Sold the Cows

[SawyerTed]

We are retiring from livestock.  Our family is phasing out the cow-calf operation.  We loaded the last of the brood cows, yearlings and calves this morning.  Fortunately one man bought all 38 head. My BIL has been chief operator since 2000 or so.  The Dr. and I have been very quiet but hardworking supporting partners. 

We likely will lease the pastures and I will select cut timber. 

This is the first time since 1949 there hasn't been a cow-calf or feeder operation here. Kind of the end of an era.  The family farm has been in my wife's family for over 150 years.  It's with mixed feelings we are forging ahead.  Our children don't have an interest in "farming" but love the land.

It's quiet here, I can tell it's on the Doc's mind.  

[Crusarius]

Should keep one cow and name it hamburger  that way you will always have good  beef

[Nebraska]

I've seen that way too many times in my world. Lots of grass turned upside down and cows sold,  but  if you don't have younger folks interested there comes a point that it happens.  It's a big change when it does hope everything works itself out. Still a tough time.

[Southside]

That's got to be a hard day for sure. I know the things are in my blood and as foolish as it sounds it's not a day I ever want to face. Best of luck with the new chapter. 

[A-z farmer]

Sawyer ted
Tough day for you and your family 
I hope the next chapter of your farm is fulfilled.
We went from 700 cows a few years ago to 200 now and I can see not having any in a few more years .
Having livestock is a 365 days a year commitment and our younger generation does not want it .
Zeke

[low_48]

Change can be very difficult, but you were able to do this on your own terms. My Dad went out of the dairy business when the barn burnt to the ground. My Mom said it took decades before he slept all through the night. The barn burnt in the middle of the night and he always felt the shame of not catching it. Several neighbors were on the farm before they were able to wake him. He and his brothers had built the barn, so he not only lost all that labor, he lost a lot of livestock. Sows with pigs, and some young cattle too. We had hogs all the time I was on the farm, plus many years were he bought feeder calves. But he never rebuilt that barn.

[thecfarm]

I hope all goes well for you. I have The Farm now. Was never a working farm. Just a 2-3 cow farm and various other livestock. Only one dog that is on The Farm now. We had livestock off and on,but we're on the off part now. Takes alot of time just mowing the fields and keeping the bushes from growing. Most won't even do that,they let the fields go back to woods. Enjoy the time off doing other type of work. ;D

[Bruno of NH]

Being a farmer is very hard work.
There is one farm left in town they have moved from dairy to only selling hay.
They have me saw for them some and if I can I do it for free.
I don't want them to stop running the farm.
It's a better community that has working farms.

[SawyerTed]

Thanks for the supporting words. It's tough for me and I've only been a part of the cow and farming business 30 years (when Emily, aka The Doctor and I moved back here).  Emily and her brother grew up doing it all - hay making,  feeding, doctoring, mucking out the barn ect.  All of it with their dad until he died.  When Emily was expecting our children, she stayed out of her " public job" and helped her father on the farm and mostly with the cows.

We went through something similar when the price supports were phased out on tobacco.  We elected just to get out of tobacco farming instead of contract farming. Our generation all had "public jobs" that paid better.  We missed the supplemental income for a while but we adjusted.  I think that's the good news with the current situation, there wasn't much supplemental income in a small cow-calf operation. So we might come out ahead financially without them.

It an adjustment that we will make and move forward.  Hemp farming is now a big thing here.  We may be looking toward something like that.

[moodnacreek]

The last grange hall around here stopped putting on feeds and closed and sold the hall. The younger generation was not interested. We miss it.   Welcome to southern New York.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Cant imagine what I'd do without cows around. I hope my son wants to keep going with the hay and cattle, but if not I'll have to make the same choice again someday.

[Southside]

Hemp farming is now a big thing here.  We may be looking toward something like that.

I have been around this game long enough to remember when flax was going to be the big saving crop, lots of guys jumped in and planted it, then baled it, they were even allowed to store it in old nuke bunkers on a former air force base (Loring).  It was going to be the product that revived the textile industry, only issue was there was never a real, commodity scale market for it.  The buyers never picked up the bales and they sat in those bunkers for years.  

Then in the early 2000's Alpacas were the next thing, spend $20K -$30K to get a top notch breeding packy!!  The fiber will be used for blankets, sweaters, and all kinds of things warm and soft, those same packys are what $500 these days?

At our scale you need to find a niche - no different than running the mill.  If you try to compete in the commodity world, and do the same thing everyone else is doing,  you run the very real risk of getting steamrolled.  

[SawyerTed]

I agree, we've discussed hemp but it isn't really where we want to go.    Around here it was Christmas trees, emu, then sweet potatoes and now hemp.  The hemp thing actually requires a large investment in a relatively small acreage.  It is highly regulated and an NC application for a permit to raise hemp requires identification of your buyer.  Most crops are sold before its planted.  

There's too much upfront cost and there will quickly be market saturation because so many are jumping in hemp production.  

The good thing about the sawmill business as I'm operating, I can turn it off and go fishing, the impacts of weather are more predictable, and the returns are less dependent upon government regulation.

We will be better off sawmilling, growing a garden, fishing, hunting and traveling.  The farm will be leased for someone else to raise livestock and or make hay.

[lxskllr]

For someone not in the biz, it looks to me like farming makes the best money as a boutique operation, or an industrial scale. The average "small farmer" has the toughest go of it. Not special enough to command top dollar, and doesn't have the economy of scale to compete with the big guys.

My uncle raised cows, pigs, and chickens, with fields of corn to help feed them his whole married life. I think the only reason he did it was to keep the farm going. I'd be surprised if he even broke even on the venture. He made his real money as a butcher. When he died, he gave the farm to a local produce guy with the stipulation it staid in agriculture as long as that guy was still around. So far, that's what's happened. The guy grows small quantities of produce, and the farm buildings are part of retail sales. I'm happy that worked out. There's too many cracker boxes in the old farm fields around here.

[Roxie]

Cowboy Bob lost the lease on his barn, and we sold everything at auction, including my mule, the cows, equipment, and tractors.  He kept the truck and trailer and still hauls livestock.

We had a tradition of spending time in the barn on Christmas Eve, just listening to the animals breathe.  That is still the part that I miss the most. 

Life does go on, but that doesn't diminish the loss. 

Wishing you all the best. 

[samandothers]

I grew up helping dad on a small farm with about 35 to 40 head of cattle.  It was a lot of work to hay, feed in the winter, fence, etc.  It was also a great learning opportunity for me.  He eventually sold all including the farm.  I was a sad ending.   However he had time for other stuff including fishing and gardening.   

As you state there will be more time for other things that y'all enjoy.  Glad the farm will be used by others to keep it maintained.

[TKehl]

That is tough to hear and happens too frequently.  Neighbors quit farming decades ago and leased the land.  We've been leasing it the last 10-15 years, but they sold it this spring.  (We bought it.  ;D  So a little bittersweet in this case.)  

Wife and I moved back home so we could be part of our family farm.  I'm 5th generation.  I've told my kids that I am working to provide a place for them if they want it, but they are not obligated to take it if they want to do something else.  Oldest is only 10 so time will tell.   

As for hemp, I'm not interested.  Yes it's becoming legal now, but it's been legal in the rest of the world a long time!  We've been importing products made from it.  Just because something can be made from it doesn't mean it will be.  I see more hype than potential.  And I'm WAY more open minded than dad.   :D   (Still trying to talk him into some Chestnut trees on 10-20 acres.   ;))