best cattle for a beginner?

[Morganwyn]

what would be the best beef cattle for a beginner? angus? how many would i be able to get on 10 acers of good quality land?

 

[JP1]

Hereford or Red Ruby Devon. Something ultra quiet and easy to keep. 10 acres isn't much if you need Winter forage. How heavy is the land and where are you? If you've a regular long Winter and need to house then you're on a hiding to nothing I'm afraid and would be better off with sheep

And right from the start make sure the first two animals you have good fences, a substantial catching pen and a proper crush - please

 

[Werzle]

Black herefords, cheap to keep, quiet and actually worth something when you want to sell them.

 

[Jonp]

Herefords. Simple pen of 8 cattle hurdles will hold ten.

Simple crush. Bag of feed.

 

[whitefox]

what would be the best beef cattle for a beginner? angus? how many would i be able to get on 10 acers of good quality land?

sorry to be blunt,but i would suggest, someone else"s,maybe offer some grazing to a young farmer/new entrant,these enthusiastic youngsters probably have a lifetime of experience of stockmanship,but due too the ridiculous cost of land are restrained from expansion/development,by offering to help you could start to learn a skill,as farmers we have all been beaten down by governments- supermarkets-media etc into thinking that we are an irrelevance,but holding responsibilty for the health and welfare of stock which are an essential part of the food chain is anything but!,you have done the right thing by asking advice from a huge database such as TFF,and yes Angus cattle would be a good choice on good grazing,they like human interaction too,which in a grazing situation is good,Angus cattle which get plenty of kind attention will come too you when you enter a field,some of the more ....shall we say european breeds,may tend to be exiting the other side of the field as you come through the gate

 

[Daveh]

I find the biggest problem with Herefords is not keeping them in, but getting them to move when you need them to

 

[Morganwyn]

Hereford or Red Ruby Devon. Something ultra quiet and easy to keep. 10 acres isn't much if you need Winter forage. How heavy is the land and where are you? If you've a regular long Winter and need to house then you're on a hiding to nothing I'm afraid and would be better off with sheep

And right from the start make sure the first two animals you have good fences, a substantial catching pen and a proper crush - please

thanks,
i allready have a crush and a pen made for cattle. over the winter i will have an extra 40 acres

 

[Morganwyn]

sorry to be blunt,but i would suggest, someone else"s,maybe offer some grazing to a young farmer/new entrant,these enthusiastic youngsters probably have a lifetime of experience of stockmanship,but due too the ridiculous cost of land are restrained from expansion/development,by offering to help you could start to learn a skill,as farmers we have all been beaten down by governments- supermarkets-media etc into thinking that we are an irrelevance,but holding responsibilty for the health and welfare of stock which are an essential part of the food chain is anything but!,you have done the right thing by asking advice from a huge database such as TFF,and yes Angus cattle would be a good choice on good grazing,they like human interaction too,which in a grazing situation is good,Angus cattle which get plenty of kind attention will come too you when you enter a field,some of the more ....shall we say european breeds,may tend to be exiting the other side of the field as you come through the gate

thanks, im lucky as my family own around 60-70 acers. i was thinking of just starting off with a 10 acer section. im not really doing it for the money its a way to avoid inhertance tax aswell.

 

[Jonp]

I find the biggest problem with Herefords is not keeping them in, but getting them to move when you need them to

Got to train them...1/2 bag of feed...mine will follow anywhere.
Stand at gate and whistle they'll come over. Give them occasional treat of a few packets of digestives....focuses their minds.

 

[serf]

.

 

[serf]

what would be the best beef cattle for a beginner?

Black Herefords

 

[BRB John]

thanks, im lucky as my family own around 60-70 acers. i was thinking of just starting off with a 10 acer section. im not really doing it for the money its a way to avoid inhertance tax aswell.

Avoid inheritance tax? How so ?
I'd say 8 Lincoln reds don't bother with fertiliser....

 

[Wolds Beef]

Auchmacoy or Balcaskie!! @BRB John.
WB

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

I know everyone has to start somewhere but anyone who is thinking about the tax implications of farming ought to do a simple budget first as the amount of potential losses on cattle may far outweigh paying the tax. IHT is not an issue if there is an FBT or if you are farming the land yourself.

The OP doesn't say where they are?
If they are in an area that has a good native breed local to them, it is sensible to keep them. There may well be a local outlet at a "premium" price for the cattle.

The suggestions of feeding bags of cake to get them in a pen or Digestive biscuits at what would work out at thousands of pounds a ton may not be the best use of inputs.
By all means if you are feeding cattle then put a trough in the pen and they will go in to get the food.

