Finances Behind Raising Holstein Steers

[@saskdutchkid]

All $ amounts are in CAD

[@bigthumperfoot]

Ah, no translation to USD?

[@Martin-zk4ew]

1 CAD = 0.77 USD

[@Sayswho666]

I'm not sure if its rite to not put a price on the waste milk u guys feed..after all it costs u around 10$ to feed a milking cow.. regardless if u dump the milk in sewer it still costs you.. but u are using it the rite way

[@craigcary4404]

@@bigthumperfoot is it that difficult to convert it yourself? Come on lazy

[@realemonful]

@@bigthumperfoot Not intelligent enough to do that yourself?

[@bscrimbitt9359]

Very informative. I don't think your average person has any idea what time and expense goes into raising livestock. Well done.

[@GilmerJohn]

Well, we get a rough idea when we go shopping for beef and end up buying chicken.

[@realemonful]

Someone on here said that he was going to get himself some beef patties from a store tonight and make a burger and he too said thank you for that "now" upscaled perspective of beef lol... Is that how you think people now have a better understanding?🤣🤣🤣

[@nalley6815]

@@GilmerJohn actually you don’t. A good chunk of farmers can’t even make money raising calves. A lot do good to break even. Everyone else that gets their hands on cattle after the farmers are the ones making money and jacking up the price

[@gilb6982]

What is the most respectable is how well those steers are treated for that minimum profit ! Thank you for that !

[@edcrego396]

disagree no shelter provided ??!!!!

[@nalley6815]

@@edcrego396 you’ve obviously never stepped foot on a farm

[@mattouellet6017]

@@edcrego396 what shelter do deer have? They do pretty well without having running water and nutrient balanced diets formulated by an animal nutritionist.

[@ryanjohnrivera4884]

@@edcrego396 noob

[@maryrinehart2346]

It’s very interesting hearing the reasoning behind your farming decisions. I think a lot of people think farms are like the ones portrayed in the Lassie series from the 60’s. It’s great to see how you balance your love of animals and rural life with making a successful and sustainable living. I enjoy all your videos and commentary

[@woojason3158]

life with love is excellent

[@davidchristensen6908]

Very nice of you to share your information. People have to see this as a business of taking care of cows. The other thing most people don’t connect is you, the farmer has to put the cost upfront for 18 months before you get a payday. 1800 buck is a lot of money to have just hanging around on 4 hoofs.

[@eajmvdeventuin]

Yes, you should definitely see more of these types of videos.

[@christopherjones7149]

Big fan! Thank you farmers around the world!!

[@48wilber]

One side of farming that not many share with us,,,, Thanks!!

[@timloveless5409]

I remember a rhyme from when I was a kid. "How now, brown cow?" Today we got a close up of that cow. I have seen her in previous videos and now will always be watching for her.

[@teenagefarmer]

Great video. I love seeing all of your videos. I would love to see more of these types of videos. I think it is great that you took the time to make this video. There is so much miss information out there about dairy farming. You did a great job explaining how everything works. People think that it is so easy to farm . Thanks again and have a nice day. I'm 15 and I just started a small farm KZbin channel anyone who wants to check it out feel free to do so.

[@dougdiplacido2406]

Really like the close up pictures of the cows and calfs. They really seem to like to ham it up to the camera. You did an excellent job of explaining how you raise the steers. Thanks so much for sharing that. Hopefully your costs will go down and you make a better profit.

[@randallmidgley7589]

When we see the cost of good meat in the supermarket, you realize it's not the farmer making the profits. Supermarkets are not your friends Jan, but this doesn't come as a surprise I bet. Excellent content, and I can say educational.👌😎

[@derekbueckert7428]

I worked for a old farmer who always milked a handful of extra cows and dumped the extra milk in a long thin trough his calves all got milk right up to the ten month mark and wow did they look great. Great setup you guys run

[@classicalmidiorgans]

Extremely good explanation. Farmers usually --undervalue their own labor. Otherwise very very video. Glad to see you using pails for feeding calves. Bottles are really a recipe for disaster and spreading of disease from one calf to another. Keep up the good work ! You are on a roll here !!!!

