The stocker man is a middle man.  He doesn't have to own  any land, cattle, or equipment.  He takes advantage of the opportunities that the cow calf man provides when he takes his calves to the local sale barn.  I did a study once and determined that the calf sold at auction as a single lost 20 - 30% when you figure trucking cost, shrink, commissions, and discounts.  That's opportunity for the stocker guy!  Even an operator that sells his calves in the fall at 500 lbs by the truck load leaves a lot of money on the table.  What are your thoughts?

Caldeen Gunter I like using those roping heifers under a beef bull.  That's the best way to build a herd of cattle cheap.  How many generations away from the original cow do you have to get before you don't know where they came from. I had a friend that built huge herd the same way.  He claimed that the 3rd generation was indiscernible from the straight black cattle he had.  I've found that the longhorn is way harder to breed out than the Spanish.  The white and horn just keeps coming back sometimes several generations out.

I like the stocker business.  I've worked both extensively and I can say that stockers tend to be more profitable.  The downside is they are way more labor intensive and the risk is greater, but I like the pace.  Any business that has a high turnover is going to have more potential for profit over something with a single crop.  

Samantha Jones that is a great question!  Nat (the love of my life) and I struggle with the time thing.  We have 3 kids at home , 4 dogs, and 3 businesses going and each of them are a full time job!  Recently, we decided to prioritize life based on what is most important to us.  In other words, we try to give the things we want to succeed most first attention.  I try to prioritize my day like this:  1.)God, 2.)my personal health, 3.)Nat, 4.)kids (no preference in order😂), 5.)business.  For me, that's what makes sense.  It somehow still seems that the business takes the bulk of my time, but listing things out like this gives me a clearer perspective on why I'm doing what I do and moves me in the right direction.  

Also, I find that getting up really early helps!😂😂

Caldeen Gunter on the cattle side, local grain and commodity by-products plus hay or haylage have always given me the most bang for the buck.  Locally, we can get things like gin trash or whole cotton seed delivered in bulk, dropped on the ground, and fed out of a Jay-Lor mixer combined with the haylage.  The equipment cost is significant, though.  

In the past, I have fed things like burnt corn gluten pellets, straight soybean hull pellets, and even chicken litter!  The chicken litter was a blend of litter and 3 types of flour from the local mill.  The mixture was piled into old chicken houses and composted for a year then delivered.  It was really gross but dirt cheap and the cattle loved it!

Honestly though, I'm way more into grazing than feeding if I can pull it off.  I find some of the modern grazing techniques like stockpiling and planting annuals helps a lot.  Thoughts?

Great question.  I currently feed my horses an equine ration from a local mill bagged alfalfa cubes, and grass hay.  The feed is a mid-level ration suggested by their nutritionist.  It costs me around $880 a ton (way too much!) bagged.  Horse and cow feed ingredients overlap quite a bit and it doesn't surprise me that you can keep horses fat on a bovine ration.  They're all made from grain by-products and typically are cheaper when purchased in bulk.  I use the feed I use because of a sponsorship relationship I have with the mill.

When I managed the horse operation at Creek Plantation, I found that feeding bulk feed (not bagged) was about 20% cheaper.  That equated to a $20k savings per year for the operation.  The up front investment in storage and feeding equipment cost around $35k so you can see the investment was worth it.  That was to feed 130 head.

It currently cost me $7.14/day to feed the horses in my barn.

Shelbe Rae Fritz Boy, you jumped right down the rabbit hole!  Taxes are my wife's department, but basically anything you use for your business can be deducted.  What specifically are you concerned about?

Dale Dyer no problem.  That's what I'm here for.

Dale Dyer,  you can definitely start the groundwork process and get him accustomed to wearing the saddle.  Just start promoting all the things you would want from him as a saddle horse.  I'll put up some more videos on that stuff ASAP. I have some in the hopper.

By the way, a horse turns another year old January 1 of each year.  We don't go by their birth date.  If he was a yearling last year, he's a 2 year old now.  Hope this helps and good luck!