Growing the Herd!

[@larryteel8610]

I own 180 acres in Benton County close to Warsaw Missouri. I have rented it out since 1987 to a variety of folks running cattle. I have done one year leases and five year leases. I always require the property to be brushhogged and I have a limit on the number of cattle allowed. No horses. It is really hard to find someone who holds up there end of the contract so your landlord is probaly trying you out to see how good a renter you are. If I get a good renter I try to treat them like gold. Thistle control, lime,fertilizer and fence repair are all things that a landlord wants you to work with them on. Good luck with this new endeavor. I love your videos. Especially the bottle calves.

[@billcampbell2943]

Good plan. After a year the person u rent from will realize that u are a very hard working responsible farmer

[@FarmandHammer]

Hope so!

[@davesipsy7587]

You mentioned that your farm lease didn't go as Greg Judy describes his experiences. One thing I learned over the last 4-5 years is that almost nothing in my part of the country goes as Greg Judy describes it, where he operates. Trying to stockpile forage in my area was a total failure, just as one example. I got MAYBE 10% utilization.

[@french-canadianfarmer5049]

Sounds like a good opportunity. Hopefully it turns into a long term lease.

[@dougdiplacido2406]

Happy that you are about to do some expansion and sure hope it works out far better than expected. You deserve it. Great video and thanks.

[@FarmandHammer]

Fingers crossed!

[@RedCowsGreenFields]

Cool news. Gordon Hazard wrote a fantastic book on stocker operations. Highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet. IMO unrolling the bales backwards keeps the wind rows smaller, often less waste.

[@joegonnet712]

Congratulations on getting the rented land it’s so exciting I know you will do well and the owner will like you I think you do amazing job I’m so proud of you and you inspire me to I would love to help you anyway I could bud

[@mmurphy2317]

Best of luck Issac! Hope the plan works as you envision it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy watching...even if it's gonna be a reduced schedule for a while. Maybe an extra milling video, if you get the time?.... Take care...be safe and warm!

[@FarmandHammer]

Mill is broken at the moment. Once woodmizer gets it fixed I’ll be back to milling!

[@davidcopling1442]

Enjoyed the video as always. Just a little heads up from someone who has been buying those small calves like you are talking about for a few years. I was told to not let them get wet and rained on for at least 3 weeks when you first bring them home and wean them. It was the best advice I could have been given. Good luck, all new ventures come with a learning curve. God Bless

[@FarmandHammer]

Thanks for the info! Keep the advice coming when I start bringing them home I’ll need all the help I can get!

[@davidcopling1442]

@@FarmandHammer I always have the vet give mine a complete round of shots and I also give them a shot of Exceed. If you keep them dry and relatively clean you shouldn't have to much trouble. Start them out on a good pre-conditioner feed and don't let them eat to much. A fat full calf will lay around and get sick easier. Good luck

[@guillermochaoberrio2821]

Congrats on the new business venture. Looking forward to the new videos!!

[@FarmandHammer]

Thanks so much!

[@alanpinnt]

Congrats on the land! Sounds like I'll be on a path of trying to find land myself soon.

[@jvenema86]

so almost wonderful beautiful video friend Isaac i love it

[@nalley6815]

having the same land problem here in kentucky. any land around is already leased or owned. cant find anything

[@HollyAZ]

Congratulations on your expansion. Best wishes for much happiness and success with everything.

[@waynemoore3236]

Congratulations on the farm you rented, I hope you have a great year this year l enjoy watching your channel.

[@danielmaclean8932]

Congratulations!!!

[@rogerfuhr8067]

Good luck on your new venture! You have a strong work ethic and a good attitude!👍

[@kyliepierson8718]

You inspire me to do anything & to follow my dreams & have no fear but make smart decisions, good luck on the new business opportunity adventure that's a bummer on the bottle cafés you seem to be taking it well. I saw the devastation unfold you still worked the situation like a boss hope it all works out the best of luck hope to see you succeed & to see your opportunity take flight love the channel like the content God bless

[@joshhorvat8247]

Congrats on the new lease. If your current truck has a gooseneck ball in it, they do make a bale spear that mounts on to the ball in your pickup. I think I saw on for around $1800. Anyway, congrats on getting the ability to grow.

[@nik0la263]

good luck mate

[@marcamp5450]

Feeding them calves. You’re like the calf pied Piper. Lol. Good luck with your new venture

[@FarmandHammer]

Haha yeah they will follow me wherever I go lol

[@marjoriehill8865]

Congrats on you new place...hopefully calves are workable

[@ser3589]

Congratulations on your farm!!!

[@FarmandHammer]

Thank you!

[@allyjohnson4577]

So excited for you!

[@l.a.hoghead1534]

Awesome news! Good luck on your new journey.

[@michaelfranek5343]

Your bottle calves show a lot of promise!

[@FarmFreshIB]

Wonderful news. The market should be great by the time these calves are ready to go. As low as the national herd is these days young cattle should be able to make you money.

[@lukepac371]

Awesome dude! Congratulations on the rental!

[@theavandenberg6876]

Cool. Good luck.

[@anthonydolezal6627]

Good Luck! You know how to work hard and keep things going! Can't wait to see what's next!! Keep Smilin!!!!

[@randybutler4772]

Thank you for sharing. Good luck w/ stockers.🐂🐄

[@jamesdonal8599]

Wishing you success, be cautious buying market calves. We find they bring interesting new health challenges. Good luck.

