I think I have read most of the replies here and my advice is to find a local guy that has some cows.  Work out a deal with him to graze his cows.  Maybe a reduced rent or something in order to get a year of two of experience before you go buy your own cattle.  That would give you an opportunity to use the owner of the cattle as a sort of mentor.  

Fencing can be pretty cheap, but you had better have a fencer so hot that it will stop your heart if you touch it.  DON'T go buy a solar powered junk pile from the local farm supply store.  Go to Kencove.com and buy their 24-joule or hotter fencer.  That makes fence training much quicker.  Only use poly inside your perimeter fence.  Perimeter fences in our country are usually at least 4 strands of barb wire.  If memory serves me correct Nebraska fence law defines perimeter fence as 4 strand barb wire with post spaced 16'-18' apart.  You could probably keep cattle in with 2 wire hi tensile as long as it was always hot, but in the event that your cattle get out and someone gets injured or killed by them the lawyers will have a field day with your perimeter fence.

All the rest of the discussion about breeds, EPDs and other points of production is moot if you can partner with someone who has cattle.