[@Ed_in_Md]

Excellent presentation. Not many farmers would be that open and honest with their finances. Thanks very much for sharing.

[@colinkulasik1128]

It would be great to see the other side of the dairy industry before it gets into the gallon jugs. Or for your weird Canadian 1 litre milk bags lol. Thank you for allowing us into the more personal/ intimate side of your operation. I would be curious what your electric bill is for an operation that big.

[@ihartman01]

2 more items to add to costs: 1) cost of infra Structure amortized + repair costs 2) cost of money invested over the period. - " what interest you could get had you left the money in the bank" use either future of present value of the costs over time

[@margaretschwartzentruber3154]

Excellent, honest video. We must remember infrastructure and electricity etc.

[@stuartthompson4823]

I love hearing the business side of things as well. Thanks

[@clintonmississippi2108]

Jan, thank you for sharing that information. It appears to me that you really take good care of the steers and cows. I am glad to see that you get a fair amount of profit for those steers. I am 80 years old and had a career as a licensed electrical design engineer. Every day eating beef and drinking MILK. I am a huge fan of milk. Never out grew my love for a cold, cold, cold glass of milk. As a kid dad had a couple of brown milk cows. They provided milk and mom provided the butter milk (yummmmmmy), butter, corn bread and soft cheese. One person that worked on the farm taking care of the cows, mules and horses was a wonderful old black man. He took care of me for many a day while dad worked. I really think of and miss him a lot. He was a wonderful, unforgetable Christian man. Good luck with the farm, Sam Allen

[@RhinoZone305]

Great video Jan, thanks for all the extra effort that went into this. Big thanks to your dad as well who probably did a double take when you suggested this topic. Safe to say the future of your farm and operation is in great hands. Thanks!!

[@asquithmainlines699]

Thanks Jan, that was a very informative look at a side of dairy farming most people don’t even think about. Your Dad has a very good business sense and I am sure you do as well. The timing was great as well, I am having beef burgers for supper tonight and this video puts my meal into perspective for sure.

[@realemonful]

🤣😂🤣

[@chrisdiamond22]

Really interesting to see the financial breakdown. My sons just got done raising dairy feeder calves for 4-H that were 5 months old. We buy them weaned and vaxxed for 600.00. Then we spend around 250.00 in feed. I did not keep track of hay, bedding, or labor. You guys definitely have your operation running very efficiently!

[@rossjermey7688]

Well done on the up front costs but don’t forget depreciation on tractors, equipment, buildings etc. along with fuel,fertilizer, hydro and all the other costs involved. Really enjoy yours and Nelines videos. Super well managed dairy!

[@kellyrowland9761]

I look forward to any tip of your videos. And look forward to some new and different videos that you do. You always do great videos

[@patrickaherne3598]

Very informative video. One of the problems with most farm videos is a lack of transparency. SOME farm YTers, not you or your family, make more money off YT than they do actually farming. You've gone a great job laying the facts and figures out, plus you've also showed how your family takes care of dairy bullocks. There's a lot of BS and old wives tales about this subject that is the complete opposite of what the vast majority of dairy farmers do. You've shown proof, and dispelled those rumors with video evidence how you care for those calves. Well done, as a family and farm, and well done to show the naysayers how it should be done.

[@f2k7rysbd]

Great video , very honest and open Be great to do one on the dairy side of the farm

[@jwiereng]

I like this sort of topic, especially focusing on things that stand out as different on your farm compared to other dairy farms

[@carolyndiliberto27]

Thank you for all your work and congratulations for raising such nice beef

[@dhenschel4]

Great analysis on the accounting of the steers, thanks for doing that. I can only think to add the cost of space rental in the calf barn as well as the corrals. You can figure this by estimating how much the whole building / corral would cost to rent and dividing it by how many cows you can put in each. Also, couldn't you get paid for the manure that is taken out of the areas they stay? That could be a negative number on the cost side of the accounting. The farming operation should pay the steer operation for the manure if it enough to recognize in the accounting.

[@janverholly8730]

A rental cost is one way to look at this expense, another way to do that is to assign a capital acquisition cost. Overtime, it will be prudent to look at a cost for replacing the structure. We handle this with a percentage of gross receipts, saved toward repairs, and a separate fund toward replacement acquisition costs. They are small but important numbers on a unit basis.