[@FarmandHammer]

Yeah that’s why I won’t be bringing them to the home farm. Don’t want to introduce a new disease to the cow/calf herd. Hopefully I don’t get into anything too bad. Thanks!!

[@jamesdonal8599]

@@FarmandHammer good, I have experienced buying in health problems, especially infectious lung and worm problems. Be careful moving between farms , feed you home farm first then deal with new herd . For at least a few weeks change coveralls and disinfect boots , bio security. I lost half my dairy herd through person coming onto my farm after visiting infected farm unwittingly.

[@FarmandHammer]

Yeah my dad had trouble with disease still in the soil when he bought his farm. It was an old dairy farm so they had johnes and a bunch of ecoli living in the soil. He spent years fighting that stuff. His biggest problem was ecoli mastitis. The vet said the beef calves were picking it up while grazing. He’d have 3 month old heifer calves with giant swollen “udders” and the vet couldn’t seem to figure out a way to save them.

[@jamesdonal8599]

​@@FarmandHammer we had mastitis problems not same, we eventually used apple cider vinegar in cows water but mostly in individual rations of feed , it helped , improved herd health, I also used molasses blocks in my beef cow herd . Excellent results in general health and condition. Different country but here extremely wet climate, but relatively mild winters rarely frost. I will watch your progress with interest, good luck.

[@tomlongbeard6071]

Congratulations!

[@azamyahmad]

Welcome back Sir .. absolutely another spectacular beautiful Amazing documentary countryside upload .. loved your content and you doing an excellent great job .. keep it Up ... and I really appreciate watching most of your adventures videos .. have a wonderful blessing weekend .. Merci

[@FarmandHammer]

Thanks a ton

[@jmburns470]

Congratulations, your cattle look good.

[@jimwerner636]

Just be positive and trust ur gut feelings and let the good lord help u make your dreams come true. Good luck!!

[@coyroberts8356]

Thanks 😊

[@marcamp5450]

I’m going to believe that God opened the door for u to get the land and He’ll be in ur landlady’s heart to help you continue. Keep the faith. I’ll pray for success. 🙏

[@FarmandHammer]

Thank you!

[@burkeandsons5]

When you say they aren't weined? Does that mean you put them back on the bottle? Or just that they bawl a lot.

[@danewadel2712]

Did you test the brewers grain? It should be fairly high protein

[@bart-hi5fs]

love you bro

[@storminnormanz]

i believe i would get a head gate put up and work the calves yourself. your gonna have sick calves that will need a headgate anyway for certain plus paying to have them worked at the sale will stress the already stressed calves more and make even more sickness that you would have already had

[@FarmandHammer]

Right now it looks like I won’t be getting calves til the first part of February. I’ve had my eye out for some portable panels and head chute so hopefully I’ll find some for a good price before then. I’d rather work them myself, but I may not have the set up ready for them.

[@coyroberts8356]

Cool

[@dakotahunter5054]

Looked like your leaf spring mount was broken

[@FarmandHammer]

Must be 😂 someone else commented the same thing. I’ll have to look into getting that fixed

[@richieb1684]

Very cool, Gordon Hazard style if you don't know who he is its worth looking up.

[@FarmandHammer]

I wish there were more videos from his talks. He had a lot of good advice!

[@Stella77_7]

Eeek 1 year lease! Shoot that is definitely not ideal. Have you ever considered being a nursery calf grower from a larger feed lot or dairy? Good money and with your heatwave feeder system you could do really well.

[@FarmandHammer]

I have considered raising dairy heifers for large dairies. The right deal just hasn’t come along yet. I’d need a little better of facilities to meet their standards. Maybe in the future I can get something like that worked out!

[@joshwebb8090]

Think about buying land. I know you may not think you're ready, or you don't think you have the capital, but there's a way especially with the FSA loans for first-time Farm and Ranch buyers. You should definitely consider that the land will end up being your 401k or retirement in the end.

[@FarmandHammer]

I’ve been on the lookout for the last couple years. Nothing has come up for sale in the area yet. But I will be ready to buy some when it does. I would prefer to have my own chunk along with other rental properties to help pay for it.

[@brianhansen826]

I would bet the scrubbed off tire is due to the broken spring equalizer

[@FarmandHammer]

You’re probably right. The trailer is old and questionable. Probably need to have a professional look at it cuz I have no clue 😂

[@brianhansen826]

@Farm & Hammer it's just 2 peices of flat metal with holes drilled in them and 2 bolts. You can get them any where that sells trailer stuff. Like a 20 minute fix and cheaper than buying tires again.

[@brianhansen826]

At 5:56 the broken straps are visible

[@jmburns470]

Try giving your calves optimizer gel. Check with Cole Sonne , him and his dad sell it. We use and we never have a sick calf. Sonne Farms on KZbin

[@FarmandHammer]

I watch his channel every now and then. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!

[@leongordon8099]

I like your story if you need help I am here

[@tevogel8895]

…Go…!…

[@shirleysousa1133]

Congratulations some you need to take a risk. You will never grow if you don’t try

[@LarsonFamilyFarm-LLC]

Ouch...you brush hog someone else's land and run cattle for a year maybe two...when her land looks great ...you might be kicked off. That's the negative side...if you can stay 5 or 10 years...then wow!

[@FarmandHammer]

I’m hoping I can at least get 3 years or more. I’d just hate to make a bunch of improvements then lose it at the end of the year. It has a lot of room for improvement so hopefully I can get the chance to see results!