Adding Corriente cattle

[GreyGus]

Looking for ways to efficiently use the resources available on my small 39 acre farm.
Currently have about 22 acres of average quality pasture separated into two fields of approximately equal size by my house, yard, pond. Currently working with my district Soil and Water rep to improve the grass quality with appropriate applications to begin this fall. This ground is currently supporting 6 cows, all with May/June calves on them and one borrowed bull. All are angus.
Animals are strip grazing one pasture, I am letting one grow to stockpile as much forage as possible to minimize hay purchase for the winter.
When I finish current fencing/cross fencing projects , I will have four permanent pastures of 5-6 acres each which I will further divide using temporary electric fencing. I will be left with an additional fenced lot of about nine acres which is a mixture of hardwoods, pine, brush/briars with some small clearings of grass, the result of my efforts to clear out standing dead trees and brush, then seeding the resulting clear areas with shade tolerant grass.
My readings on Corriente cattle are they are more willing to utilize rough forage than most other breeds. I was thinking of adding two , preferably bred corriente heifers to this area to assist with clearing and get some utility to this currently unused ground.
Any future breeding would be to an angus bull. I am new at this so any advice as to what I am overlooking would be appreciated.

 

[aprille218]

Borrow some goats for a couple months then move your current cows to that area

 

[Travlr]

Looking for ways to efficiently use the resources available on my small 39 acre farm.
Currently have about 22 acres of average quality pasture separated into two fields of approximately equal size by my house, yard, pond. Currently working with my district Soil and Water rep to improve the grass quality with appropriate applications to begin this fall. This ground is currently supporting 6 cows, all with May/June calves on them and one borrowed bull. All are angus.
Animals are strip grazing one pasture, I am letting one grow to stockpile as much forage as possible to minimize hay purchase for the winter.
When I finish current fencing/cross fencing projects , I will have four permanent pastures of 5-6 acres each which I will further divide using temporary electric fencing. I will be left with an additional fenced lot of about nine acres which is a mixture of hardwoods, pine, brush/briars with some small clearings of grass, the result of my efforts to clear out standing dead trees and brush, then seeding the resulting clear areas with shade tolerant grass.
My readings on Corriente cattle are they are more willing to utilize rough forage than most other breeds. I was thinking of adding two , preferably bred corriente heifers to this area to assist with clearing and get some utility to this currently unused ground.
Any future breeding would be to an angus bull. I am new at this so any advice as to what I am overlooking would be appreciated.

If you will go to your profile and add a location you will get better answers.

Corriente will browse poor forage... but just like any cow they will only eat the best that is available until it is gone and then move on to the next best thing. So it isn't like they are going to eat the things your other cattle are refusing to eat... until all your animals are being forced to eat the last thing available after eating all the better forage. In the meantime you are feeding a couple of animals that are producing sub-standard calves instead of a cow that will produce calves that ring the bell.

There are people that see Corriente as attractive alternatives to higher quality animals, especially if they have a low quality place covered in hard to manage grazing. So if you are separating the Cors into the nine acres of tree covered ground with undeveloped pasture they might work well for you. Of course they will probably be testing your fences.

 

[Warren Allison]

Looking for ways to efficiently use the resources available on my small 39 acre farm.
Currently have about 22 acres of average quality pasture separated into two fields of approximately equal size by my house, yard, pond. Currently working with my district Soil and Water rep to improve the grass quality with appropriate applications to begin this fall. This ground is currently supporting 6 cows, all with May/June calves on them and one borrowed bull. All are angus.
Animals are strip grazing one pasture, I am letting one grow to stockpile as much forage as possible to minimize hay purchase for the winter.
When I finish current fencing/cross fencing projects , I will have four permanent pastures of 5-6 acres each which I will further divide using temporary electric fencing. I will be left with an additional fenced lot of about nine acres which is a mixture of hardwoods, pine, brush/briars with some small clearings of grass, the result of my efforts to clear out standing dead trees and brush, then seeding the resulting clear areas with shade tolerant grass.
My readings on Corriente cattle are they are more willing to utilize rough forage than most other breeds. I was thinking of adding two , preferably bred corriente heifers to this area to assist with clearing and get some utility to this currently unused ground.
Any future breeding would be to an angus bull. I am new at this so any advice as to what I am overlooking would be appreciated.

You need to go back into your profile and add your location. You will get a lot more... and a lot more accurate...answers.

 

[GreyGus]

If you will go to your profile and add a location you will get better answers.

Corriente will browse poor forage... but just like any cow they will only eat the best that is available until it is gone and then move on to the next best thing. So it isn't like they are going to eat the things your other cattle are refusing to eat... until all your animals are being forced to eat the last thing available after eating all the better forage. In the meantime you are feeding a couple of animals that are producing sub-standard calves instead of a cow that will produce calves that ring the bell.

There are people that see Corriente as attractive alternatives to higher quality animals, especially if they have a low quality place covered in hard to manage grazing. So if you are separating the Cors into the nine acres of tree covered ground with undeveloped pasture they might work well for you. Of course they will probably be testing your fences.

Yes, the intent would be to isolate the Cors into that one 9 acre lot

 

[Travlr]

Yes, the intent would be to isolate the Cors into that one 9 acre lot

If you will go to your profile (top right) and add a location you will get better answers.

 

[4hfarms]

They do pretty good job clearing an area just by rotating them. They sample everything here, knock down saplings and clear the underbrush just by being cows. It does take time, so if you are not in a hurry, I think its a good way to naturally clear it. The more they browse there this year, will make it that much better next year.

