Raising a Cow

This year I am seriously considering raising a cow.  The more I read about the cattle industry in the United States the more disturbed I become about meat available in most grocery stores.  While I have a number of wonderful local resources for locally grown organic meats, I would really like to know exactly what inputs have gone into everything I consume.

I have got a few friends with ranches in the region that would let me put a cow on their land to roam which is what really gave this idea some serious thought.  Recently I found a person who is selling year old calves for a fairly reasonable rate so I'm very intrigued.  Give the size of the potential ranches, the cow could just roam for the spring, summer and early fall and eat as much grass as it could possibly stand without the need for supplemental food.  The biggest downside would be the fact that a cow produces a crazy amount of meat, probably four or five times more than I could use in a year.

Have any of you raised your own cows in the past?  While it seems pretty fool-proof perhaps there are things that I am overlooking so far as care is concerned.