From the Fields: Michael David Fischer, Calaveras County cattle rancher

By Michael David Fischer, Calaveras County cattle rancher

I’m a cow-calf operator. It was an awfully dry January, but we had some mild weather and good little storms here and there in February, and the grass growth has been good, so we haven’t had to supplement an awful lot of hay. The rain we’ve had is a little less than what we normally have, but it’s enough to keep the grass going. We’ve had a good March so far. We’ve had a lot of heavy showers and rain. Hopefully, we’ll keep getting little showers here and there through May to keep the grass coming. 

The cattle look good. Because of the drought years, I was at least 25% down on numbers. The last two or three years I’ve been trying to slowly increase my numbers. I’m probably back about 15%. I run my own capital, so I have to sell calves to be able to pay for the ones that I saved, so I’ve been building slowly as I can. It grows on grass conditions, and it grows on the amount of cost you can feed them. I raise my own heifers, so I don’t buy cattle normally to restock. This year I debated buying, but the prices were so good at the yard, I didn’t want to spend the money.

A lot of times you could buy good cattle out there, but they don’t fit in your operation, and it takes a while to get them to the routine of the actual area that you live in and the climate here. I think it’s better to raise your own if you can. We buy good bulls to breed our cattle and keep a constant herd.