[@wilycat5290]

Thank you for the informative presentation regarding the steer calves and how they are raised. All your cows look very healthy and well cared for...males & females. Thank you for the video 😊👍

[@flubber6667]

Definitely a great video now you could see how much time and effort is put into just your beef cattle great job informs everybody and how hard it is to work on a farm your family is fantastic because I see they're all involved with the farm one way or another God bless and kudos to you 👍👍🇺🇲🇺🇲✌️

[@thomasrobinson8336]

From a Toronto City Kid. Thank you for doing this.I have learned a lot

[@calebmanuel17]

I’m from Toronto as well.

[@chrisread6103]

2 year an old post but I still want you to know I really found this Holstein finances break down post most valuable and interesting. The high sales prices sure are not a big profit making business as I believe most the public think sale barns sell so high.

[@gdhone2371]

Jan, do you ever look at the genetics of the sire bull and the performance of the cow and decide to bring a particular bull calf to maturity for either breeding or selling off to a breeder? It would seem to me being one of the few pure Holstein herds those bulls would be very desirable especially if you are maintaining the pedigree of the cows. Just wondering.

[@wallacechui9857]

I remember one of the videos he mentions they have one bull in a pen with the females just in case the artificial breeding doesn't take hold.

[@rookiefarmer702]

I work on a dairy farm in Ontario and we have raised a few bulls for breeding. I'm going to say out of the 15 years I've worked there we've only had 2 bulls that made it to the big show. The big show is when Select Sires or Genex pick your bull for semen sales, his seman was sold all over the world. It takes a lot of work and luck to get a bull in the system. If you put a bull out on pasture you have to be really careful, because they can get very protective of his girlfriends.

[@alvarolopez8492]

More dairy farmers need to do this. Awesome video

[@kenlynch6332]

A very interestuing analysis of the steer operation of the farm and the reasoning behind the decisions.. Always appreciate the excellent content & presentation in your vlogs 🚜 🚜 🚜🐄🐄🐄🐄 🚜 🚜🚜

[@steveadams99708]

Excellent video Jan. You spent a lot of time and effort to produce this for us and I certainly appreciate it! Thank you!

[@jeffskent]

Excellent video as always. Informative and interesting at the same time. Hard work for you, your family, and hired hands. Very interesting to see in real time how much of our food is made. Many thanks and I hope you make a lot of money with the videos and I admire the production values and editing as well.

[@sunroofracing]

Excellent video Jan! You put a lot of time and effort into all your videos. Obviously, this video required a lot of extra work compared to your normal videos. Excellent result for the video! Truly appreciate the deliberate way you approached the subject. No complaints here for any part of the video. Nothing but compliments and well wishes for you and your family!

[@aprilgregg08]

So interesting. I love watching these and seeing what goes on behind the scenes. What hard work!

[@jameswebb6804]

Hello young man iam do happy your viedo You didnt have to tell us anything but.i want.to say. Thank you and your family for.shRing.that.with us Just wanted to tell how you handle you self iam really proud.of you .i live in the United States a littlr state call Delaware Ythnk you again

[@gatorguy7711]

Great in-depth video! I really enjoy your and your sister's videos. Keep up the good work...

[@MC-uf1ts]

As an animal lover I’m so glad you treat your animals with care

[@johnlodge4414]

Very informative! Jan and family, you all do a very good job with creating this content, it’s very impressive. I appreciate that you take the time to visit these topics to help inform those that aren’t familiar with how a farm is run. I watch and enjoy everyone of your videos and must say that this is the best one so far. One of the best farm videos I’ve seen. Thanks for all the effort and time put into these!

[@anthonydube9903]

Absolutly love that type of content! Nice to understand the economics that surrounds farming, especialy nowdays with prices increasing at the grocery store. Most costumers have no idea why. Also that margin of 468$/head isn't the total cost paid by the farmer, they are the "day to day expenses". You're forgetting about power, maintenance, amortization of building and equipements and interest rate to finance those investments. Those might be minimal in your context because they spent most of their time outside, but for others, those are some pretty important aspect, especially now that those things are sky-high. Keep up the quality videos Jan, you rock!!!!🤟

[@stephengunn3903]

Well done! The margins certainly are slim. Appreciate all your family does.

