Carson Wyatt - Raising Dairy Cattle for Beginners: A Simple Guide to Dairy Cattle for Milk & Eventually Meat

Raising Dairy Cattle for Beginners

A Simple Guide to Dairy Cattle for Milk & Eventually Meat

Carson Wyatt

2017

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Table of Contents

Introduction

I f youve just started homesteading, trying to become more self-sufficient or just want to be able to produce your own milk, this book will be able to help you. It doesnt matter the reason that you want to raise dairy cattle. The only thing that matters is that this book will take you through everything that you need to know in order to raise happy, healthy dairy cattle that can continue to produce milk for a long time before they eventually need to be put down. In this book you will learn not only how to select your breed of dairy cattle, but also how to house, feed, mil them and even how to recognize when theyre ill. This book will also teach you how to butcher your own meat.

Terms to Know

H ere are some terms that youll need to know when youre reading this book to be able to fully understand everything that it has to offer.

• Pasture: This is the land the animal uses for grazing.
• Forage: This is the food thats eaten by grazing animals, which usually means grasses, leguminous plants, and leaves.
• Polled: Meaning that the cattle have been born without horns, but it can also be used as a term for just hornless cows no matter how they became hornless.
• Cud: This is a normal process where the stomach content is regurgitated for the cattle to chew again, helping to aid in digestion.

About Pastures

N ot all pastures are equal to each other. Some pastures are richer for foraging than others. Its usually equal to the amount of rainfall that the area gets per year. If you arent sure about your area, then youll want to seek some guidance from your county extension agent which is qualified to help determine what the pasture potential of your land actually is. Dryer areas will be able to support fewer animals pure acre than acres that are rich in rainfall. If you dont already have land to use as pastures, then youll want to either rent it or purchase it.

Any agricultural land is expensive, and it usually ranges from $1,000 an acre to $5,000 an acre. If you want to know the price in your area, contact a few real estate agents that are local, as they should be able to help answer your question. Since youre a small scale farmer, it may be best to purchase the land. Its best to purchase ten to forty acres of land. If you want to rent your land, its usually $80 to $200 an acre and then youd enter into a long term contract with the landlord. A long term agreement will help to make sure that you dont have too much fluctuation in your rent over time.

How Much Land You Have

Y ou already know that you need land to be able to raise cattle, but you dont want to just walk up to any realtor and buy their land. Weve already talked about how some land is better for your cattle than others. Keep in mind the number of cows per acre as well as where youll be building your structures. Many first time farmers do not take into account the land that will be used for structures such as barns and places to store the milk and meat. Dairy cattle is a must if you dont have a lot of land, as beef cattle will require much more land. Ask yourself about the climate in your area. Youll never be certain about how much land you need, so start with the land. Then ask yourself how much land do I have?, and thats when youll know how much cattle to purchase. Your climate will play a huge role in how much land you need per dairy cow.