Re: OT: Cow per acre

Posted by bc on November 17, 2009 at 10:19:48 from (69.148.145.104):

In Reply to: OT: Cow per acre posted by JayinNY on November 16, 2009 at 16:38:28:

Around the heart of KS, we always figured 4 acres per steer assuming they come in for a summer grazing season from May to September at around 450# and you want them to gain to sell them back to the feed lot for finishing at around 750-800#. If you want your pasture to last a 100 years in a natural cycle, then don't abuse it. Don't put cattle on grass until it is tall enough to sustain growth and take them off before it gets to short or it won't have enough top growth to maintain the root system over the winter and early spring resulting in decreased grass and more weeds the next year. Grass just needs time to recuperate. Any pasture no matter the size also needs to be separated in separate grazing units or you end up with spot grazing they will eat one spot bald and leave another spot hardly touched.

Too many cattle on grass and you have overgrazing problems. Grass is ate to short to recover and grow properly the next year. Weeds get worse and you spend more for spraying and the cycle goes on till you have to stop using it.

Allow cattle or horses on it outside of the growing season and you are asking for trouble. You will basically be turning your pasture into a dry lot. Then it might take a year or two to recover. I don't think your fenced pasture can handle your horses much less any cattle but I don't know NY grass.

Sounds to me like you are setting up more of a feed lot. Feed lots have specific fed, state, and local requirements for dealing with waste, etc and smell. You likely would need a local zoning permit along with state and fed permits. They are regulating waste, nitrogen, and other by products running off into streams. You could encounter major costs and fines for non compliance or failure to get a permit. As soon a neighbor complains or someone drives by and sees it.

And it doesn't sound like you have a business plan on when you are going to buy and sell and what you are going to do with all those cattle or even the kind and type of cattle. Who would you buy from and who would you sell to. Paying for transport, vet fees and medical, etc.

I assume this doesn't apply to you but around here they put people in prison who buy more horses and cattle than they can afford to feed or provide proper vet care for plus they pay the bill when all the cattle and horses get adopted out, including vet and transport bills.

You need to contact your county agent for proper advice in your area. Then the zoning and state people. There will be a legal definition for what stocking rate becomes something that is subject to state and local regulation. My relatives owned and ran feed lots, pastures, and grazing operations for years. It's near impossible around here to get zoning for a feed lot now and get state and fed approval for the waste lagoons, etc that go with it. It's worse on the coasts with all the green people regulating things. You are moving out of the realm of having a few riding horses and a few cows to put meat in your freezer.

How does your hay test out for feed quality? Gotta know that to determine how much to feed along with what you are feeding and the purpose of feeding if for maintenance of cows or weight gain of calves, steers, and heifers.

Good luck. I also assume your inquiry here is just a preliminary question to see what is feasible. Let us know what you find out after talking to the appropriate authorities.

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