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Books and Other Resources to Choose Best Cattle Business?

 
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I live in a tropical rainforest climate. We're going to do silvopasture, and our trees are now three years in the ground, which means we're thinking about next steps. The property was cattle pasture before and basically all the improved perennial grasses are still abundant. Overall fertility is a bit better now that we've been tending the land for three years. The property hasn't been grazed for four years, and has been maintained mechanically in the meantime.

I'm new to the whole topic of raising cows. Originally was thinking a young steer to finishing operation, but we're a bit remote, and I don't like the idea of having to renew every 16 months or so with a huge purchase of more calves. I'm not sure the economics really check out with that operation. I'm leaning towards a cow- calf operation, but honestly I'm totally ignorant on the subject.

We have about ten hectares of grazeable land, and would like to do rotational cell grazing for the maintenance/fertility benefits for the trees, but also need to generate a decent income from the animals. It's not a lot of land for cattle, but I've been reading studies from other tropical climates that suggest you could at least double the Animal Units per hectare via rotational grazing. Generally they say one cow (Animal Unit) per hectare in our area, but that is because everyone does continual grazing and leaves their cows in an area until the pasture looks brownish. So, I assume we could do at least 20 cows especially since we planted thousands of fodder trees everywhere. Maybe it would be less cows if they were dairy cows (I read that dairy cows have a higher Animal Unit equivalent).

Anyway, I would like to hear from you all what resources there are to learn about the business and economic considerations of all the different kinds of cattle operations.
 
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Hi Tenzin,
Welcome to Permies.

That sounds like a really cool area that you have. You have put a lot of work into it, and its exciting that you are ready for the next step of animals. I don't have any experience with cows in person, but I would suggest Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin for a good book with lots of good info. I would tend to start with fewer than you think the land can handle. The basics of rotational grazing are easy enough, but I think you might want some experience with your specific property before pushing the limits.

I would also like to ask if you might be open to other options than just cattle? There is a phrase I hear a lot "You don't want a drill bit, you want a hole". It seems like you actually want something to keep the grass down, to get benefit from the pasture and trees you already planted, to give benefit to the soil, and to make money. That doesn't have to be cows. It could be sheep, goats, geese, or similar. I think cows could be good, but as you mention there can be a large investment every year for beef. Some smaller livestock might let you ease into it more and be more forgiving on the land as you learn. Just something to think about.

Good Luck!
 
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Our Books Forum has several you might want to look over:

https://permies.com/wiki/155218/Homestead-Cows-Callene-Rapp-Eric

https://permies.com/t/37066/Grass-Fed-Cattle-Julius-Ruechel

https://permies.com/wiki/44396/Cows-Save-Planet-Judith-Schwartz
 
Tenzin Norbu
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Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Tenzin,
Welcome to Permies.

That sounds like a really cool area that you have. You have put a lot of work into it, and its exciting that you are ready for the next step of animals. I don't have any experience with cows in person, but I would suggest Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin for a good book with lots of good info. I would tend to start with fewer than you think the land can handle. The basics of rotational grazing are easy enough, but I think you might want some experience with your specific property before pushing the limits.



Would you also recommend Salad Bar Beef even if a beef cattle operation isn't right for my situation?
 
Matt McSpadden
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Hi Tenzin,
If it was me, yes I would still get it so I could learn as much as I can about cows in general, with the assumption that there will be a lot of crossover between dairy and beef. Your original question was about how to choose, so I figured learning about both would be a good way to decide.

If you are decided on Dairy, then I would probably get a dairy specific book, though I don't know of any off hand.
 
Tenzin Norbu
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Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Tenzin,
If it was me, yes I would still get it so I could learn as much as I can about cows in general, with the assumption that there will be a lot of crossover between dairy and beef. Your original question was about how to choose, so I figured learning about both would be a good way to decide.

If you are decided on Dairy, then I would probably get a dairy specific book, though I don't know of any off hand.



I've been reading his newer book, Polyface Micro. In my opinion it should basically be required reading for anyone planning to purchase land and run a homestead/farm. Sure wish I would've had it back then.
 
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That sounds like a really great idea! This won't specifically address your management question, as it seems like other people have given some great advice there, but I did have some thoughts down a different direction. Have you thought about sheep or goats as an option? Even just from a multiple animal species perspective? Cows are great, but there are other options as well, and they all bring different benefits. If you're looking for a bigger return on investment, sheep are a pretty good idea. Cows only have one calf every year, and they have to be at least a  year and a half old to breed (depending on the breed, some can take even longer). Sheep can often be bred at half a year old, and have at least two lambs every time. They reach maturity faster, they multiply faster, can be bred sooner, and have more purposes. Plus, you can have more of them per acre. Of course, it all comes down to what your goals are. We have a mixed "flerd" of cows, goats, sheep, and alpacas, and have all the different verities to balance what the animals eat. Cows pretty much only eat grass, goats eat brushy/woody things, sheep eat weeds and shorter grasses, and alpacas eat all the super short stuff. Because of the diversity, our pastures are evenly grazed, and the plants grow back in a more balanced selection. Cow manure is also way harder to deal with. Once a cow poops on something, they won't come back and eat from that same spot for several years because it takes so long to break down to a safe bacteria level. Sheep and goats "rain," so they don't have the same poop intensity, and it doesn't take as long for them to be able to eat off a place again. If you're after pasture impact, smaller animals makes for more hooves, more mouths, and more impact. That being said, cows are still a really great option. They don't take as much fencing to keep in, they graze bigger patches at once, and the market is already established. Sheep and goats have a way different management strategy, and a different (more specialized) market. You could go with one species, and specialize in that area, or you could go for a mixed flerd.
If you do want to stick to cows (and I haven't run large numbers of cows, so this is purely from my breed and management understanding), you may want to consider breeds beyond the traditional Angus and Hereford. We talked to an Aubrac breeder a while ago (Aubracs are a really ancient French breed), and he said the difference between his cows and the neighbors cows was crazy (the neighbors had Angus, for reference). While everyone around him was having to pump out tons of water, extra shelter, and bunches of minerals, his cows went through everything without a hitch. He didn't have to do any specialized management to keep the cows healthy, and his gross profit was higher. Same goes for other ancient breeds like the Shorthorn, Galloway, Highland, and Longhorn. In my opinion, most of the newer and more modern breeds have been so specialized that they've begun to loose the traits they need to survive. Many of today's dairy breeds have been selected to produce SO much milk that they basically milk themselves to death. They have lost the ability to balance milk production with body health. The Angus have been bred to the point that, while they have great feed to meat conversion, they aren't good at getting their own minerals. Old breeds were bred to thrive with minimal input, because that's all the original breeders could provide. That being said, Angus are still really incredible! So if you decide to go into cows, I would suggest looking into some of the alternative breeds as well. Even if you end up going with Angus, make sure you understand the full picture and the other breeds you could pick. Every situation is different, and Angus aren't necessarily the right option to fit your situation.
Holistic Management by Allan Savory and Keeping a Family Cow by Joann S. Grohman (which is about dairy cows, but still has awesome principles and tips) are both great. I suspect that Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle would also be a great one, since I've read some of her other books and they've been really good.
 
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