Best breed for grazing

[moocow]

Assuming you are serious, :roll: if your fences are in good shape and you have any kind of grass at all, 2 cows won't do squat to help keep the grass down on 50 acres unless it's desert ground. Check with your local Ag folks and ask them for the best breed in your area for cows per acre of foliage. This is all assuming you are only keeping them spring to fall, it gets more interesting if you keep them all year. Another option is to rent the land out.

 

[stocky]

Longhorn cattle, but make sure you get gentle ones. They will eat brush and will protect each other from the cougars. Corrientes are great brush cattle but I havent had them and I dont know if they are gentle or not. Watusi cattle are also great around brush and wont get out and are protective and gentle. When it gets dry and grass and weeds are tough, all three of these breeds will do well and they are all very inexpensive to buy.

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Get some Longhorns. Good yard ornaments and probably would be a novelty where you live. They will hustle on the good stuff and the weeds and brush when the grass is gone. :cboy:

 

[dj]

Wouldn't WA state be kinda cold for longhorns?

 

[msscamp]

Wouldn't WA state be kinda cold for longhorns?

There are a few people who raise Longhorns here in Wyoming, so I don't think the temps would be a problem for them.

 

[dj]

If the cold doesn't bother longhorns they would work for the browsing part well. I guess it's a matter of do you like long and lean or short and shaggy.

 

[Susie David]

Up here we have some weeds and brush that most cows won't eat and some are toxic to cattle.
I'd worry about the Longhorns in winter.
Been told that the highlands will eat and thrive on most anything and you don't have to worry about them in winter.
Would take at least a dozen for 50 acres...what will you do if they eat all the vegeatation, no feed in winter...sell the herd?

IMO...buy a brush hog for your tractor and mow the pasture.

In spring you can spray out most everything. Would solve your problems and not put any cattle in harm's way.
PM me and I can give you the name of a friend who sprays...lives wst of Spokane.
Dave mc

 

[mnmtranching]

I would go with leasing the pasture to a cattleman. You can see the cattle as they keep the grass down, but not worry about feeding them in the winter. :cboy:

mnmt

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Vegan vegetarians? This posts has the scent of some kinda bull, but just in case I would echo in this order: lease to somebody else, goats, highlanders, longhorns.

And why haven't your horses done anything?

for some of you all suggesting lots more animals, out west there are a lot of places that have stocking rates of less than one animal to 100 acres.

 

[S.R.R.]

With out a doubt Scottish Highlands will fit your bill the best. Docile, hardy, easy keepers and will do just fine with your winters all they need is plenty of good hay and water. No need to build a barn because they are best kept outside. As long as you have a patch of evergreens they can get into or a hill they can get on the other side of during windy days. They are also great conversation starters! See how many of your friends think they are all bulls just because they have horns. :lol: Also when you and your spouse come back to reality ;-) and start to eat meat again they are some of the leanest, healthy beef you can eat!

 

[J. T.]

Up here we have some weeds and brush that most cows won't eat and some are toxic to cattle.

I'd worry about the Longhorns in winter.

Been told that the highlands will eat and thrive on most anything and you don't have to worry about them in winter.
Would take at least a dozen for 50 acres...what will you do if they eat all the vegeatation, no feed in winter...sell the herd?

IMO...buy a brush hog for your tractor and mow the pasture.

In spring you can spray out most everything. Would solve your problems and not put any cattle in harm's way.
PM me and I can give you the name of a friend who sprays...lives wst of Spokane.
Dave mc

I thought Longhorns were the most adaptable breed on the Continent. Weren't ranches in the northwest started with Longhorn stock brought up from Texas in the 1870's & 80's?

 

[Hippie Rancher]

thought Longhorns were the most adaptable breed on the Continent. Weren't ranches in the northwest started with Longhorn stock brought up from Texas in the 1870's & 80's?

Yeah but they died like flies in a couple of those once-in-a-hundred-years blizzards that seem to actuall happen ever 5 or 6 years.

 

[fojokin]

highland cattle maybe?
http://www.highlandcattle.org/

Not a bad idea at all especially if you have cold winters.. which last time I checked, well I never have checked do you have cold winters? I know it rains allot up there but yeah get some highland cattle they have horns and can fend for themselves, plus the coat they have helps them through cold winter and rain. If it just rains allot and you do not have cold winters I would recomend some sort of cattle with horns just so they can protect themselves, herford, longhorn... mabey they are known for their adaptability to harsh enviroments especially harsh texas terrain. Here in Kansas City Missouri we dont have a problem w/ the long horn when it gets extreamly cold! Good luck and look at he breeds section.

 

[vbd]

If your neighbor has cattle and you are friendly...open the gate...your grass is mowed and all the problems are his...

Just a thought... ;-)

Van

 

[Bobg]

I'd also suggest Highland or Longhorns. Their both good browsers and will clean up brush better than any other breed I've been involved with.

Bobg