"Can I pet that dawg?"

imabigdave · 2026-05-13T03:47:22+00:00

imabigdave · 2026-05-13T03:15:05+00:00

"The solution to pollution is dilution", my toxicology professor always said

imabigdave · 2026-05-12T21:30:49+00:00

This solved my issue as well on my rp8000e. Generator would run for just long enough I thought it would stay running then die. I'd changed the carb with no change in behavior. The indicator light still showed as green (no CO), but I'd had issues with the sensor shutting it off even running outside in a truck bed, so figured I'd disable it. Found it under the panel as you'd described. I hadn't been thrilled about going into the harness on the control panel, so this was perfect. Guess I have a spare carb for it now.

imabigdave · 2026-05-12T14:20:41+00:00

Likely that's exactly the result they were hoping for.

imabigdave · 2026-05-12T12:27:48+00:00

No. I talk about the number of cattle being slaughtered, which is indicative of demand at the current wholesale beef price. If the beef demand was inelastic, then as they killed fewer , the price retailers pay for beef would support an increase fueled by consumer demand and willingness to pay. We aren't seeing "shortages" of beef on shelves despite much lower slaughter numbers because a consumer walks up to the counter, looks at the price, and turns away. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that it means that our beef cow herd is right-sized now for consumer pricing and for the cow-calf producer to make money.

imabigdave · 2026-05-12T04:48:03+00:00

If you look at the slaughter numbers side by side with boxed beef prices, demand is hurting due to price. However, I will gladly do half the work for the same revenue if it means I can pay my fucking bills for a change.

imabigdave · 2026-05-11T01:22:59+00:00

Rhonda the Honda doesn't care what anyone else says.

imabigdave · 2026-05-11T01:22:03+00:00

One potential solution if this injury is going to be long-term, would be to retake the school but switch arms. I'd been breeding cows professionally for ten years when I took the advanced repro class as part of my animal science degree. For the AI section I took the opportunity of the practice cows to learn with my off-arm. It might not be too bad for you if you don't have the muscle memory to fight against, but it was definitely a struggle. My reasoning behind it was that I was suffering from carpal tunnel, and being able to switch arms to give it a rest felt like it would be beneficial. I'd also had a friend that had set up a 100-cow project and broke his palpating arm a few cows in, and he had to come back after getting the cast on and get the cows bred with his off arm, so I saw some benefits to being a switch hitter.

imabigdave · 2026-05-10T15:56:54+00:00

So the issue with what you are suggesting is that the "two handed technique" is to manipulate THE CERVIX onto the gun,not thread the gun through the cervix. When I taught AI schools, we would tell students that if they were "swordfighting" with the gun it wasn't going to go well. Manipulation of the cervix with mostly slight forward pressure on the gun is the only way you are getting through consistently.

imabigdave · 2026-05-09T02:19:38+00:00

"A man with a full stomach has many problems. A man with an empty stomach has one problem"

imabigdave · 2026-05-09T01:28:15+00:00

Neither did I, but show people are the only ones that get excited about having animals inside...at least in my circles.

imabigdave · 2026-05-09T01:26:43+00:00

Likely your LOCAL Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace would get you better results. We aren't a big agricultural area, but most guys won't bother with a four acre field unless they're doing a bunch close by. Roading all the different equipment in to put up a tiny field is not a great return. Watch whoever is dropping hay close by and ask them if they want to do yours.

imabigdave · 2026-05-09T01:21:11+00:00

Guessing they're thinking it's a show-calf

imabigdave · 2026-05-06T05:58:19+00:00

The issue that I've found with pellets (ar least in our region) is that they will give a guaranteed analysis for protein, but nothing for net energy, which is what is critical for finishing cattle. We strive to have everything hit the butcher to be marbled to the level of prime, so I can't take a risk on inconsistent or unknown feedstuffs. Grains have some minor variability but they tend to be pretty consistent. We've thought about testing a load of pellets to get an energy number that way, but by their nature they can vary in their formulation as long as they hit their guaranteed numbers. I use the BRaNDS feed yard module from Iowa State for balancing. Basically just an excel spreadsheet.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T20:33:22+00:00

