Tips on Buying Cattle | Free Session from Joel Salatin's Farm Like A Lunatic Masterclass

[@michaelmonthey5974]

To anyone who sees this and think the prices are not accurate, they should keep the concept of buying cows based on risk factors and salvage in mind because that’s the main message of this video.

[@willbass2869]

Very good video Joel. My two bits....this only really applies for the South and middle of the continent "fly over" country. Serious cattle country. Couple of points for newbies: Start with culls. You're learning. Make your mistakes and learn on "cheap" animals. If possible buy in Sept/Oct and sell in April/ May. The pros are getting rid of animals they don't want to overwinter. The mkt gets flooded, ie "cheap". OTOH, Memorial Day & Labor Day are when your cull hamburger cow gets eaten. High demand=high price. Time your mkt entry and exit. Have a plan to get out! You don't have to buy premium hay. You don't need to "fatten" that cull over the winter. Keep her on the lean side. Culls are priced by the head, NOT by the pound. Your job is to just keep it alive over winter and able to walk on/off the trailer The flesh of that cull gets mixed with the *TONS* of fat trimmed from higher grade steers. That fat is a waste product. Your lean cull gives it value. Understand? The processor already has a literal mountain of fat....they don't need yours. Sell in lots of 4-7 animals that are nearly the SAME in size, frame, horns or no horns, breed and color. YES COLOR. The big buyers at the sale barn are "order buyers". They are buying for other big guys too busy or usually for processors. They're busy. They buy/sell hundreds of animals a week. THEY DEMAND UNIFORMITY. They often just need a few animals from the sale barn to finish up a truckload. You'll get better price/lb. The uniformity of the pen is often more important than the quality/size. I know....hard to believe, right? But there is a market for every cow...even lame & blind Stay away from "weird" breeds. No order buyer is going to bid a premium on your Highland cattle or "Oreo" cows. That's bottom of the barrel weird stuff that gets laughed at. Respect the mkt. Give it what it wants. Most of the time "black cows" ( Angus/ X) get a few cents more per lb. or per head. Don't argue the point. It is what it is. Best option....like Joel said. Grind that whole cow up and sell her to your neighbors, 10 pounds at a time. Good luck

[@edistoisle4906]

Great ingo, thanks!

[@firehorsewoman414]

@@willbass2869 between Joel’s video and your added info, I feel a bit more confident. Haven’t been to a sale barn yet, but feel like I need to go quite a few times and just observe the people and process and listen before buying. Thanks

[@charleswalters5284]

Thanks

[@charleswalters5284]

​@@firehorsewoman414smart

[@Beautiful_Farm]

Great information. Thank you for sharing!

[@RCS__777]

More more thank you, Mr. salatin

[@PetPrepRadioShow]

Thank you Joel! That was a very helpful lesson! I am interested in Dexter cattle. I hear from Pete (Just A Few Acres Farm YT in upstate NY) that it's tough to find an affordable quality bull these days. My question to you is, after you buy the bred cow/calf pair, when do you recommend getting a bull if you want to start a herd? What breeds do you recommend or raise personally? Really grateful for you! God Bless You! Sheri The Organic Pet Lady

[@savageairsoft9259]

Great summary

[@JackTN678]

Where on God's green earth are you finding bred cows for $1200 in this market. Zimbabwe?

[@Dashr44]

You realize this is just a demonstration, aka, hypothetical scenario, right?

[@mojavebohemian814]

Arizona

[@Professionalfarmerboy]

I'm guessing this was filmed a couple years ago. Good Angus bred cows can go over $2000 now.

[@kevinveinotte3454]

The prices today won't/ can't last. It's just a waiting game till the balloon bursts.

