I wonder how much Jack really knew about a cow & calf operation....the link below has a lot of info...
My dad always said that we are in the business of selling grass, not cattle. Our main ranch is located in Osage County, Oklahoma. This is on the southern edge of the Flint Hills, one of the best grazing ecosystems in the U.S. To most effectively “sell the grass” on our ranch, we are always evaluating what we think will work the best—”best” being a balance between what is most profitable and what is best for the land. To accomplish this we run three types of operations on our ranch and adjust according to what we think will work the best.
Cow-Calf Operation
This is just what it sounds like: You own a cow herd, then sell the calves that are produced. Cow-calf operations are the backbone of the beef industry and are made up mostly of smaller operations that own anywhere from 10 to 100 cows. It’s considered a more conservative type of cattle operation, but there are still a lot of variables that affect its profitability.
The largest variable with any cow-calf operation is the conception rate. A cow has a nine-month gestation period and you need all of your cows to get bred back almost as soon as they’ve given birth. Getting the cows bred back is paramount to having a profitable cow-calf operation, as you need to be able to sell a calf from your cows every year so that you’ll have the income.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2012/04/the-cow-calf-operation/
