Cattle Farm Backup?

Question

If you've read my other current question you'd know I want horned cattle I haven't posted it yet but I'm going to raise Corriente Cattle, I have 500 Acres of Land 375 is currently in use for 18 Corriente Bulls and 129 Cows the reason I have so many bulls is to quickly reproduce so I can stat farming cattle heads. It never occurred to me until now should I use the other 125 acres for sheep farming in wool,also chicken farming, just in case cattle prices aren't very good I could sell the wool and meat from the chickens and sheep, also if I was to also farm wool I was told Alpacas make better wool and its on a higher demand is this true? Please don't say im inexperienced farmer the only reason im asking is because ive never farmed anything other than Corriente and British White Cattle. I'm not planning on making this my prime source of income just an at-hand backup, other Ranchers please tell me am i going in the right direction by making a backup plan just in case?

Answer 1

First off, using sheep (or goats) and cattle together is a wise idea.  Historically, sheep prices are high when cattle are low and vice versa in 10 year cycles.  Only in this last, over extended cycle has that not been true.

The sheep or goats will eat plants and weeds the cattle won't eat and thereby produce offspring on "free" grazing.  Keep in mind that sheep are affected by intestional parasites and goats even more so.  Hair sheep breeds are more parasite resistant than wool breeds and tend to have appetites more like goats.  In other words, they'll eat briars, tree bark, etc whereas wool breeds prefer legumes and even grass and are going to compete more with the cattle for forage.

Wool?  It's an expensive product to produce when you figure in how much forage it takes to produce it, the expense of shearing, packing and selling it and the associated problems that go along with wool.  Fly strike (flies lay eggs in manure stuck in the wool and the maggots begin consuming the animal), tail docking is necessary, some breeds with lots of wool around the udder require crutching (trimming the wool away from the udder) or else the lamb can't find the teat or sucks on wool instead of the teat.  There's no money in sheep wool unless you have a specialty breed with colored wool, fine fibered, etc and you can find somewhere to market it at.

Alpacas are a fad species just like the llamas, ostriches, emus, reahs, etc were.  They are very expensive, require a very cool climate to breed or here in the Midwest, people must keep them in air conditioned buildings so they will cycle and breed.  If you happen to be a hand spinner, one might be fine but as far as producing alpaca wool commercially, forget it.  If you pay close attention, right now it's a breeders market.  That means the people with alpacas are selling them to other ignorant (of alpacas) smucks for big bucks as breeding stock.  Once the breeding stock market is saturated, the price will fall like a rock, just like on the other species I mentioned earlier.

Raising sheep is a whole different practice compared to cattle.  When done right, it can be very profitable but when done wrong, you can lose your shirt.  Check out www.sheepmagazine.com for some good articles on parasites and other management practices.

Answer 2

Neither of your questions state what country you are in.  

I currently live in Idaho.  There's been a rancher here advertising a herd (75 animals) of Corriente cattle for a few months now.  Nobody wants to buy a herd of them.  I only see a few sold here and there for rodeo practice animals.

Are you in a country/area that has a market for wool?  How about meat from sheep?  

Alpaca wool is in higher demand with the hand spinners.

I would not mix sheep and cattle.  Despite what the other poster stated, sheep and cattle compete for the fodder they eat.  Goats and cattle compliment each other though.  If you have a market for an extra meat animal, ad goats to your ranch.

Goats (unlike sheep) actually WILL eat the weeds that cattle do not eat.  The goats eat the weeds.  This increases the amount of pasture you have for your cattle.  If combind with rotational grazing, you will have a higher stocking rate, since you will actually have more pasture grass for your cattle.

I have both goats and sheep.  Sheep eat grass....goats eat weeds and brush, before anything else.  I just moved my goats to a new pasture.  The goats have gone mad eating all the thistles, roses, and blackberries.  The sheep will not touch them...they are eating only the grasses that cattle would also be eating.

Chickens for what?  Meat or eggs?  Free range chickens are lovely.  They will also scratch appart the cow manure, eat the fly larva, and help keep the fly population down.  Unfortunatly free range chickens attract a lot of predators, and are quickly picked off.

If you can design portable fencing, chickens might work very well (free range) at a very reasonable cost.  You might wish to also think about adding free range turkeys, with the same portable electric net fencing.

What is your market for your British White Cattle?  They are a herritage breed.  If I were raising them, I would personally be agresively marketing them to high end customers.  That means I would be seeking out doctors, lawyers, and Jackson Hole millionares (in Idaho), or Microsoft millionares in Washington.  

British Whites are one of the herritage breeds of cattle I concidered for my own farm (so I did quiet a bit of research on them).   How are you marketing them?  As a animal that has a 65% dress out, on pasture (!!), and low fat, you should be able to do very well if you market them correctly.

Before you venture further into other stock, besides cattle there are things you should think about.  If you are new to farming (which I think you are) you should live with each and every new breed of livestock for six months, before adding a new one.

If you add something like sheep or goats, realize they are prey animals, easily killed by pet dogs, coyotes, and other critters.  Goats especially, but sheep also take much better fencing than cattle.  Alpacas take about the same fencing a goat does (they can jump!).

Chickens...meat or eggs?  Do you have a local market?  Is it legal in your state (if you are in the U.S.A.) to sell dirrectly to the customers?

How will you market your wool?  Who will shear the animals for you?  I've shorn before.  It's HARD work.  I'm only 5'2" and not big enough to flip those big ewes around by myself (much less the rams).  That's why we changed to Kahtadin hair sheep...no wool!

You state you are not planning to make this your primary income.  Yet with the numbers and kinds of livestock you are talking about, you need to be a full time rancher then.

Remember cattle CAN be put in a pasture, and they pretty well care for themselves.

Sheep (and Alpacas) can get their wool tangled in a fence, tree, or bramble, and then not be able to move.  They need to be checked daily.  Twice daily if the weather is hot.  Goats can ge their heads stuck in fences (even if they do not have horns) and also need to be checked daily.

Chickens will require protection from predators.  Many of their predators are other birds of prey.  You will be hauling water, and feed to chickens.  Not to mention possibly collecting eggs.  

I'm trying to tell you it's a LOT more work.  However I personally think diversification on a farm/ranch is a good thing.  I'm not sure you have the time to diversify that much.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Raising meat goats, sheep, meat rabbits, small orchard, berries, vegtables, herbs, and adding beef cattle, chickens, turkeys, and more orchard.

Answer 3

Have you ever considered renting out your corriente cattle for either rodeo, tv commercial production, or other non traditional uses of cattle? Corriente cattle are very much preferred by tv producers because of their distinctive western look. I don't know of your geographic location in the U.S. but I presume you are somewhere in the south west US. This could be an option for supplemental income.