[@kevinveinotte3454]

Often two cows from the same farm carrying the same genetics equal in condition can vary hundreds of dollars because of a white patch or an off colored foot- the butcher throws that bit away but folks bidding have just a min. or two to check out an animal as it goes through the sale ring and if a buyer is putting a load together they want them all similar in color and size. If they don't fit the order they can be half the value. That's great if you are buying and have an open mind and lots of grass. It sucks if you are selling. I've seen prices drop by 25% when a main buyer gets up to go to the bath room- only to see the exact same cattle re-enter the ring 20 min. later to go for a much higher price the second time around making the second owner thousands for taking the risk. And remember- sale barns are a breeding ground for every disease in the county every sale day. Isolate, use biosecurity, and use common sense- its super easy to get carried away when bidding and you get caught up in the moment. Better yet buy from another farmer directly and agree on a price while watching the cows over the fence line.

[@americanmambi]

Fyi, YT is not sending any notifications when you giys post

[@farmlikealunatic]

@@americanmambi thanks for the note. Do you have notifications enabled for the FarmLikeALunatic Channel?

[@justinnorthcutt]

What percentage of the open cows that you buy at a sell get bred back even using these numbers I would imagine you’d have have 70% to make it work out considering carrying costs

[@timothyscott6365]

I rent a bull try to find a nice one because I only want my beef cows to fresh in the fall. I've been getting 1800 for some cows and close to the same price for 500 pounder feeder and we've been getting 600 to 850 for Holstein angus cross 7 days or younger the market is still up we will see if we have another year like this one with all the dry weather where all of the cow and calf pairs operations are

[@tinolopez3136]

Add 1,000 to every price

[@masonbaylorbears]

This is what im doing, red angus/mashona bull on a bunch of cheap corriente cows and keeping replacement heifers

[@somehobodude]

How is a calf higher value than the mother in the breakdown?

[@Dashr44]

You know the figures are only for demonstrational purposes ONLY, right? He's not saying this is true numbers. LoL

[@kevinveinotte3454]

The calf is usually worth more than his mom due to potential value when butchered(think steaks/ not burger)

[@simplesimon8412]

Just ratios to evaluate ... instead of $ think units ...

[@donovanmedieval]

Do we have to travel to different part of the country to find cheap animals?

[@reeceedwards2509]

You can buy what they call backyard cows 700 900 lbs probably some of the best cows people have lost site of them to go what the ag professor go big. Now place a good low birth weight angus bull she almost can weather the winter w salt meal and Pickens and wean a good baldie 450 calf I did in late seventies now I keep 1000 cow wean 600 700 now I can load when market is right

[@BJSmith-ll3uw]

Stop focusing on the prices. Look a little deeper folks.

[@nancycusson8861]

I agree, he's TOTALLY out of touch with market prices. You're more looking at $3600 to $5000 for a confirmed bred cow. I guess he has to play with the prices to make it all sound good.

[@ranman5501]

He’s making a demonstration of value. The prices, whether higher or lower doesn’t matter.

[@nancycusson8861]

@ranman5501 it DOES matter!! You have to start with the initial real fact. Most homesteaders can't even afford to purchase a confirmed bred cow. So, then what he was teaching, is really irrelevant, isn't it? You can't go about talking about the mole hill and ignoring the mountain that's in the way.

[@ranman5501]

@@nancycusson8861 did you hear when he said prices are up, but eventually will come down. The point of the lesson was to keep the salvage cost in mind. That works at any price.

[@firehorsewoman414]

@@ranman5501I disagree. As someone who is starting out, a general price reflective of market would be a lot more helpful. Especially someone who is learning the basics from him. It’s a psychological aspect of learning for a lot of people. When faced with those asinine words problems in school where Jimmy’s mom send him to the store to buy 56 watermelons at $1.25 . . . . A lot get hung up on “who the heck needs 56 watermelons” or “where can you buy a watermelon for $1.25”. The math is good regardless of the unrealistic numbers, but it helps if the example follows real world.

[@farmlikealunatic]

@@nancycusson8861 appreciate the engagement from everyone here! These prices are reflective of the local market at a point in time for the sake of example - farmers in each region will need to consider their current local market when applying this teaching to their buying but the principles should still apply.