Missouri Stocking Rates

First time post although I've scoured this site for a long while. I'm very interested in purchasing some land in Missouri to run cattle. I know it all depends on location and how much brush/ improved pasture there is, but I was wondering if some Missouri cattle people could tell me stocking rate. I'm currently looking at some places in the neighborhood of 750-1000 acres and they are saying they can run 200-375 momma cows. I'm just wanting to get some first hand testimonials. Also how much money per acre per year do you put into fertilizer for your more improved grasses. Thanks for any and all information!

I'm in southern IA about 30 miles north of MO line. Most folks around here graze 2-3 acres and hay another 1-2 acres per pair (less if grazing crop residue or feeding silage). We personally graze a pair per 3 acres from late April into mid-November with 6 paddocks and weekly moves on land that is about half ridges and half really steep. We don't put up any hay and therefore don't fertilize. Has a good stand of fescue, orchard, timothy, and lots of clover/trefoil so graze it right and shouldn't need much. I think northern MO is a great place to run cattle. Ground is reasonably priced, R/E taxes are cheap, it's scenic, and not all that many people in some areas.

10 miles from the river in Southern Illinois we can run 2 pair per acre with good management.

What kind of grass? Fescue I'm assuming. Here I've been having good luck with one pair to 2.5-3 acres. With some management and a couple fall rains, you can get by on very little hay.

I've mainly found places in southern Missouri, but I'd be interested in a place anywhere. I live in northwest Kansas, but I'm currently running cows in Montana after the ranch I had cattle on in Colorado sold for tons of money. I'm looking to get a place to keep everything together and not jump around. Some of the places are already super improved with small paddocks to rotational graze every couple days/weeks and I'm sure I could get used to that over a couple weeks/years of doing it.

Mainly fescue with a small amount of Bermuda grass.

I'm not as familiar with Southern Mo but I do believe they have much thinner soils and rock. Also, MO fencing laws are different by the county and I believe most of the state is a fence in state with the exception of several northern counties.

how much are you looking to spend

The current places I've looked at have been in the 1.5-2.4 range. The cattle paying for the ground is a must. They way I've penciled some of these places they will work.

Ginther said:

The current places I've looked at have been in the 1.5-2.4 range. The cattle paying for the ground is a must. They way I've penciled some of these places they will work.

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i'm looking at some of the same places, I know what place your talking about with the bermuda. It is a nice place. It seems like we are limited to numbers until you can afford the 5+ million ranches. not much to buy out there unless you can piece of some together.. and everyone wants a ton of money for their junk house... I can't buy until late this year, so i'm not competing with you right now :cboy:

We run cattle outside of Mountain View Mo., southern Mo. is some of the densest cattle country in the US, the state is always in top 5 for total cattle but most of those animals are in the lower 1/3 bellow 54 highway. This provides great access to vets, markets, feed, etc, Very short winters but can be wet, we feed hay January to March but strip graze some locations

We have properties that stock a pair on 1.68 acres up to 2.5, rates are on places with Bermuda, Caucasian, etc. We do have to fertilize Bermuda, Caucasian, and some hay fields. The remainder we just spray for weeds and once clean sow clover.

If someone is able to run 2 pair per acre I bet they have a short growing season and feed hay many months as well as a lot of supplementation. Just wish I could come close to that.

blacksnake said:

If someone is able to run 2 pair per acre I bet they have a short growing season and feed hay many months as well as a lot of supplementation. Just wish I could come close to that.

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We have one farm that runs a pair for 1.68 acres, 14 paddocks, 3 with Bermuda, and 30 acres of Caucasian. We overseed Bermuda with annual rye, cattle do well. No fescue on the place. Most of our places require 2.5 acres per pair. Sorry if I was unclear.

The NRCS web soil survey can help you target tracts with better soils or less amendments needed. That means a lot in the long run as far as inputs, limitations and productivity.

I think if you manage for 2.5 acres, you can keep yourself out of trouble in a dry year. Buy some stockers or extra mamas in the good years

Brushy land and little pasture will be around 3-4 acres per cow with hay 60-90 days in the winter. Cleared pasture with no fertilizer or lime will be around 3 acres per cow. A little seed, fertilizer, and lime you can run 2 acres per cow all year long and keep hay to 45-60 days in the winter - this is what we do. We run between 60-75 head and cut about 35 acres of hay twice a year. Some hay and most of the pasture is MaxQ fescue and other grasses. 20 acres of hay is red clover and lespedeza year around.

Soil is thin - grass grows very well. 43 inches of rain a year. Good cleared land can be had for 2500-3000 per acre if you look hard enough. We lime every 3-5 years and fertilize every year ~ depending on soil test.

There's a place over in Falcon, Missouri called the White Buffalo that I think is for sale but pricey. There's also a chunk of about 640 acres with river bottom land in Eldridge but has a lot of typical hills and woods.

All in all - 2.5/3 acres is a good rate with a decent safety margin.