Glenn Wagner ’s farm has butt on my kinsperson ’s for decade . His father , Jack , raised bitch cattle . But Glenn ’s aspiration to farm came from something outside of agriculture .
“ I started back in eminent school when I want some money to take those girls out , ” he say , with a laugh . “ I ca n’t remember when I did n’t farm . ” Wagner ’s first farming venture came with feeder pigs .
“ That was my passion when I was 15 or 16 years sometime , ” he says . “ I got in the hogg business sector . ”
Producer Pivot
At the time , Tennessee was a large hog - bring on body politic . Wagner spread out his operation by building a orotund pig family . Later , when the hog market place get out the res publica , Wagner set out arouse spawn Holstein dairy heifer .
After two decades , as that market evolve , too , Wagner also left behind this enterprise .
Next , he added Bermuda grass , sell hay along with chopping silage and rotationally grazing it first for his dairy farm heifer and later for his beef ruck . Wagner was extremely successful at evoke Bermuda grass , at one metre he was a leading manufacturer in the Southeast , but the Bermuda Gunter Wilhelm Grass stem maggot brought this chapter to a finis .
As he transitioned from one enterprise to the next , Wagner took stock of the fact that he still had paddocks place up for rotational shaving . It was then that he resolve to focus on raising beef cattle cattle .
Wagner ’s finish , with any of his agriculture operations , has extended beyond his warmth for agriculture .
“ If you ’ve got acreage , you ’ve make to keep it mowed , ” he says . “ It ’s a problem to keep it from produce up . you may get trap in a piazza where you ’ve got to do all of the body of work . My destination was to make [ my farm ] create the maximum so that I could give to have assist . ”
Wagner transitioned to raise beef cattle . He steadily worked toward his goal with the noesis and skills acquired from his dairy heifer go-ahead in genetic science , feeding , nutrition and raise levelheaded cattle .
Wagner now has two herds , with one calving in the springtime and the other in the fall . He sells his autumn calf in the give while his spring sura go into his stocker ruck .
When & Where to Buy
As mentioned , some of Wagner ’s stocker calf are produced from his herd . The majority , though , he purchases . He late expanded his operation and presently keeps some 280 calves .
Because of the deficiency of grass availability due to his moo-cow - sura and other farming operations , he purchases his stocker sura in October from a hebdomadary sale . These are the cheapest calf . He finds adept accessibility because the farmers sell them do n’t require to carry them through the wintertime .
Wagner acknowledges that there are dissimilar school of sentiment as to the adept weight and sentence of year to purchase feeder calf . Unlike their lighter counterparts , heavy sura , such as those in the 600 - to-700 - pound range , can be difficult to put more weight on . On the other helping hand , younger sura just weaned and modest can quickly become unhealthful .
As for the best time of class to bribe calfskin , it can be more favorable to purchase calves in the springiness rather than the surrender due to the availability of grass .
The calf that Wagner buy in October will count between 400 and 450 pounds . If he ’s still buy in November , those calfskin will be from 500 to 550 pounds . He ’ll have 30 to 40 of his leaping calf of the same weight unit that he puts in with those that he purchases .
This scheme allows the sura to be a consistent weight , around 750 to 800 pound , at the fourth dimension of cut-rate sale . As an aside , calf raised for the freezer are heavier still . Though large calves will also work , the idealistic free weight for a freezer beef is 1,200 pounds .
Read more : find out how to choose cattle for your own homegrown beef .
Recommended Calves
As for colour , Wagner prefer black calf . “ you could buy nonblack cattle cheaper , and they raise off good , ” he says . “ But when they hail in the stockyard , they put them in a unlike pen . The Angus people have a good merchandise , but they also have effective selling . So the [ black ] calves will impart more per Syrian pound .
“ purchaser want a whole grouping of dark oxen . ”
OK , you have decided the ideal weight , time of class , and sale ( or sales ) at which you will buy your calves before bringing them home . Now it is fourth dimension to begin thinking about their health caution needs .
“ When you bring feeder calf in from the stockyard you take to have somewhere to furbish up them and put the sick ones , ” Wagner aver .
Stress and photo to other cattle at the stockyard often coiffe up disease processes . Wagner says that it takes about a five - calendar week menstruation to get them “ straightened out . ” His favourite time to raise them is after that five - workweek period has passed . Then , the calves are at their healthiest and they begin to benefit about 2 1⁄2 to 3 pounds per day .
What to Buy (& Why)
Many of the calf Wagner steal are bulls . Though not always , he state that on average bulls are 10 to 15 cents brassy than steers . To get the numbers he needs , Wagner buys bulls and wind . bull can be focused more on reproduction than feeding , run to be more fast-growing , can potentially breed any heifers you are eat out and are n’t accepted by feedlot .
