55 acres and what to do?

[cattlepower]

55 acres of good river bottom grass with all fencing, facilities and water in place. Stockers or cow/calf? I'm thinking long term also. Could probably hold 30-35 mama cows and I don't about stockers if I went that route.

Thanks

 

[Backbone Ranch]

You might want to rethink your numbers. 1 cow per every 1.8 acres. We generally have 1 cow/calf pair per every 10 acres. If you have stockers, you can have more of them on your land. Stockers eat less than cows because they have lower nutritional requirements.

 

[muhlenberg man]

In this area it is not uncommon to run a cow per two acres. In average rainfall years it works fine, but in dry years get ready to feed hay in the summer.

 

[1982vett]

55 acres of good river bottom grass with all fencing, facilities and water in place. Stockers or cow/calf? I'm thinking long term also. Could probably hold 30-35 mama cows and I don't about stockers if I went that route.

Thanks

I don't know....just thinking.....how much of the 55 acres is under the river for a period of time and how often that happens....

 

[cattlepower]

You might want to rethink your numbers. 1 cow per every 1.8 acres. We generally have 1 cow/calf pair per every 10 acres. If you have stockers, you can have more of them on your land. Stockers eat less than cows because they have lower nutritional requirements.

There have been 23 cow/calf pairs on there for 10 years and they don't even make a dent. They almost graze yr. round but are given some hay in winter so as not to deplete the grass. It has been well taken care of from a grass standpoint and is cross-fenced into 4 even paddocks. It flooded in 2010 when the area had the 500 yr flood with 18 inches of rain in 48 hrs. It is 2 miles down river from a major dam so it doesn't flood except in that extreme case. Even then it was under water for 2 days. Besides then its never flooded since the dam was built in the 1950s. This isn't Texas so our stocking rates are different. Usually up here if the grass is good you can go 1 pair every 2 acres but this grass is exceptional. If drought hits I just sell some and decrease numbers. So with that knowledge I'm trying to figure out which way to make the most money on cattle. Don't want to cut hay or row crop it. Thanks

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I'd buy 30 pairs or heavy bred cows and put on it.

 

[NC Liz 2]

Cattlepower
Sounds like you found the perfect land that I have been dreaming of for years.
I would go with a cow/calf operation as feeders are to expensive now and the risk is higher.
Two acres per cow sounds good to me to start with and you may even be able to go even lower provided you have some hay available for backup.
I would breed year round, rotate pastures and use creep gates between pastures to allow calves to lead the way 2 weeks ahead on mammas.
I would wean and sell calves at 6 – 700 lbs.
That way I think you will be fully utilizing you pastures and maximizing your profit.

Good luck
Liz

 

[Tim/South]

I would also go cow/calf, especially if I was thinking long term. Both stockers and bred cows are expensive now. Calves always seem to be easier for us to market with no feed lots around here.
We run one unit per acre on improved pasture. Calf counts as the momma unit until it is 400 lbs. Then it becomes 1/2 a unit.

 

[Backbone Ranch]

You might want to rethink your numbers. 1 cow per every 1.8 acres. We generally have 1 cow/calf pair per every 10 acres. If you have stockers, you can have more of them on your land. Stockers eat less than cows because they have lower nutritional requirements.

There have been 23 cow/calf pairs on there for 10 years and they don't even make a dent. They almost graze yr. round but are given some hay in winter so as not to deplete the grass. It has been well taken care of from a grass standpoint and is cross-fenced into 4 even paddocks. It flooded in 2010 when the area had the 500 yr flood with 18 inches of rain in 48 hrs. It is 2 miles down river from a major dam so it doesn't flood except in that extreme case. Even then it was under water for 2 days. Besides then its never flooded since the dam was built in the 1950s. This isn't Texas so our stocking rates are different. Usually up here if the grass is good you can go 1 pair every 2 acres but this grass is exceptional. If drought hits I just sell some and decrease numbers. So with that knowledge I'm trying to figure out which way to make the most money on cattle. Don't want to cut hay or row crop it. Thanks

Then by all means raise cow/calf pairs. I wish that we had that much grass!