How much do cattle cost?

Question

I am looking into starting a farm which has dairy cattle,chickens, and produce. I am looking into how much the cattle will cost me. I need about thirty to fifty of them and I need to know how mush the cattle themselves and the milking system will cost.

Answer 1

It would be best to check with a local auction prices. They vary acoording to demand locally. Cattle in most areas are down because the high input costs (Grain) is making it unprofitable. Good luck Your choosing a wonderful lifestyle

Answer 2

Dairy farming is most profitable if you have prize breeding stock... animals that will have calves that will sell for a prince's ransom most of the time.

Better to have 10 or 12 really great young dams than to have 50 mediocre dams.

And 12 top milkers will produce more milk profit than 50 average cows.

The 12 top cows will produce your larger herd over a few years, so don't spend a fortune buying a large herd all at once. Go fo rtop quality and don't forget to insure them.

Answer 3

Well lets hope you have enough money to keep your farm going for the first five years.  You will not make a profit from farming until at least then.  Cattle are expensive per head depending on if you can find a sale somewhere or what the cost of beef is in the market.  Also, depends on if you are buying herefords or full grown cows.  The milking system will be at least 10,000 dollars and that is for a small system.  You need to sit down and seriously figure out what farming you want to do and plan it out on a budget and schedule.  That way you can do the math on how much personal money will be put out before you are able to break even or even start to make a profit.  Farming is harder and more expensive than it has ever been before.  Only reason being is our economy is struggling.  Better be sure you can afford to lose money before you can make it.  Good luck.

Answer 4

Cattle prices vary from state to state, and dependent upon the purpose in buying the stock. If you are talking about buying dairy cows, then you need to know whether you want mature milkers already in production or springers you are going to bring around.Holstein heifer calves are bringing anywhere from 500 dollars and up for good stock. Production cows will cost even more dependent on daily output and age. I would seriously consider another prospective career were I you. Bush and his clowns have decreased subsidies for dairy production and farms are falling like dominoes all over the place as a result. If you enter such an enterprise with excessive overhead, you will be riding a razors edge to failure. That being said, contact your local FSA Officials, the Farm Service Agency is a division of the USDA and has offices located in almost every county in the country. They can give you advice about current trends and cost estimates as well as direct you to lenders who deal in such matters. You might want to think about starting off small and trying to grow into a larger operation with the cost of land, equipment and operating capital being at all time highs and showing no signs of receding in the near future.

Answer 5

hard to say depends where you are. in NY calves go for 500$ cows depends on age and out put also breed and are they registered also hefer or bread hefer. ask other farmers what thay would sell for

Answer 6

depending on the breed and age staring at 650 a cow

Answer 7

Cattle in the US range from 1k-1500 a piece.  If you are buying wholesale, Which is considered 20+ prices range from 500-800.

Some higher quality cows, which are known to get huge(lots of meat) and provide good milk can go upwards of 2k each.

This is a great business, especially when selling the meat to huge meat markets such as:

www.OmahaSteaks.com

www.KansasCitySteaks.com

www.MyButcher.com

These above businesses are always looking for wholesale cattle and buy in large quantity.

There are two types of businesses, providing millions of gallons of milk, or selling meat to meat markets.   I personally recommend selling meat. It is in high demand.

Answer 8

I'd sure wait a bit before delving into the dairy cattle venture.  Dairying requires LOTS of management and good management at that.  Jumping in too big and too quickly is a sure fire way to loose your butt and you don't want to do that.  

Check out the University of Missouri's Southwest Center seasonal, grass dairy farm.  Low input, low feed costs, low building investment.

Answer 9

For dairying, it is not just the cattle that you have to pay for.

Costs will depend on a number of factors. The breed, the age, and the market when youa re looking to buy!

Dairy cows have to be "freshened" or bred regularly to keep their milk flowing, so there will be times when you will nothave as much milk. You will have calves to deal with for each cow, and you will have to decide if your operation will keep a bull (more cost) or do AI (that costs too).

You have further considerations on the prices of feed for where you live, and how much land you will have. Will you allow grazing or all lot fed? Will you have enough space to grow your grains or will youhave to have it brought to you- costs of transport and grains/feed.

You will need a milking barn and milk parlor/house.  

If you are looking to have a business, then you will have to meed local and antional inspection requirements and sanitation conditions. Materials, machines, (new or used- type of milker)equipment, etc.

If you will be hand milking, there are still things you will have to do.

For more info try these

http://www.cias.wisc.edu/archives/2001/1...

http://www.efficiencymaine.com/pdfs/Dair...

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome

and your local state univeristy farm extension office as well!

Good luck

Kay

Answer 10

you can check out the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (http://www.cme.com) for current futures and spot prices for various cattle commidities such as Live Cattle, Feeder Cattle,, and even Hogs...