[@julielumsden5184]

Getting to see how various aspects of your farm work is so interesting. Of course I love seeing the calves

[@taylerwagner5776]

AMAZING job I definitely liked it it kinda showed me what it really is like to raise a steer

[@jyoung9181]

Very cool! I had no idea of the costs. Well done

[@cindyg5221]

Thank you for putting that all together. I know you mentioned in the beginning of the video about not using beef crosses, you also mentioned that many of your steers went triple A. I was just wondering how that compares to a beef breed or even a cross breed. Are they doing as well as a beef breed would?

[@sandralovegrove2805]

Hi Jan & family, thank you All for such dynamic informative video's! We all need to focus on future farming, we all need to eat naturally! Peace & Love to all here

[@robertbrabham2999]

Nice breakdown of dairy farming finances. Thanks...Any idea what u could get for Angus steers?

[@alandeem8018]

Find job. Your vids are always very informative .Keep telling us about a modern dairy . Keep up the good work

[@bhoola123]

Thanks for explaining the cost aspect of this side of the business. Thumbs up. Good luck.

[@kmilton1593]

Good vlog; good detailed analysis. (but the "waste milk" including medicine-tainted milk in my opinion is not free: that milk is a revenue for the milk cows' enterprise analysis; so therefore it is an expense for the steer calves' enterprise analysis). Best wishes. P.S. would love to see your sister's enterprise analysis for her goats; it makes me so curious.

[@JL-od3ik]

Thank you for an excellent video on finances. You are to be commended for the humane way that you manage your herd.

[@sparklepurple24]

I learned a lot from this video. I would like to see other costs for other parts of your farm too!

[@pdrphil8159]

Do a video on milk cost/profit... Ultimately your main operation is milk production I would think... Im an middle age & I drink half a gallon a day. My mother used to buy 2 extra gallons a wk when I was growing up , just to keep me in milk..lol. I still love it today .

[@bettiewatson2949]

Enjoyed this ! Most people have no idea about the cost of running a farm.

[@bryanhubner9848]

Great video and information. Thank you for preparing and sharing all of this.

[@isaacvilleneuve2721]

Thank you for taking the time to make and share this video. I don"t know you can farm and run a you tube channel at the same time Lol.

[@purplerunner1715]

Great video Jan. I know it's a lot of work for the steers, but I'm happy to know your doing it. I know from the videos that every single person at your farm do look after the animals very well.

[@dieterbosch723]

Such a beautiful haircut, just fits the summer.

[@harrytaylor6854]

very cool video but the so called green people you could have your calves in your bedroom and it still would be wrong lol well done video Jan looking forward to the next one thank you

[@larrywiegel1015]

Jan thanks for a very informative and interesting video. I’m surprised that you were that open with your numbers. Most people are hesitant to divulge that information. Keep up the great job. God Bless. 🙏👏👍🇺🇸

[@markjensen623]

Love the transparency

[@andrewstreet4157]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to compare to our system here in Australia. We don’t feed ours just graze so I can’t give you any feedback how it compares to here. Same cost pressures however, feed grain has been expensive.

[@ipfreely10001]

Hey Jan. Just to add as I've been involved in managing cows in the uk- you need a proportion of electric costs added, fuel as in diesel, machinery, building depreciation plus bunch other minor add ons lol! But yea great video about your beef job- that's approx £380 here and we'd never get those returns, good on you, added value to the dairy!

[@rmbarkey]

Well done. It's sobering to see how much cost goes into raising the steers. There is also substantial business risk management involved to bring these animals to market. Some sleepless nights sometimes I'm sure. Keep up the good work and thank you for educating us.

[@johnwesner3935]

Thanks Jan, great overview of the entire process!:) It would be great to hear the same breakdown of milk production!:) Thanks!!

