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| I am looking to start raising cattle. I have never raised cattle, nor have I ever known anyone who did. My goal is to help my family become food independent. I started with chickens a year ago and they are super easy, so I want to expand. I have 106 acres.
I live in Western Washington state, just east of Mt. Rainier. We get tons of rain here, I have a pond, 25 acres of wetlands, and power and pumps. 50 acres of forest, 25-30 acres of previously unmanaged grasslands pasture, it grows like crazy. Winters are mild with a week or two or less of snow. Spring and fall is very rainy, summers are warm / hot.
My neighbors are my friends and have cattle experience at a small scale and offered to help.
The 86 acres section of the property with the 25 acres grassland has a chain link fence around it. Previous owner must've spent a quarter million to build it. I would like to subfence it in order to prevent damage, and to keep escaped cattle from getting on the highway out front. My property is extremely rocky, it was almost sold as a gravel quarry, so fencing is hard.
I have a Kubota 3350b tractor with a brush hog, the emissions system is a nightmare. I also have a John Deere 490e excavator with a 32" bucket I used to put in a garden fence... It got me big holes to put in fence posts, but refilling them took awhile. I think it took 2-3 full days to do maybe 200' of 4' welded wire fence.
I am a 39 year old entrepreneur who made my money building websites and doing online marketing. I have 270+ full time employees. Money is not an issue, but I grew up poor so I like to be frugal anyways. I love to work hard and learn new things and do something that is meaningful (tried the golfing country club life, not for me). I almost bought 260 acres in Boise Idaho recently on the Payette River, but dropped out in escrow due to problems with a house on the property.
I hope to learn enough on my current property to buy something a lot larger capable of running several hundred head.
I have read a book on pasture management. I have read every post on here for the past 3 months.
So my questions:
-What kind of cattle should I get? Breed? Sex? Age? How many? I was thinking 3-7?
-Where is the best place to buy them? What should I expect to pay?
-How should I do my fencing?
-What do you recommend for feeders or watering?
-Do I need to build shelter?
-I have coyotes, cougars, bears nearby, should I do anything about that?
-Do you recommend any book, YouTube channels, etc to learn from?
-What veterinary stuff can I do vs what should I hire out?
-Do I need a horse too or can I manage them on foot?
-Any other recommendations?
-What area of the country is best to look in long run for cattle and farming? Where is it easiest and most cost effective to farm long run?
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Newbie needs help with 86 acres in Western Washington
