cattle per acer
- Thread starter cedarman
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stocky
Well-known member
all depends on what type of land and what type of grass you have. in my river and creek bottoms i can run 2 pair to the acre from april 1 until jan 1, on my worst hill ground it is 1 pair to 5 acres, in a normal rain year. probably everyone on the board has a little different ratio being from different areas and different soil and weather conditions. it will probably be best visit with local cattlemen in your area to get a better idea, there are some on this board from va, i am sure they can help.
Your local county extension office can also help. Where I live (Goshen County Wyoming), each cow requires about 33 acres, but we are pretty much the sister to the sinai desert when it comes to average yearly rainfall.
greenwillowherefords
Well-known member
msscamp":1gv8fcav said:
:lol: :lol:
Farminlund
Well-known member
I'm in central VA, with well fertilized pastures & extensive use of rotational grazing, you can achieve in a normal year of rainfall ~1 cow/calf unit per acre (also assumes your winter feed comes mainly from you own land, either via hay or stock-pile fescue grazing into the winter).
denoginnizer
Well-known member
Its one of those "it depends" answers. The fellow that had cows on the place before you might have an idea. A neighbor also might have an idea about how many.
I like to put one cow/calf to every six acres. A neighbor of mine has about 1 cow/calf to every 2 acres. His cows are in very poor body condition. He tells me I have "Country Club" cattle since I use de-wormer, mineral and provide adequate forage.
My point is take a look at the cattle of the fellow that is telling you how many its safe to run per acre.
Dont forget about the weather factor ie drought and how it can impact your grass.
I dont see anything good coming out of over stocking your land.
I like to put one cow/calf to every six acres. A neighbor of mine has about 1 cow/calf to every 2 acres. His cows are in very poor body condition. He tells me I have "Country Club" cattle since I use de-wormer, mineral and provide adequate forage.
My point is take a look at the cattle of the fellow that is telling you how many its safe to run per acre.
Dont forget about the weather factor ie drought and how it can impact your grass.
I dont see anything good coming out of over stocking your land.
denoginnizer":3nqjutcg said:
I guess we have 'country club' cattle, too. That's ok, they are healthier, happier and better producers. It probably would not hurt to take a look at his grass, as well. Good pasture management is 3/4's of the battle in raising cattle.
Bama
Well-known member
I would have to agree with msscamp. Look at your grass. The figures given to you by the county ext. agent is only a guess unless he looks at your ground. If you have little grass and lots of weeds the best thing you can do is spray those weeds. A pasture full of weeds can easily cut the carrying capacity in half.
