cow/calf prices?

[grassfarmer]

Academic? hardly - I left school at 16 and have made
my living full time in agriculture since then. It'll be 30
years next month. I've had a real world education on
two continents and keep on learning in the best job in
the world. We have quite a bit more than 100 cows
and we are retailing $100k of meat a year as a
sideline.
I'm not the guy posting that cattle prices are too low
you must be thinking of someone else. You bet I can
identify all my cows, nothing wrong with having an
intense interest in your animals it helps you make a
better and more profitable job of running them.

[ASRG]

Lets' not get into this ridiculous agrument of where our money comes from, or whether we are on Daddys tit or the government tit?
The facts are: In the real world the bills have to be paid? If that means working a job, or coming up with a different way of marketing....it is all good?
All farmer: You are the future beef producer....and I am intensely interested in how you see things! If you think my ideas on how to cut your expenses are "dinosaur" that is okay.....afterall it is your money!
grassfarmer: You are looking outside the box........and I suspect you might have the "real solution", through direct marketing!!
Let's be civil, and realize none of us might have the real solution?

[kato]

I think the real solution is different for everyone. It's probably got as much to do with location as anything else. Anyone who lives within a reasonable distance of a large center is in a perfect situation for direct marketing. But you need to like people, or you will hate it. What works on one operation could be the worst thing to happen on another.

Having a good paying off farm job is OK, but that money needs to be used wisely. Many a farm has been brought down by investing too heavily in depreciable assets. They are called that for a reason. They depreciate. And they also break down, usually have interest charges attached, and need regular replacement. If I had a half a million dollars for a combine, I would certainly not be spending it on a combine.

If the TFSA is maxed out, the land is paid clear and in your name, you've got some money set aside for retirement, and your debt load is low, then fire away and make the implement dealers happy. But first make sure you've got your own assets in place and secure. Until then, our favourite policy has always been to have only enough good reliable equipment to get the job done, and save the fun stuff for later.

Investing in assets that appreciate will get someone much farther ahead in the long run. Land, and even a cow herd fall in this category. You know as time goes by that they will be worth more, however a ten year old tractor is worth a fraction of what it cost to buy when it was nice and shiny and new. That money is gone and it's not coming back.

Just my opinion. Learned by many years of observing the neighbours spending money, sometimes unwisely, with the expected consequences. Also by spending a couple of months a year working on tax returns.