[Ag-eq] sheep questions

[nfoster at extremezone.com]

It seems that the beef market is really good right now and there are no
inexpensive cattle in my area.

As I said the 2 and 3 day old bull calves are starting at $150 and the heifers
are twice that and more.  The young weaned heifers are starting out at $600 and
up.  I looked at buying a bred dairy heifer and they are starting out at $1200. 
Dairy cows in milk are selling for $2000 to $3000.  Even the dairy culls are
selling for $1500.    It's crazy, I don't know how long this market will last.

I was speaking to a local farmer the other day and he told me he purchased some
Angus cow calf pairs for $3500 a pair.  I think they were registered and all,
but that's more than I want to spend!  I saw an ad for an Angus bull and they
were asking $4500.

Farmers are buying up dary cows in milk and raising calves on them since they
can sell them for so much.  There's not that many dairy cattle for sell right
now.  Some of the farmers are tellung me that they've never seen the market
like this before.  I wonder how long it can last.  It would be bad to buy up
some and then the price drop.

I don't eat beef, so would like to know if it is more expensive than usual?

Does anyone know what triggered the market?

Nella


Quoting Zachary Mason via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:

> Keyword here is bull calves. Heifer calves are quite different. The best you
> can hope for our crossbreds for about $35. I'm not sure how accessible
> quality dairy heifers for cheap are two beginning farmers.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 5, 2015, at 12:19 PM, Jody Ianuzzi via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Nella,
> >
> > We have a dairy farm near us and they don't have much use for bull calves.
> My neighbor buys them when they were two days old for $20 and bottlefeed them
> and raises them until they are six months old and then she sells them for
> quite a bit. You might consider doing something like that. Did you ever read
> the book barnyard in your backyard? It is available from Bard when they are
> back online. They have a big section on cattle and sheep ducks chickens and
> pigs too.
> >
> > JODY 🐺
> > thunderwalker321 at gmail.com
> >
> > "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."
> DOCTOR WHO (Tom Baker)
> >
> >
> >
> >> On Sep 5, 2015, at 8:54 AM, Nella Foster via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> good morning all:
> >>
> >> A while back I asked about cows; I'm still interested in getting a cow,
> but
> >> cattel are very expensive right now and I don't know that I want to invest
> that
> >> much.  There is way to much grass in my pasture for my horse and goats, so
> I
> >> want some other breed of animal to help keep it grazed down.  From reading
> and
> >> talking with farmers it seems that cattle and sheep graze more than goats.
> >> Goats are browsers and eat a little of everything.  My horse has a jaw
> injury
> >> and I have to supplement his diet with horse feeds.  He doesn't graze as
> much
> >> as other horses.  So anyway, now I've been researching sheep.  I like how
> their
> >> poop isn't as messy and they are an easier size to handle than cattle.
> >>
> >> What breeds of sheep do people have?
> >>
> >> How hard are they to care for?
> >>
> >> I've read that sheep can only have small amounts of copper in their diets,
> while
> >> horses and goats need more.  What do you all know about this?
> >>
> >> I want all the animals to be able to run together on the pasture.  I do
> seperate
> >> when feeding grains.  I wouldn't want to harm the sheep by them accidently
> >> getting food that is for the other animals.
> >>
> >> Do people keep sheep and goats together?
> >>
> >> My horse is very friendly and loves the goats, so i don't think he will
> mind
> >> sheep.  He also protects the goats from dogs and such.
> >>
> >> It seems that most people here keep hair sheep, which you don't have to
> sheer.
> >> They sound easier to me and I don't know if there is a market for wool
> here,
> >> especially for just a few, which is all I would have.  There is a market
> for
> >> the meat.
> >>
> >> Maybe Zac will know which breeds are used for dairy.  I like the idea of
> dairy
> >> sheep since I already have the dairy goats.
> >>
> >> Do you have to sheer dairy sheep or are they the hair kind?
> >>
> >> So I guess I just need to know everything about sheep!
> >>
> >> I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >>
> >> Nella
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Ag-eq mailing list
> >> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ag-eq:
> >>
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/thunderwalker321%40gmail.com
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ag-eq mailing list
> > Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ag-eq:
> >
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/zmason.northwindsfarm%40gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ag-eq mailing list
> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Ag-eq:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/nfoster%40extremezone.com
>