 

[GreyGus]

They do pretty good job clearing an area just by rotating them. They sample everything here, knock down saplings and clear the underbrush just by being cows. It does take time, so if you are not in a hurry, I think its a good way to naturally clear it. The more they browse there this year, will make it that much better next year.

You are saying just rotate in the angus I have and not bother with getting Cors?

 

[kenny thomas]

To clean it up you will have to push them a little. Overstocking will do it faster.
Personally i wouldn't push the Angus, i would let them produce to their potential. Buy some cheaper cows and overstock until it looks better then sell them. Follow up with the Angus after you kinda get it under control.

 

[4hfarms]

You are saying just rotate in the angus I have and not bother with getting Cors?

I would put cor or LH in there. They tend not to be so picky. With 2 or 3 corriente/Lh, it would give them the time to do what you need. They will find their way around. If you can rotate them in the 9ac, it will kinda force them to eat more than the favorite grasses now and have better grass choices in the spring. Like Kenny said, let the Angus be Angus.

Our horns have done wonders to the crappy parts of our farm. I gave them a little more ground each rotation. The parts they cleared now pass as silvo pasture. All the grass has been getting better from year to year. They like to hang out in the trees!

 

[Brute 23]

I would trap the cattle you already own in there and see what they do before buying some thing else just for that reason.

It would be nice to just add 2 or 3 head to match the current program and put that pasture in the rotation. I find the diversity of those rough pastures can be an ace in hole if you learn how to work with them. There may be a time of the year when the grazing in there is better. Some times they work great to feed in and sacrifice during droughts. Or, you may find they are helpful in the spring to let let you main pastures get ahead.

 

[GreyGus]

This the type ground I am talking about.
You can see the brush:briars I started with. And what it looks like after I have cut down dead trees and bush hogged it.
Still a work in progress. Later this month I will sow a mixture of ryegrass and shade tolerant fescue on bare spots.

 

[Travlr]

This the type ground I am talking about.
You can see the brush:briars I started with. And what it looks like after I have cut down dead trees and bush hogged it.
Still a work in progress. Later this month I will sow a mixture of ryegrass and shade tolerant fescue on bare spots.

That looks like a very good start and some decent ground to run cattle on in a rotation. You can run anything you want on your land, so do what you think is best.

If I was doing it and trying to maximize my return I'd be running the best animals I could afford that would produce quality calves. Quality has always served me better than cutting corners with my animals. The place I cut corners is on everything else.

 

[Brute 23]

That land does not require a special breed to graze. Nice place.

I will try again to mention adding your general location, or even state. Depending where you are, there may other options.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

It looks nice. I grew up in brush, that looks pretty mild. Your angus will do fine,
they may even enjoy the variety of vegetation.

By they way, if I may ask, where abouts are you located ?

 

[GreyGus]

Central Virginia.

When I finish my fencing projects this fall. I will have five separate pastures of about 6 - 7 acres each including the wooded jungle. I am fencing it into a separate lot for a few reasons:
1) it separates the other lots, two on each side, so I will have to move the cows through there when I rotate.
2) when it is 98* and high humidity, I think the cows will appreciate a couple days in a heavily shaded area. We had a lot of those days in Va this summer.
3) if I ever bring new animals in it would be a good isolation lot until I know they are ok to mix with existing cows.
4) as time permits I will continue to remove dead trees and brush/briars with the goal of having Silvo pasture. With only 39 acres to work with, I can't afford to waste any of it. Yesterday I had my wife's horse grazing in the backyard

It looks nice. I grew up in brush, that looks pretty mild. Your angus will do fine,
they may even enjoy the variety of vegetation.

By the way, if I may ask, where abouts are you located ?

 

[Warren Allison]

Looking for ways to efficiently use the resources available on my small 39 acre farm.
Currently have about 22 acres of average quality pasture separated into two fields of approximately equal size by my house, yard, pond. Currently working with my district Soil and Water rep to improve the grass quality with appropriate applications to begin this fall. This ground is currently supporting 6 cows, all with May/June calves on them and one borrowed bull. All are angus.
Animals are strip grazing one pasture, I am letting one grow to stockpile as much forage as possible to minimize hay purchase for the winter.
When I finish current fencing/cross fencing projects , I will have four permanent pastures of 5-6 acres each which I will further divide using temporary electric fencing. I will be left with an additional fenced lot of about nine acres which is a mixture of hardwoods, pine, brush/briars with some small clearings of grass, the result of my efforts to clear out standing dead trees and brush, then seeding the resulting clear areas with shade tolerant grass.
My readings on Corriente cattle are they are more willing to utilize rough forage than most other breeds. I was thinking of adding two , preferably bred corriente heifers to this area to assist with clearing and get some utility to this currently unused ground.
Any future breeding would be to an angus bull. I am new at this so any advice as to what I am overlooking would be appreciated.

i decided to answer this after I saw your pics. You can get 2-3 solid-colored bred Corrs for the price of 2 Angus., easily. There are 100's for sale right now on all the Corriente FB groups. Buy the ones bred to reg Black Angus bulls. At weaning, the calves will bring whatever an Angus or angus/beef cross will. Good plan to breed them back to an Angus. Next year, you can sell them and get your money back, or you may decide to just keep them. From your pics, if I didn't want to buy more cattle, I'd just turn what you have now in there. It isn;t growed up that bad at all. You ought to see what my Corrs live in!

 

[GreyGus]

pushed the angus into a piece of the jungle yesterday to see how they would do, they seem to enjoy the shade as it warms up again this week.