Thank you for the tractor parts help!

[DMW1960]

You all have been great about this! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HELP! Why do you think I am even trying to work on a 1965 model year tractor? It likes 5 years being as old as me. I AM JUST TRYING TO SAVE SOME MONEY!

What most the people don't understand is we are just an average Missouri cow - calf operation. We, (my folks & I) operate a 120 acre and a 125 acre farm. My folks only income is SS, retirement and the income from selling the calves off the cows. And out of that I also own cows that I get income when I sell calves at the sale barn. We raise no crops, just grass that we bale up to feed the cattle in the winter time. So we are not a high dollar operation just a very average Missouri beef operation. What some of you city folks don't understand is that we are not rich people. Granted if you was to put a pencil to all of the money we have tighted up you would sure think we had something and that is the mistake most people make. Granted some of us drive New $50,000.00 Ford pickups, but if you have to know we also have large truck payments! Yeah right not this guy!

Example average farm land in that area is some where in the $1,000 to maybe $1500 dollar per acre range.

We sell calves that are weaned off our cows.
Normally it takes anywhere from 9 to 11 months for a calf to be born after a cow and bull have gotten together. When we sell a calf it has taken anywhere from 6 to 9 months just for its mother to raise it. Normally when they are born they hit the ground they will weigh anywhere from about 65 to as much as 100 pounds or more. At the time that we sell them they can be as big as 750 pounds just from getting milk from the mothers and eatting grass at about a couple of months of age. So we load them into a trailer and haul them away to a livestock market. Once there they are sorted by color, sex, size and breeds. There a bunch of other farmers or livestock buyers bid on them at auction. Each person has there own idea about how much my calf is worth. We don't set the selling price the Auctioneer starts them in the sale ring after they have been weighed first and the weight is flashed on a big electric sign. Normally each animal sells by the pound of weight. Boy calves and girl calves have different prices due to the fact that each gain weight at faster or slower. Steer calves gain faster so they are normally worth a few cents per pound higher than girl calves. The market goes up & down each day due to weather, demand and any sorts of other news from gas prices to corn prices to bad news about a war somewhere.

An example of some current prices for 500 to 550 pound steers this week were bringing at auction $1.48 to $1.57 cents per pound. Heifer calves 500 to 550 were bringing $131.50 to $138.50 cents per pound. So this equals to on a 500 pound steer figured at $1.50 cents per pound $750.00. On a heifer calf at 500 pounds figured at $1.35 cents per pound $675.00. I can't make cows have all bull calves all I can do is pray! Then the buyers send the calves to normally a feed lot who add more weight on to the calves then they are sold again to a meet company who process them and sell them to your store. Out of this money the auction company charges us for stuff like commission which is around 3% of the total amount sold. Maybe feed costs if they had to feed them before auction, normally this isn't done if they are hauled in the day of the auction. A yardage fee is sometimes charged, cost of just using the building, which can be anywhere from $.50 to $3.00 per head, any vet work that is needed before auction which can run $1.00 to $10.00 per head.

After our calves are sold the livestock auction will write us a check for the total amount of cattle sold that day after they deduct all the sellings costs. Then at the end of the sale they will take payment from the buyers for our livestock.

Now this is where it gets funny!
Sometimes this check we get isn't no good, yes I said a bad check. I have had it happen because a Auction got bad checks from the buyers. All the large buyers are required to have bonds with the government. And all auctions are bonded with the government sometimes the bond amount isn't enough to cover all the bad checks so I might just get pennies on the dollar or even nothing for the bad check. And sometimes there is nothing I can do to recover that lost money. Right now there are several farmers in this boat because a big livestock buying company went out and wrote a bunch of bad checks due to poor management. Eastern livestock company purchased cattle in 11 states in November of 2010. Its figured that Eastern Livestock company may owe cattle producers $130 million dollars. The amount of Eastern's bond was only $800,000.00. Some of the livestock markets that sold Eastern cattle and got bad checks will have those amounts taken out of their bonds. Some auctions didn't have enough bond money so they are totally broke if they can't get money from Easterns bond amount. The farmers who sold cattle directly to Eastern and got bad checks will be able to collect off of only Easterns bond amount. In simple words folks alot of people will be going broke over just this one deal. A lot of farmers will loose their farms over this deal. I personally know of one fellow at Buffalo, MO who is owed about $75,000.00. He may loose his farm the poor guy sold a semi load to them and got a bad check! Granted the owner of Eastern will have all his property taken away from him but there will not be enough money to cover all the losses! And the owner of Eastern will be put into jail. But our governement will not have a bail out for the farmers for any losses like they did for all the car companies![/B]

If the check is good then I have been paid for my labor for raising the calf. This profit I pray for my labor is figured after deducting all of the following costs:
feed, vet bills, costs of hay production, the cost of the land, farm loans and interest, insurance, fertilizer to make grass grow, electric bills, tractor repair bills, gas bills for equipment, fencing supplies, real estate taxes, phone bills for equipment repairs and anything else related to costs of raising calf, cost of purchase of mother of calf, cost of bull to help make calf become born, and just so many other costs involved in raising that one calf to even begin to list including death loss of other animals. And all the time figured in doing all the work that I can't aford to be hired done. Plus I have to feed my family out of this money just like you do and I have costs of car and truck payments just like you.

Finally, in closing! Yeah! DMW is about done talking!

Figure it like this, I have on average about 4 or 5 people sitting inside a livestock market bidding on my calves. Some of these people are big fat guys smoking $5.00 cigars and eatting $20.00 steak dinners, maybe drinking $30.00 bottles of boose while they are deciding just how much money I am going to make or loose for my costs of production of a calf.

And now you know why I also have to have a off farm job! Now you know why I am not always fishing because sometimes I don't have the time or money. You thought that I was smart? NOWAY IAM STUPID!

Just remember the above today while your getting paid to work and you know how much you money you will be taking home. Now see your job isn't that bad! SO SMILE AND GO KISS THAT MEAN BOSS OF YOURS! BECAUSE I AM CRYING MY EYES OUT RIGHT NOW!

PS: God bless Willie Nelson and his Farm Aid Concerts! Please eat more beef and hug a farmer!

[DMW1960]

Here is a link with some interesting reading!

Eastern Livestock Bankruptcy - Home

It could have been me and my folks who lost money.