Buy cows from a local farmer or heifers bred or open at a special heifer sale. I would say that 95% or more of the cows at the stock yard are someone else’s culls.(Slow to breed, won’t breed, raises a sorry calf, old, bad feet, bad udders). Don’t try to run to many cows, a pair per 2 acres will cut way down on the amount of hay and feed you need during the winter or during a drought. Find you a good source to buy your hay from. You can’t justify hay equipment with only 80 acres of land.

You must spray and fertilize to have good grass. If you can get chicken litter it will save you money on fertilizer and it does better than commercial fertilizer. Be able to identify all your cows. Keep records of every cows performance.(Date of calving, weight of calf when sold, age of cow). Don’t keep an unproductive cow, she will not make any money. I ear tag all my calf’s when they are born and band all the Bulls. Steers will usually bring $50 or more a head than a equal weight bull calf. The steers also seem to weigh heavier than a bull calf of the same age.