Free: Contests & Raffles.
I would do a few highlanders, cool looking and are not bad to eat, take a bit longer than some breeds to be ready to butcher.Might also look at Dexters, not real fancy looking but good temperment from my experience with them and eat well.
They're also fleet footed (fence jumpers)! I'd recommend you get *very* docile ones that are hand reared and imprinted on people i.e.: bottle baby's if you can find them, especially if you don't have the infrastructure to handle them.
A couple months ago there was a thread about he price of hay skyrocketing. At that time the large rounds were going for $75 a round here. I just heard now the price is $275-$350 a round
I think the original point of this thread is he wanted grass eaters and something cool to look at in his pasture and wasn’t looking at raising cattle for meat at all. With that said, it’s definitely a novelty item that would be tough to get rid of if it didn’t work out. I second the highlanders for cool factor and fairly okay resale value.
Nobody who owns a Ferrari will tell you it is garbage just like every beef breeder will tell you his “breed” is best. With that I will add my opinion to the pile! My neighbor bought 3 longhorn cows and a bull. He couldn’t keep them in his fence. Great irrigated pasture with plenty of green grass. They had no respect for a hot wire or a split rail cedar fence. They would flip up the wires and rails with their horns and roam around the property. I usually got a call in the middle of the night to help him. Not fun herding a long horn at night in the dark. He finally got so frustrated he gave them away to the neighbors where they were turned into tacos I’m sure! My brother has a few highlanders as yard art around his place. They will eat anything, just like a goat. Low maintenance and easy calvers. He has never got a decent price on the yearlings he has sold at the auction yard. I raise black angus. Look great in a pasture and taste great on my plate. You will always get a fair price for an angus at auction if you decide cattle are not your thing and decide to go another route. Just my opinion and good luck in whatever exciting venture you lean towards.