For many years I raised beef calves for the freezer.
In the beginning I just fed and finished bull calves from an old Longhorn cow from Dad’s herd. Lacking my own bull, I next bought single calves to feed and keep the old cow company. After a couple more years I sold the cow, fearing she was going to fall on my hoof-marked frozen pasture and become more of a liability than an asset.
For another two or three seasons, then, I bought beef sections from other growers, but was never quite satisfied. I can’t recall, though, if I did that before or after selling the old Longhorn.
For some five consecutive years, then, I bought five-weight feeder pairs from Bonebrake Herefords and was immensely pleased with their performance and my arrangements with Bonebrake.
About two years ago I finished out my last pair, and elected not to buy back. At the time, finances had little to do with it. I was just tired of worrying with the calves and being tied to daily chores. My retirement from the newspaper routine was supposed to make life more leisurely.
Additionally, my wet-natured acreage was not conducive to year-round grazing. Parts of my pasture are still so chopped by hoof prints in muddy ground that mowing jars my false teeth loose. I though I needed give the place a year’s rest. Then it became two.
I never lost money raising beef for the freezer. If I were to count all of the costs (fencing, pasture, my labor, etc.) the bottom line might have been different. As it was, all I needed to cover was my investment in the steers and my feed costs; but I figured my quarter of beef made up for those. By basing the price to friends and family on my cattle and feed costs, I could make them a good deal on hand fed beef.
I never claimed to be a shrewd businessman. Being a good neighbor was more important. Serious producers could justifiably argue I was just playing at being a cattleman.
Though I never lost money in the long run, I was lucky. I never had a vet bill to pay or lost a calf to illness. It doesn’t always work that way, even for the best of growers.
When I looked at my expenses at the end of the year, though, it became clear Martha and I could buy a lot of beef for what I was spending on feed. And we are fortunate in this area to have an abundance of local beef sources.
Honestly, though, I miss having cattle to tend. I grew up with cows and calves Even in the years I had no place to raise my own, I could help my dad with his.
However, current cattle prices assure me I’ll not soon being buying back any.
Feeders today cost more than I made on finished beef in 2021, and feed cost is at least 125 percent of what it was when I last went to the feed store.
When I put a pencil to it, I think I could still at least break even. But, I never was much of a gambler, and beef is a high stakes game today.
I’m happy to let someone else have a seat at that table.
Copyright 2025, James E. Hamilton, P.O.Box 801, Buffalo, MO 65622
A former feature writer for Ozarks Farm and Neighbor, Jim Hamilton is a retired newspaper editor/publisher. Hamilton was reared on a small dairy farm in Dallas County, Mo. Contact Jim at [email protected].
