Intentionally Making Money for Farm Improvements
The first weekend in November and again over Thanksgiving weekend, my husband (Tom) and his twin brother (Jim) were hard at work on our farm doing an old-fashioned cattle drive.
Well, maybe that’s a stretch. I wouldn’t categorize my husband or brother-in-law as cowboys in the traditional sense – cowboy hats, spurs and horses. However, they’ve been driving cattle since they were little boys. Their family has moved cattle from pasture to barn and barn to pasture for over 150 years.
Tom and Jim operate a cow-calf operation, a method of raising beef cattle in which a permanent herd of cows is kept to produce calves for later sale. Each year, Tom and Jim add about 10 calves to the herd. The calves are raised on pasture all Spring and Summer and then some are sold as feeder cattle (300 – 600 lbs) in the Fall to be purchased by other farmers. The remaining calves are kept, fed and raised on our farm to be sold to market once they are older and full grown.
Last Spring, the bred cattle gave birth to their calves (a brand new experience for my two daughters who loved hearing stories about them, naming them, and seeing them when we visited). As a result, Tom and Jim spent two weekends this Fall moving cattle to auction in an effort to make money for various farm-improvement projects they have planned.
The first weekend in November was geared towards getting the older, full-grown cows to auction to be sold to market. Thanksgiving weekend was geared towards getting the young calves to auction to be sold to other farmers who will raise them. The auctions bring good money to farmers.
The cold, wet November weather wasn’t ideal and added to the difficult task at hand. Nonetheless, a few dozen cattle were corralled and moved again from pasture to barn and selected cows/calves were loaded onto a livestock trailer and trucked to the livestock exchange to be sold at auction.
I make this sound easy, but of course that’s because I’ve never actually been involved in the process and have no idea what it takes. My husband says animal handling is extremely difficult, requires skill and expertise, and involves lots of pushing and patience.
Actually, truth be known, it requires:
- Great planning (luring the cows up near the road and barn with extra feed),
- Days of preparation (building temporary fences or corrals and preparing the barn for the remaining cattle to winter in), and
- Manpower and teamwork.
What kind of improvements will the auction money be used for? Lot so things, some exciting and some not. As examples, the barn is in need of repairs, the taxes need to be paid, fences need repairing, and we’d like to build a dock down at the pond for the kids to fish off of. Unfortunately, the money from the cattle won’t allow us to do all these things, but it’s a start in the right direction.
The long-term goal is to fix up the farm, the farm buildings and the houses to make it profitable and a place where we all enjoy spending more time. We want to restore the farm to an asset that’s thriving rather than a liability or money drain. There’s much to be done to get it there. Getting cattle to auction is just one part of the intentional plan Tom and Jim have.
Thankfully, they are experienced in moving cattle, even if they aren’t cowboys as portrayed in the movies.
What big projects or major improvements are you working towards? Do you or your family have experience with farming and cattle? It’s all new to me, but I’m quickly getting an education.
Yours intentionally, Amanda