Cow-Calf Operation

Cows Grazing Among the Bluebonnets

Even though, according to the Blue Bell Ice Cream people, dairy cows think Brenham is Heaven, Dogwood Ranch operates a beef cow-calf cattle operation in our heaven-like pasture just outside of Brenham. This means we have a herd of beef cows and one bull suitable for breeding. Obviously, even to city folk, the bull’s job is to breed with each of the cows once a year. The resulting calves are then sold at auction. Although we owned part of Dogwood Ranch for several years, we did not own the primary parcel of land for the cattle business in until late 2009. Therefore, we are clear novices in the cattle business. Since we have not yet been through one full breeding, calving and auction cycle, we don’t really know what to expect as far as auction and sale price. We believe it will take us several years to re-coop the initial herd acquisition cost and expenses to date. Keep in mind; we are not counting the cost of the newly acquired land as a “ranch expense”, because we would have purchased it anyway whether or not we decided to run cattle on it.