One way of looking at things

[cowman]

In 1992 a new middle of the road 3/4 ton 4X4 cost about 30 cull cows. In 2003 a middle of the road 3/4ton 4X4 costs approx. 300 cull cows! A couple of weeks ago I was in picking up some parts for the baler. Just teeth and a couple of bearings the bill was about $100. Asked the partsman if he'd maybe like to take a cow in trade! He thought that was pretty funny but probably a fairly decent trade!

[Junebug]

I was thinking just as you said about the truck. I was at the vet clinic to pick up a bottle of Bio-Mycin and penicillin and the cost was 5.00 short of the cost of a cow.
Quite frankly I'm getting tired of trying to invent ways to make the farm pay. Working from 8:00 to 4:30 with weekends and holidays is more appeasing all the time. Someone else can deal with all the headaches and stress.

[countryguy]

Ah Junebug,I used to think the same way as you until I realized one day that NOTHING is good.Unless your a doctor,lawyer,dentist,etc sorta person the grass isn't any greener on the other side.Might as well fight it out on the farm.There at least your don't have to take orders from anyone and don't have to be told when you CAN take your holidays.It is easy to picture a dream job in your mind but in reality that job just isn't out there.If you really think about it Junebug you have the world by the tail.Enjoy it

[rodbradshaw]

Junebug

I believe that the Pharmaceutical companies and the vets are going to have to take a long hard look at their pricing regimes. The local vets here are very competent and good people but with the price of cattle at present it is easier to euthanize the animal than call the vet as the bill is worth more than the animal. Economics will squeeze out all but the bare necessities.

Cowman

Good to see you back and stimulating some grey matter for the rest of us. It is interesting how our buying power has dwindled since I started farming in the early 70's. Who knows where it will go? Maybe with this BSE issue people will again start to relate to where their food comes from and start to appreciate what farmers do for the country as a whole.

Rod

[Junebug]

Countryguy: Maybe because I run a business which I quite enjoy (Yes it has headaches too) But in 16 years it has always paid the bills and gave some to the farm and had some left over to play with. The farm, I feel takes too much work for very little returns. So why do we farm you may ask. Because I have a spouse that doesn't want to give up!

[Junebug]

rodbradshaw: We have nice vets too, however told him "sorry if a cow is sick,she can die on her own without that $200.00/300.00 vet bill first. No preg this year either. The herd is small enough now we will just watch.

[cowman]

Now I'm not here to rip the vets. They have a dirty job and they don't make the money they should in comparison to a doctor,lawyer,etc.! They have about as much education expenses.
I understand where you're coming from though! Had a heifer throw out her uterus this spring and the bill was close to $300! I guess the way to look at it is to figure out the total cost over the whole herd.
The sad thing is a vet can make a lot more money doing pets or horses! You know pets! The farmer complains about spending $100 on a cow but there is nothing to good for little fluffy! Spend $500 to keep her alive for 6 more months!
And think about it. The owner brings the cat/dog into the clinic where everything is nice and cozy...while the cow vet is doing a C-section out in the brush, in the headlights of a truck, at -20 with a wind! Now you choose which one you'd want to be doing?
I suspect eventually we won't have cow vets so we'd better keep up the old gun licenses so we can do our own "vet" work.

[15444]

Vet's will alway's favour the pets before anything else. My uncle had his favourite female cat spayed when she was about a year old...cost $200.00 Last year, the cat got a hairball caught in it's intestines. So he took the cat in and it had a little operation to cut out the piece of blocked intestine....cost: $200.00 an inch!!..no joke. Had to take out 3 inches. So overall cost for the cat at this point for him is $800.00 Now that is how a vet makes money!

[kato]

OK, I'll come out in the open. My off farm job, (you know...the one that pays the bills?) is working at a vet clinic.

A few comments..not all vets prefer small animals. The one I work for doesn't. It's not all the fun and games that you may think. Among other things, along with small animals, come small animal owners. These range from responsible to down right aggravating. Some you look forward to walking in the door, and some make you want to lock the door when the car pulls up! We've had all kinds of requests that really get us steamed. From, "Please put my dog to sleep, we are going on holiday", to "I'm moving, and you have to put him to sleep instead of finding him a home, because no one could possibly take care of him as well as I do". It makes you bite your tongue some days. Of all the accounts at a clinic, it's the small animals that are the highest risk for non-payment as well. Clinics in the city want payment before they will even look at an animal. And boy do they pay! We charge much much less that they do.

I've been put in hospital twice now with cat bites. Almost said goodbye to my thumb this spring. Never been hurt by a cow at work (yet) -hurt at home..yes, at work, no.

We are really worried about the winter coming up, and not about the money, either. Believe it or not, vets aren't quite as money driven as you may think. If they were, they really wouldn't be doing calvings in the winter. You don't just do that for money. ( I work at a clinic where the vet comes to the cow, too, not one where you haul the cow to town, so you can take a wet calf home in the cab of your truck). Last winter there were guys trying to feed really poor feed, and having cows get impacted. This year just may be worse. We put a lot of effort into keeping things alive, and to see cattle being shot rather than treated is extremely painful to imagine.

One thing that has occurred to me is that once a cow is no longer productive, her value drops to the extreme. That tells me that whatever it takes to keep her working, and in the herd, is worthwhile. For instance, we have found that once a cow has a prolapsed uterus, especially if she is very young, she is not necessarily destined to repeat it. A heifer having a hard calving that prolapses, often goes on to be a productive and trouble free cow, believe it or not. At home,we had one live to be in her teens, after prolapsing on the first calving and giving us absolutely no problems on subsequent calvings. Don't get the gun out too quick.

[cowman]

kato:If experience is worth anything I'll second that thought about the next calf after a prolapsed uterous. I can't actually remember ever culling for that reason and they've never done it again.
Prolapsed vagina is another thing!
Some how I've got a reputation as the local vet in this department! I usually end up doing two or three a year for the neighbors(I don't mind). One guy(an in law) called me to do the same one two years in a row!!! I read him the riot act big time and he pled ignorance! Lost her ear tag sort of thing! She raised one hell of a calf!