Converting golf course to cattle farm

[tncattle]

Anyone have any experience converting a golf course to a cattle farm? In a nutshell it's 145 acres, mostly Bermuda grass and borders a 50 acre operating cattle farm. It's all river bottom/flood plain land. It would connect and be part of the current 50 acre operating cattle farm. Probably not enough info but it's a start.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I wonder how tall that Bermuda "turf type" gets..does it grow like common Bermuda??

 

[tncattle]

I wonder how tall that Bermuda "turf type" gets..does it grow like common Bermuda??

Good question! There is some on the driving range that is thick and about 6-8 inches high as it didn't get cut for awhile dating back to summer.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Can always drill in cool season native grasses in the fall, right before the Bermuda goes dormant..

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

I baled a golf course for a couple years. It was for sale, and we considered buying it for pasture. In the end, it was overpriced, but did have irrigation. I found a ball washer and two of the turf mats from the driving range in bale rings one winter.

 

[Son of Butch]

Never heard of a golf course being converted back into pasture or ag production.
I assume location and improvements would've made it more valuable as a developmental property.

 

[Bigfoot]

Never heard of a golf course being converted back into pasture or ag production.
I assume location and improvements would've made it more valuable as a developmental property.

We must be going backwards here. Three golf courses have recently went back in to production agriculture. Shortly after that one of those, became a quarry.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Never heard of a golf course being converted back into pasture or ag production.
I assume location and improvements would've made it more valuable as a developmental property.

We must be going backwards here. Three golf courses have recently went back in to production agriculture. Shortly after that one of those, became a quarry.

Doe's most of the courses have a layer of sand under them?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Never heard of a golf course being converted back into pasture or ag production.
I assume location and improvements would've made it more valuable as a developmental property.

Could blend a total package - - and sell CSA side vegie golf and beef memberships to home owners!

 

[slick4591]

The 9-hole course that was here just closed up, did a little fencing and now there's cows on it. Probably took all of five days.

 

[cowboy43]

Don't have any statics to back me up, just my personal observation, it seems like a lot of golf courses are closin, they must not be profitable any longer or the younger generation does not golf.

 

[Bigfoot]

Never heard of a golf course being converted back into pasture or ag production.
I assume location and improvements would've made it more valuable as a developmental property.

We must be going backwards here. Three golf courses have recently went back in to production agriculture. Shortly after that one of those, became a quarry.

Doe's most of the courses have a layer of sand under them?

I'm not a golfer, but I "think" the putting green, and where you initially hit the ball from have sand under them. I don't think the rest of the course does.

 

[Jogeephus]

if its bermuda I suspect its most likely Tiftgreen or Tiftway which would suck for grazing. You'll need lots of Roundup. :2cents:

 

[ga.prime]

Right, they don't plant grazing type grasses on golf courses. I really don't see how any golf course pays for itself. The maintenance requires lots of expensive equipment and is never ending.

 

[tncattle]

The driving range is around 20 acres and didn't get cut at all since early summer. No weeds at all, just grass. I know they don't/didn't spray anything. It's not a high end course, more of a blue collar golf course that they basically cut the grass and that's it. It also has a full irrigation system throughout that is fed directly from river water. I figure the cows would probably destroy the sprinkler heads by eventually crushing them while stepping on them.

 

[tncattle]

I've read some recent articles that say golf courses are closing around the country as the sport just isn't practical or popular and as y'all said, it's too expensive too maintain.

 

[ddd75]

i'd buy it for the right price.

the good thing is it probably has a lot of thatch in the ground.. i'd rip the greens up.. use any of that stuff in ditches. replant the entire place and use the clubhouse as your new beer headquarters.

 

[Ebenezer]

Turf type bermuda, if used, is going to be a bugger to deal with. Saw that some years back. They tried to fertilize and bale: low yield and I always was amazed at the low protein content. It must be tied to the tall type genes to have quality. Turf type was hard to eradicate, ... So, all that glitters is not gold.

 

[dun]

Turf type bermuda, if used, is going to be a bugger to deal with. Saw that some years back. They tried to fertilize and bale: low yield and I always was amazed at the low protein content. It must be tied to the tall type genes to have quality. Turf type was hard to eradicate, ... So, all that glitters is not gold.

I wonder if you could sell it to a sod cutting company

 

[Ebenezer]

Turf type bermuda, if used, is going to be a bugger to deal with. Saw that some years back. They tried to fertilize and bale: low yield and I always was amazed at the low protein content. It must be tied to the tall type genes to have quality. Turf type was hard to eradicate, ... So, all that glitters is not gold.

I wonder if you could sell it to a sod cutting company

They did that, too. But the desire was conversion and the sod type bermuda had the desire to remain.