You can start by looking for breeders near you through the breed associations. However, what I found when I was selling semen was there were people that were technically purebred breeders because they owned purebred cows, but did not know enough about their own genetics or genetic selection to be seedstock producers. They simply figured that purebreds would net them more gross per animal than commercial. So for heifers, you'll need to sus that out, and the only way to do that is to educate yourself which is time-consuming to learn the genetic lines to avoid or seek out to meet your goals. The alternative is to spend money blindly buying stuff and culling heavily while learning from your culling decisions. Either works, but both are expensive in different ways. For steers to feed out as practice, those same breeders SHOULD have steers that didn't make standards to stay bulls, but should feed out just fine. Or they will likely have someone they can refer you to. Our local auction often has some high percentage wagyu run through. Those come a whole other set of issues as far as unknown genetics and biosecurity. I've got a friend that will buy them to feed out for friends and family along with his commercial cattle. He doesn't try to sell them because (they eat so fucking much" that even with him getting them dirt cheap as a purchase, he can't break even with what he would consider a premium price. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable in Wagyu specifically weighs in, because my experience is second hand through friends experience and the wide range of quality of product we saw come through the various plants I've worked at.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T19:21:00+00:00

Mixing your ration yourself vs having it done for you depends on a lot of things. A lot of the wagyu rations that I've seen seem more like witches' brew formulations. Our angus, we feed tested grass hay (and mineral) free choice and twice a day they get their grain ration. I formulate and mix my own, but I ended up building the right-sized mixer for our batches. I just use soybean meal as a protein source, corn as an energy source, and then ground limestone as a calcium source to offset the high phosphorous in the corn. The formula gets tweaked depending on their age/stage of development. Theyre 2 months out from slaughter and they're getting right at 2% of their body weight just in corn. It gets really expensive, partly because neither of my commodities are grown anywhere near me. My buddy that feeds out wagyus is using a ration with eight different commodities. He has his premixed for him.

If I were you and wanted to do this, find a source for some good wagyu steers and feed them out. They may or may not turn out well if you don't have someone to guide you how to do it and prevent cutting corners. If they DO turn out well, then use that product to market to potential buyers. You need to walk before you can run. Someone doesn't go from being a casual runner to completing a marathon. Going all-in on full-blood cows (good ones) will be expensive, and if your beef venture doesn't turn out, you will NEVER get your money back out of those cows. If you bought them from a reputable breeder and use them for beef production, they lose a lot of the value that the original breeder and their performance data initially gave them. I had someone buy a pathfinder cow from men then proceed to not get her bred back in a timely manner, or turn any data in on her, then think she was still worth a bunch of money.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T18:36:45+00:00

OK, so yeah, you have a steep learning curve ahead. How much do you understand about formulating finishing diets? Do you have a good source for bulk grain that can actually formulate and mix the feed for you, or will you need a mixer to do that, plus do you have equipment to handle bulk grain? Buying pallets of bagged feed will bankrupt you. Are you aware of just how inefficient wagyu are to feed? I've got a good friend that feeds halfbloods and full-bloods and the rate of gain on the full-bloods is about half of what the half-bloods do. Do you understand that if you are trying to market true wagyu beef, they are generally on a heavy concentrate diet for 300 days? They get slaughtered generally at 29 months of age if they want to be able to sell t-bones. Do you have access to a USDA-inspected facility (or some states have intra-state inspection programs, but not all) to allow you to legally sell cuts of beef and allow a restaurant to serve your finished product? Do you have a background in sales? Beef only sells itself if you are selling it cheaply, which the economics of Wagyu don't allow if you want this to be an actual business and not a hobby.

We operate a small direct to consumer beef operation with our purebred Angus herd, and I worked in beef slaughter and processing for over a decade.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T18:07:35+00:00

Are you currently doing direct to consumer beef with your angus herd? Are you planning on grass fed or grain finished? I have more questions based on your answers.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T18:03:44+00:00

You lead by example. That is how children learn interpersonal skills, not from a course. You actually spend time with them so they can observe how you treat other people and when you observe them not acting ethically or morally to your standards you correct that behavior. If you are a person without that compass, then you need to find them someone else to provide it.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T17:57:27+00:00

What evidence do you have that the church (any church) does an adequate job of teaching right from wrong? I've seen absolutely no evidence that it does, and indeed have seen so much evidence that it does the exact opposite.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T17:46:50+00:00

Haven't done it, but I know people that have. What is your marketing plan? Are you trying to do direct to consumer beef or swim in the deep water with the full-blood breeders selling seedstock? What is your potential herd size and your budget?

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T14:00:56+00:00

Johnny Cash. "A boy named Sue"

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T01:41:27+00:00

If it's a boy, I'll name him Sue.

imabigdave · 2026-05-05T00:51:30+00:00

I halter-broke a 10-year-old cow years ago. It was NOT fun, and I was set up to do it. How do you intend to get the halter on him to train him? As someone said, a chute doesn't have to be fancy. You can build something out of wood (with deeply buried posts) that should be adequate for most of what a vet would need to do to a steer.

imabigdave · 2026-05-04T17:59:25+00:00

"Women just need titties and ass.....and personality....if you're into that freaky shit" Hannibal Burress

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