[@businjay]

Thank you For sharing, This stuff is very fascinating and helps to put things in perspective at the store. your videos are some of the few I get excited to see when there is a new one. Much respect to you and your family from down south. :-) Thanks Jan

[@caseywirtel561]

Great video, thanks for putting in the work to explain all of that! Two questions: what do you do with the cows that die before they can be sold? And, would you be willing to make a video like this relating to the milk herd costs and profits? Love the channel, love the team work of your family 👍🏻

[@richardvernick4280]

Jon. Thank You for the day by day cost to rise animals for meat. Jon most folks do not have any idea how much cost and work it takes to farm. 👈🤗😎👍

[@MrPaw45]

Your milk for the calves isn't "free". Although it's "waste" milk and would otherwise be discarded, you are treating it through the pasteurisers so will have a cost associated with it. That was a very candid and honest summary of costs which very few farmers would do. You have a great advantage over there (compared to here in the UK/Europe) in being able to use hormone implants.

[@homey3051]

Thanks for sharing with us!

[@dhornsbycultus]

Thanks, Jan. Very informative, and shows why farmers never become millionaires !!!

[@johnkreun5436]

Really enjoyed this video Jan, it nice to see the honesty of want it takes and how much you make from each steer. I would love to see something from you about the milking side of your farm as well

[@VW5767]

Jan, what a great video of your family operation. Thank you for sharing!

[@loriwerkmeister3545]

Very interesting video . Your farm is so is clean it’s great to see all your family work the business

[@wouterwoets3699]

Thanks man! Realy cool video to have a look inside the numbers of a farm like this!! Keep it up, love the video's ❤️

[@Dannsandiego]

Interesting and informative, Jan. Thanks for sharing all of this information.

[@bauerfelix3272]

Very intresting for me ( I work on a farm in Germany), thank you for your videos

[@dianasteele8394]

Thank you for sharing the cost of raising a steer.

[@organbuilder272]

Jan, You have always let your viewers know about your farm, upgrades, improvements and even troubles that happen in the course of the daily chores, milking cops and the barn chores. It is interesting and much different than the usual farm channels. Of course, you are always the star of the show and your efforts are greatly appreciated. Yes, I am sure that all your viewers would enjoy learning more about the inner workings of the farm and the financial structure of dairy farms in general. Nice presentation, Jan. Each item explained, all calculations including the possibility of losses worked out. Very nicely done. Thanks, Jan - interesting show especially with your walk through. Definitely more like that. Cole Cornstar does this with his farm and it is a revelation. One more thing - Nice to know you are making some profit from the steers rather than raising them at a loss. And, the more the grain prices drop, the better income you will gain.

[@valerieburchett8951]

HI from Mesa AZ

[@Larry-325]

Jan. Real interesting!!! The science is incredible. Glad you can keep it straight! I don’t know how you would learn all this unless you grew up with it. Awesome video! 👍👍👍👍👍 Nice job.

[@anneoreilly4900]

I’m surprised by the low labor cost. Monthly hoof trimming, etc. thanks for sharing.

[@mfanwelikeit3760]

Great to see the whole process broken down!

[@jeffolson895]

Great show today Jaan! It’s is every time of course but you were very on point with your explanation and presentation. Your normal into is probably one of the best on all of KZbin. Future topics, it’d be awesome to see an explanation of all commodities and why those particular ones. It’s changed immensely since I left the farm close to 50 years ago. Once again great show.

[@waynereed863]

Very interesting video and i'm sure you need this information in your business and for planning. Keep up the great work, you guys impress me every time a video comes out.

[@dana3011]

great job

[@airdad5383]

Great info. Thanks! As a city slicker I had no idea of the cost of raising cattle. Looks like the farmer still gets the short end of the stick when I'm thinking how much I have to pay for a good steak.

[@brianzyla4183]

Well done. And congratulations

[@garyprice8490]

Very very good video!! More like it will be great! Your doing a fantastic job!!!

[@lindareeds7863]

Thanks for taking the time to explain this part of your business. Appreciated.

[@elliotsmith6442]

Jan , Thank you for your important jab

[@magpie5710]

That was terrific and obviously a lot of work. Glad to see those poor bull calves having such good life. Beautiful farm, always love seeing the drone overview in your intro. Thank you for such an informative video.

[@BoydGilbreath]

Nice job, and those steers are lucky!

[@vancemarin8022]

Very informative on the real cost of farming !! Thanks for sharing !!👍👍