Who is buying cows?

[cowman]

In my area there are several larger operations and they are buying cows, have retained heifers etc., so from that I have assumed that they are serious about staying in the cow business.

I would some how doubt that you are a 'flipping idiot' cowman, but then, if we calve in the winter, there are those that think we are !!! LOL

[cowman]

Well I don't calve in the winter anymore...although that wasn't my decision...I actually kind of liked winter calving! Always felt really alive!
Anyway now we have this great big barn, with all the bells and whistles sitting empty! Maybe I'll get some goats or something? Might make me more acceptable to the back to nature crowd?
Why I could even stop spraying the buck brush and oil leases? I would have a goat vegetation control program! Too bad those darned old oil field operators wouldn't consider going organic and keeping the goat herd busy?

[cowman]

sheep cowman, then you could get a border collie and you would be in business !!! No point in letting that barn go to waste, use it for lambing. Get a donkey to protect the sheep from coyotes and you would be set !!!

[cowman]

Well somehow I don't see myself as a shepherd or a goat herd! To hard on the old self image!
Actually I never followed "trends" or the smart money too often! Just plod along keeping my good heifers every year, selling off the old girls? Don't usually expand or contract with the market. It seemed at times I was about the only one on here breeding heifers every year...come drought or BSE!
Maybe not smart but you know you get into a system that seems to work? I think I would find it very tough to sell off my best heifers every year and we have a great debate every fall and spring about which ones stay!
Now let me explain why we are keeping extra breeding heifers this year. We bought 320 acres of pasture in a sweetheart deal that no one but an idiot would pass up. We bought 40 cows that we thought were good enough to fit in, but still have extra grass. My cousin has rented 200 acres of grain land from us for about 15 years, lately he is making noises about quitting...I would not rent to anyone else. I have one hundred acres in hay for the horse trade. Without rotating that out with the 200 acres grain, it doesn't work for me? And finally we are just too darned busy in the summer to put much effort into farming of any kind! Cows don't require much attention in the summer but fit in nicely when winter slows/ends our other business.
In addition after three years of not selling any cows(well one open) we need to skid a few of these old girls. And last but not least I like cows...

[redhen]

To breeders of Galloways... The Belted Galloway is listed by Rare Breeds Canada as "Critical" with fewer than 25 registered breeding females in Canada. So is the Kerry, the Lynch Lineback and the White Park. www.rarebreedscanada.ca

To Cowman... a great big empty fully-tweaked barn sounds like heaven to me! You really should consider sheep or goats. We have just experienced our first lambing, with an experienced Jacob ewe who gave birth to beautiful spotted black and white twins on Easter Sunday. I had my lambing kit at the ready, but didn't need a single thing out of it.

There are 14 sheep breeds listed as "Critical" so you and your wonderful barn could (potentially) help sustain some endangered livestock breeds. The Newfoundland sheep is in critical need of support. We like the Jacobs because they are a smaller breed and they come with two or four horn "handles" that make them easy to catch and work with, for those of us who are aging and arthritic!

Alberta has 4 of the best woolen mills in the country. The fibre from endangered sheep is a valuable commodity for hand-spinners. Uniquely marked hides have a high value as well.

If you're stuck on cattle, then Highlands ("At Risk" RBC status) come in a beautiful range of colours and their fibre can be sheared and used to make rugs. [Did anyone else know that Olds College is teaching bison fibre courses? Their fibre would be similar to Highland.] Highland hides, in shades ranging from cream to deep sienna, make outstanding robes (similar to buffalo), throws or rugs, or seats on rustic furniture. Their meat is naturally lean and marbled and they don't require finishing on grain. We had one yearling processed for a banquet and the meat graded as "Sterling". One "Ponderosa Hip" was slow roasted for the dinner, and there were 3 x 40-lb boxes (120 pounds) of meat valued at an average of $7 a pound left over. Could be the breed or the great butcher, but we were pleased.

[redhen]

and so you should be redhen. Obviously you must be doing something right as well, do don't give all the credit to the animal or the butcher !!
I agree that cowman should get busy and raise sheep, why when he gets old he could make rugs or something instead of sitting in coffee row !!!

My neighbour has two belted Galloway cows, I don't know if they were registered ones when he bought them or not but I'll have to ask him.