Therefore , they must be castrated . If you do n’t have the fourth dimension or are uncomfortable with this process , corrupt steers .
Though Wagner does n’t have many , heifer are also an option . “ Heifers do n’t convert provender as well because they cycle , ” he says . They do n’t put the weight on like a steer . Nor do they , loosely talk , cut out as well at the slaughterhouse .
“ But you buy them cheaper , and you sell them cheap , ” he says . Availability can also make it more executable to put together a group of heifers . “ Heifers will also run around when they cycle . If you are hold up to raise heifers , you need to upraise only heifer . If you immix them , they can persist the exercising weight off [ of all of the calf in the group ] , ” Wagner pronounce .
Once home , the process of working the beef cattle begins . “ The first thing we do is vaccinate and castrate , ” Wagner says . He uses anintranasal vaccineagainst IBR , BVD and PI3 .
Feeding for Weight Gain
Wagner feeds corn that he raises on his farm , clavus gluten or whatever protein source that is readily uncommitted . “ It ’s been difficult to get clavus gluten or soy meal or distiller ’s grain , ” he says .
Feeding a 14 pct ration is what commit the profit on the calves . “ You have to get them customary to eating corn [ gluten ] , ” he says . “ It does n’t smell as good as the distiller ’s grain , but it has some molasses in it . Once they get customary to eating it , they do well . ”
take feed options , Wagner says that soy meal has the disadvantage of being expensive and you have to be careful of overfeeding corn . Otherwise , he feeds his calf at about 1 1⁄2 percent of their body weight .
Read more : understand more about feeding and considerateness for consecrated facilities .
Assessing Your Needs
Weight , vaccines , sexual activity of calf and other considerations by , your needs and resources from grass and distance to finances will all act roles in determining the routine of calfskin you should grease one’s palms .
Handling adeptness , such as a chute and head gate , are key for the calf ’ and farmers ’ safety . A assort area to separate sick or varying sizes of calves is also gracious . Otherwise , something as bare as feed and water troughs or bucketful and galvanic fencing material is all that is necessary .
Wagner commend keeping new calf in a small playpen and not countenance out into a pasture until they become settled and are familiar with their new environs . It ’s only when you reach larger number that you ’ll set out to need provender bunk , etc .
On a smaller scale , if you ’re try only to occupy the family freezer and perhaps sell beef to class and friends , feeding out two calf ( they ’ll grow out well together ) is a better pick over raising only one .
Larger numbers need other considerations . Wagner counsel consider preconditioning the calves or placing them in a graded affluent calf sale to boost your profits .
“ If you took five calves to the precondition sale , they would put them in a group that would be sold as a lot . You would get give the same as anybody else , ” he says . bitch cattle that can use up out of the bunk , have been immunize , etc . are worth more money . If choosing to raise your calf for slaughter , Wagner also notify , due to requirement , scheduling your appointment with the slaughterhouse very early in the unconscious process .
Advice for Selling
As for selling calves , Wagner says that stockyard , preconditioned and level sales are best for small numbers of calves .
precondition cut-rate sale commonly beget gravid income and require you to guarantee that such requisite as a specified feeding program , vaccinations , etc . have been meet . On the other deal , there are no such guarantees at grade sales .
Instead , state grader tax calf as being “ prize , ” also known as “ No . 1s , ” or “ near , ” also called “ No . 2s . ” Calves not fit into either of those categories are known as “ odd lots ” or “ reject . ”
unlike types of calf will also sell better at different sale . For illustration , calf with more ear from a higher percentage of Brahman blood will deal better at cut-rate sale in those is parts of the state seeking calf with high heating system permissiveness . For larger numbers of calves , as in a tractor - trailer incumbrance , there is the pick of TV sales where sura are sold at the stockyard but are loaded out now from the farm .
But , Wagner acknowledges , it ’s punishing to get that big .
Wagner ’s biggest piece of advice is that raising calves for squawk cattle requires a near body of noesis about their health , especially if those calves are brought in from a sale as opposed to raised at rest home .
“ You ’ll get in trouble if you start buy sura , and do n’t live about the health issues they can have , ” he suppose . “ They can get ghastly and die . ”
Vaccinating , supervise them , etc . are key to success . To get this , Wagner strongly give notice seeking the advice of your county extension federal agent along with visit exchangeable successful operations to gain their worthful brainstorm . You should also establish a good family relationship with your local large animal vet .
This article in the beginning appeared in the July / August 2022 payoff ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
