies. Thanks to everyone for their comments and taking the time to give their experience and to opine. I should have been more clear on my question. Would not be doing this to make a living at all. THe intention is to raise a couple/three meat cows to slaughter for the freezer. I don't have deep pockets and will still be working my career in construction sales so i won't have the time or deep pockets to do the cattle thing for a living. I'll look into the OSU extention office that was mentioned more than a couple times. Thanks so much for the info. I need to go back and read a lot of this and some of the videos and links provided. Thanks fellas.

If you’re just looking to fill your freezer, I would suggest forgetting about raising your own and buy a kids FFA/4H show steer after they done with show season. I can assure you that you won’t buy the same quality animal for yourself and won’t be willing to feed to the extent those have been fed.
My brother and I have been splitting my niece’s show steer for the last couple or three years, and it’s been the best beef I’ve ever eaten. Splitting the entire cost, it’s ended up being around $4.50/lb which includes professional processing, and we end up with about 250lbs each.
This would be a HUGE time, money, and trouble saver for you, and you’ll thank me later.

 

[Snattlerake]

Damn! Shocked at all the replies. Thanks to everyone for their comments and taking the time to give their experience and to opine. I should have been more clear on my question. Would not be doing this to make a living at all. THe intention is to raise a couple/three meat cows to slaughter for the freezer. I don't have deep pockets and will still be working my career in construction sales so i won't have the time or deep pockets to do the cattle thing for a living. I'll look into the OSU extention office that was mentioned more than a couple times. Thanks so much for the info. I need to go back and read a lot of this and some of the videos and links provided. Thanks fellas.

If you really want to know how the world works all you have to do is go to the local co-op in the mornings and listen to the coffee clutch. That's where I learned a farmer friend of mine was paid $75,000 for not raising hogs. I told him to sign me up to not raise hogs and everyone hee hawwed.