Step One – Cattle Buying Logistics

Wade and I have been having long in depth border line philosophical talks about the future.  We’ve been pondering the big questions -what direction our lives are heading, where do we want to be, how do we get there…why are we here? 


But seriously we had set a goal of getting our lives together.  This included finding a new place to live by December and buying some cattle.  Things I figured were way off in the foggy future. We’ve debated on the pros and cons of buying verses renting a house, the quest continues.  And last Friday by a strange chain of events we may have entered into the cattle busines...

I was browsing one of those “weekly trader” newspapers when an ad caught my eye.  4 Purebred Hereford Heifers – for sale - it jumped right out of the page at me.  I texted Wade the specifics and his response – “Call them.”   I found out that they were 650-700 weight heifers and the seller was involved in selling seed stock.  It sounded like a good deal. I made an appointment to go look at the heifers on Saturday morning.   

In the meantime Wade called his father – he is in the process of re-building his herd after some serious culling and had ample grass and hay for the rest of the year.   To be truthful we had toyed with this kind of idea for sometime - how we could maybe work with his parents with getting a cow or two. We struck a deal with him to pay some rent and any extra feed costs and he would house/take care of the heifers. 


Wade and I were on the same wave length (scary I know) on what we could do with these heifers.  My dad recently bought a very nice young Angus bull.  We could house the heifers on Wade’s parent’s farm until Dec, move them to my parents and get them bred.  We could have fall calves next year. Not to get ahead of ourselves but we could keep back any heifers that were produced and have the buildings of a good cow herd…not gonna lie we got really excited! 

Saturday morning was hot and we made the trip to the guy’s farm.  We promised ourselves not to commit to anything – look them over real good and talk with the producer.   Both of us had some pep/prep talks with our parents on what to look for and the questions to ask (like when they were wormed, what shots they had etc.)  

There they were – 4 dark red baldy heifers. 3 of them were sleek and good looking.  1 of the group was a little flighty and thin.  We decided she needed a little tender loving care.  The producer was great and showed us his operation and we felt comfortable with the idea of dealing with him.  We told him we were very interested, but needed to work something’s out before buying them.  He gave us till the end of the day to tell him one way or the other. 

As soon as we left the farm I was on the phone – we needed a trailer to haul these girls away.  My dad agreed we could use his stock trailer.  Now the next problem was where to store the trailer. 


I remind you we live in an upstairs apartment in town.  Not a lot of parking for a stock trailer and we live an hour and 30 minutes from either one of our parent’s farms.  We both have a busy week with Wade working the sale barn this week and I have to travel for meetings.  The earliest we could pick up the cattle and bring them home was next Saturday – would the seller wait on us?  

I knew the farm manager at the University Farm that was located in the town we live in.  I made some calls and he would allow us to park a trailer on the grounds for the time being.  I then called the seller – we explained our situation and that we did want to buy the heifers.  He would hold the heifers for us until Saturday morning – but we would have to come pick them up early.

Hauling the trailer back with us...empty for now.......

I couldn't believe it! Everything fell into place!  So ladies and gentlemen – this coming Saturday we will be the proud owners of 4 heifers – the makings of our own cow herd!!!   Don't worry - I will have camera in hand Saturday morning when we run over to pick them up! Be looking for the post next week about  Step 2!