If anyone is starting with buying in calves and taking them through to finished animals and doing this on bought in feed (including labour costs) will certainly not have an issue with income tax unless the beef price rises significantly above the present levels of around £4.00 dead weight.

 

[Jonp]

I know everyone has to start somewhere but anyone who is thinking about the tax implications of farming ought to do a simple budget first as the amount of potential losses on cattle may far outweigh paying the tax. IHT is not an issue if there is an FBT or if you are farming the land yourself.

The OP doesn't say where they are?
If they are in an area that has a good native breed local to them, it is sensible to keep them. There may well be a local outlet at a "premium" price for the cattle.

The suggestions of feeding bags of cake to get them in a pen or Digestive biscuits at what would work out at thousands of pounds a ton may not be the best use of inputs.
By all means if you are feeding cattle then put a trough in the pen and they will go in to get the food.

If anyone is starting with buying in calves and taking them through to finished animals and doing this on bought in feed (including labour costs) will certainly not have an issue with income tax unless the beef price rises significantly above the present levels of around £4.00 dead weight.

The use of £5 worth of feed or digestive biscuits to get cattle to enter a pen calmly and easily is low input. Chasing them around a field with a quad/tractor to get them into a high tech high cost handling system to contain stressed out cattle is high input cost.

 

[BRB John]

Auchmacoy or Balcaskie!! @BRB John.
WB

..... Actually St Fort

The suggestions of feeding bags of cake to get them in a pen or Digestive biscuits at what would work out at thousands of pounds a ton may not be the best use of inputs.

I assume your being sarcastic or your vastly paying too much for digestives

I thought with IHT as long as his parents gift it to him seven years before they die then it should be exempt
I don't think active comes into it.

But I guess it's highly situataul.

 

[bluebell]

i started with herefordX calves, bought from local dairy farm or local market? that was many years ago now, seemed back then, people had more time to help each other, the local dairy farmer helped alot with any advice problems, calving etc? we even had the AI service run, by the MMB, phone by 10am to get a service on the day? remember that?

 

[DrWazzock]

Herefords or at least something standard. Don’t bother with rare or exotic breeds as they’ll bomb in the ring. I’d avoid anything pedigree as well, speaking from experience. Don’t buy a cow more than 5 years old with a big bag either. Polled is best as well. Anything you can do to save potential hassle from the outset is good, because there will plenty of hassle anyway.
Will you be selling stores or fat? Calving or storing or fattening? How far away is your local market/ customer/ abattoir? What do they actually want? If breeding is it worth running a bull for so few? Are you any good at AI?
Perhaps buy some stirks and run them on or fatten them for starters to see how you get on. You won’t make much but it’s better than going down the breeding route if you are starting out.
Cattle health management is more complicated than agronomy if you want to get it right. Not an impossible job but you really need your wits about you to get it right. Good luck.

 

[Exfarmer]

sorry to be blunt,but i would suggest, someone else"s,maybe offer some grazing to a young farmer/new entrant,these enthusiastic youngsters probably have a lifetime of experience of stockmanship,but due too the ridiculous cost of land are restrained from expansion/development,by offering to help you could start to learn a skill,as farmers we have all been beaten down by governments- supermarkets-media etc into thinking that we are an irrelevance,but holding responsibilty for the health and welfare of stock which are an essential part of the food chain is anything but!,you have done the right thing by asking advice from a huge database such as TFF,and yes Angus cattle would be a good choice on good grazing,they like human interaction too,which in a grazing situation is good,Angus cattle which get plenty of kind attention will come too you when you enter a field,some of the more ....shall we say european breeds,may tend to be exiting the other side of the field as you come through the gate

The only bull which has truly scared me was an Angus! That day I would have beaten Usain bolt to the gate.

 

[Exfarmer]

I know everyone has to start somewhere but anyone who is thinking about the tax implications of farming ought to do a simple budget first as the amount of potential losses on cattle may far outweigh paying the tax. IHT is not an issue if there is an FBT or if you are farming the land yourself.

The OP doesn't say where they are?
If they are in an area that has a good native breed local to them, it is sensible to keep them. There may well be a local outlet at a "premium" price for the cattle.

The suggestions of feeding bags of cake to get them in a pen or Digestive biscuits at what would work out at thousands of pounds a ton may not be the best use of inputs.
By all means if you are feeding cattle then put a trough in the pen and they will go in to get the food.

If anyone is starting with buying in calves and taking them through to finished animals and doing this on bought in feed (including labour costs) will certainly not have an issue with income tax unless the beef price rises significantly above the present levels of around £4.00 dead weight.

Are you seriously suggesting people keep beef cattle to make money