[cowman]

Ha Ha Ha...me knitting in my rocking chair...uh, I don't think so!LOL
Elizabeth, I'm not really into doing much for "rare breeds". They are probably rare for a reason...like they are not much good for anything? Sorry I'm just a conventional type...not into rare and exotic things! Just a dumb peasant.
One of the guys I hired for the summer is going to stay in the barn, it has a room with fridge, micro wave, stove sink washroom, sat. tv, phone etc.! Hey I never believed winter calving should be brutal! Also the boy has his trailer and ski boat in there.
As far as coffee row goes...there is one in every town I frequent and I try to hit them all! I usually limit myself to one half hour or else the phone is ringing wondering where the hell I am...and of course don't go if work is pressing! But I do enjoy throwing the bull with the best of them and occasionally have picked up some useful information? I tell my son it is research and public relations...he isn't a social butterfly like the old man! LOL

[cowman]

Living quarters in the barn, holy cow, you don't see that in the average operation !! Don't let the county know or they will tax you on it as a second residence !!!
I honestly am beginning to think that you don't take farming seriously cowman if you have time to fritter away sitting in the coffee shop !!! I can't remember when I had time to coffee shop 'hop', my trips to town are usually to pick up something at the feed store, vet clinic or once in awhile I even restock the pantry and frig....but sit and visit in the coffee shop ????? NEVER !!!!

Now, the hairdresser is another matter, it is an essential service as far as I am concerned LOL !!!!! Plus, I am willing to bet you NEVER hear the stuff in the coffee shop that you would at the hair dresser !!!

[redhen]

Cowman! I am deeply wounded! Who's got some Wonder Dust to stop the bleeding??!!

Jacob sheep and Highland cattle are heritage breeds, the foundation for commodity breeds!! They are the Analusians and Lipizzaners of today's Arabians, Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses!!!

Many heritage breeds are "rare" because they have fallen out of favour, not because they aren't "good". They may not gain as quickly as genetically tweaked commodity breeds, but the balance to that is that they are resistant to many diseases and conditions, cost far less to feed because they do well on marginal land, are easy birthing, and give their breeders lots of time to spend in coffee or hairdressing shops! (Not that you need MORE time for that!!!)

Here's some food for thought to go with that double double coffee: If we don't keep the broad genetic base of heritage breeds going, what will you do when (not if) Foot and Mouth wipes out entire feedlot or ranch populations in the same way that Avian flu impacted BC's poultry industry?

BTW, I love your concept of living quarters in a barn!!! I would never have to vacuum again!!!! ROFL

[coppertop]

I don't know if the following is signifcant or not but I am interested in hearing if any of you have information on it.

I know a fellow who has some belted galloway cattle, and he says that when he purchased them at an auction market they had metal tags in their ears with the owners name on them.

First I have heard of this, although years ago we did have metal tags when cows were tested for brucellosis.

[cswilson]

A bit off topic but we had some Buff Orpington chickens a bit back-they just ran around the yard-roosted in the barn in winter and pecked amongst the cows-the kids had also bought some white layers at the same time-they hardly made the summer but those old Buffs lived tobe 6 or 7 years old. The kids would find nests full of eggs in the mangers. If factory pork and poultry production everbecomes impossible the heritage breeds will be what we need to turn to. Our experience was the same with hogs-my son would buy a couple sows every spring-farrow them-then sell the piglets in the fall and butcher the sows for our deerr sausage. The last ones he bought were high performance pigs from a hutterite colony-I'm sure they worked fine in a confinement barn but they were hard done by raising their pigs in a farm enviroment. I think it would be fun to keep a breeding group of a rare breed of animal going-there are worse hobbies to have.

[coppertop]

something like buying show cattle and putting them out with regular cattle !

I would doubt that any 'factory' raised animal would have an immune system capable of dealing with everyday germs etc.

[cowman]

Well emerald we were in the purebred business, calved in Jan/Feb and the old bull buyers weren't keen on bulls with no ears! I never built the barn, but did add the room and fixed it up over the years.
Won't go into how smart or dumb winter calving was, because I'll get ate for breakfast...but at the time you needed age and size to sell bulls? Different times than now for sure!
Also every bull had to be halter broke and ringed! No farmer wanted a bull he couldn't rope in the field and lead out of the pasture.