Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Dom's thread got me thinking too, different subject but along similar lines...

We make our living from Dexters too but as we didn't start off with a lump of capital we've had to build things up steadily from nothing, doing a lot of DIY but obviously that takes more time when also running a farm. We're in the process of improving our winter cattle housing and handling facilities, partly down to making more things more efficient for the future & partly due to the old shed collapsing on the cattle during the snow two years ago.

My question is this - how do others fund major capital investments for their Dexter businesses?

Out of my own pocket. I console myself that I will recoup the investment when I retire and sell up ...hopefully.

Jac wrote:Out of my own pocket.

But unless you were born wealthy you must have had something going in to your pocket at some point?

I should perhaps add that we've used personal savings from work in agriculture, a student loan, bank loans & family loans over the years, but am just considering how best to fund the next stage.

We looked earlier this year at matching funding from DEFRA but the eligible spend was so restricive that it didn't really work for us, as the extra we've have to spend to fund the non-eligible items would put our total spend way over budget and be more than if we didn't apply for funding, so we didn't.

I am exactly the same Rob. My barn is old and in need of replacing.

over the years we have funded everything through turn over. Built our butchery, bought the stock, tractors and vehicles. my farm was completely empty 8 years ago we started with nothing. Not even a toilet seeat in the house when we arrived. 6 sheep, 5 Angus cows and 1 sow was our starting point.

Finance agreements on equipment, saving up, wheeling and dealing, swapping! and never a single grant. Grants are too slow, they tie you in red tape and slow you down.

But a barn is a diferent matter, must be 50K. i want to work debt free so thats not going to happen. I think if i haveto fund it myself i would be buying an odd steel frame putting it up myself and fitting it out over time. i would start with a small shed and keep adding.

possibly my get out of jail card is a wind turbine project, if it all happens my old shed is demolished and rebuilt as part of the deal, fingers crossed.

probably not much help Rob, but i am with you!!

dom

Jac said:- Out of my own pocket. I console myself that I will recoup the investment when I retire and sell up ...hopefully.


So is your herd your pension investment, if so then you need to work at it.
A lot of dexter people keep their dexters, buy cheap, use a cheap bull etc. you all know the story.
What i just fail to grasp is why these people don't look to improve their herds. A poor animal will eat just the same as a good one, probably more, it may need the vet more, it may not breed for as long, it may not breed every year.....
For dexters to be a pension pot then look at the example of Judy Knight, she did very well thank you very much. The difference was she put in lots of time showing and improving her stock, at her auction i think there must have been 300 prospective buyers and the prices went through the roof.
The old saying stacks up, "you get out what you put in".
I work at my cattle, showing, improving and .....linear assesment, hopefully i too will recoup my investment.

Mark Bowles wrote:Jac said:- Out of my own pocket. I console myself that I will recoup the investment when I retire and sell up ...hopefully.


So is your herd your pension investment, if so then you need to work at it.
A lot of dexter people keep their dexters, buy cheap, use a cheap bull etc. you all know the story.
What i just fail to grasp is why these people don't look to improve their herds. A poor animal will eat just the same as a good one, probably more, it may need the vet more, it may not breed for as long, it may not breed every year.....
For dexters to be a pension pot then look at the example of Judy Knight, she did very well thank you very much. The difference was she put in lots of time showing and improving her stock, at her auction i think there must have been 300 prospective buyers and the prices went through the roof.
The old saying stacks up, "you get out what you put in".
I work at my cattle, showing, improving and .....linear assesment, hopefully i too will recoup my investment.

I was speaking more of fixed assets. I will never recoup the amount of money I spend on my herd - only if I get them all wiped out with F&M or TB. I think the Judy Knight era is well and truely over. People got carried away and paid a lot of money for them regardless and I do not mean that unkindly (or that there were not some nice animals sold) just an honest appreciation of the challenges of eliminating defects and joys of recessive genes.

domsmith wrote:possibly my get out of jail card is a wind turbine project, if it all happens my old shed is demolished and rebuilt as part of the deal, fingers crossed.

probably not much help Rob, but i am with you!!

dom

I looked into that earlier this year, as we use renewables via the grid so £3k per year + free electric, but we were too far away from three phase.

Mark Bowles wrote:The old saying stacks up, "you get out what you put in".
I work at my cattle, showing, improving and .....linear assesment, hopefully i too will recoup my investment.

I agree with that, with the possible exception of showing. Do you calculate the costs of time spent preparing, equipment, travel, entry fees etc. and set that against income? In big classes, only a few near the top will surely get enough benefit from it and in small classes the same value isn't there. And as people feel the pinch, classes are getting smaller. How do you calculate the return, or do you just assume there is a return?

It is easier said than done trying to improve your herd. When trying to get bodies on the ground with no money but a demand for beef we couldnt produce. heifers where kept that arent the best. I have to say though to a "man" my heard hauls its weight.
But now with some time and the ability to see the wood for the trees i intend to improve the herd in so many ways.

Some people have the budget to buy in bulk, we are making up part of a consignment of 85 going to a very decent Irish buyer as 1 load! i wouldnt sleep paying for that lot.

dom

Yes, the number of times I have enquired about stock for sale & while I was scraping the pennies together, a cash buyer has snapped up the lot...

We had a cull of dodgy heifers (well, cows really, but I meant heifers that shouldn't have been bred) last year & tightened up the calving so that they all calved within a few weeks of one another and as a result the herd as a group looks a lot better for it.