Cow Unit/Acre

[ArrowHBrand]

Around me neck of the woods we figure one cow unit/acre. That is one cow/calf pair or one bull. I have heard of people doubling that, but leaving them on pasture for only half as long. What does everyone else do?

 

[novatech]

Around here they say 1 per 3A.
I don,t beleive there is a good answer for any area. It should be based on a pasture by pasture basis. I beleive one should fall short on any estimate and increase gradually, while still falling short of the total. Throw in a few stockers for extra grass, or bale it. If you stay fairly liquid with your stocking then you will not have to sell off as many of your good cattle in the hard times.
The hard times will come, prepare.

 

[tytower]

There's another recent thread on here ,try looking it up

I run 1 per 2 acres but I'm in the tropics and get 6 foot of rain per year or more

 

[dun]

The whole unit or cow or whatever per acre/hectar doesn;t mean diddly with a specification of the period of time!
I know a couple of people that run several pairs per acre, then they buy and supplement hay for 7 months of the year. That doesn;t mean jack about the carrying capacity. We run about 1 pair per 5-6 acres in normal or semi-normal years. But we also cut the hay that goes into feeding them for the month or 2 in normal or semi-normal years. The various pastures/hay fields, around here they're the same thing, are handled different year to year. One year we will cut and not graze one field, cut and graze another, graze then cut another, graze and regraze another. Some fields get grazed only once a year and are left to regrow and set seed, all depends on how the field looks and how much fertility has been drawn off of it during the preceding year.

 

[rmcva]

The whole unit or cow or whatever per acre/hectar doesn;t mean diddly with a specification of the period of time!
I know a couple of people that run several pairs per acre, then they buy and supplement hay for 7 months of the year. That doesn;t mean jack about the carrying capacity. We run about 1 pair per 5-6 acres in normal or semi-normal years. But we also cut the hay that goes into feeding them for the month or 2 in normal or semi-normal years. The various pastures/hay fields, around here they're the same thing, are handled different year to year. One year we will cut and not graze one field, cut and graze another, graze then cut another, graze and regraze another. Some fields get grazed only once a year and are left to regrow and set seed, all depends on how the field looks and how much fertility has been drawn off of it during the preceding year.

Very well said. With some planning and normal rain I've been able to feed hay for less than 30 days with stockpile for winter. All my open land is fenced and hay fields are pasture and pasture are hay fields at times. Cows can harvest so much better than I can. I had to learn to do it. They hit the ground knowing what to do.

 

[regenwether]

How hard are you pushing the grass? Do you rotate? Put any N on in the spring? For the most part I'm between 2.5 to 3. I've got some timber with bluffs the deer just use for cover :lol: .

 

[ArrowHBrand]

How hard are you pushing the grass? Do you rotate? Put any N on in the spring? For the most part I'm between 2.5 to 3. I've got some timber with bluffs the deer just use for cover :lol: .

Yeah we rotate pastures. We don't leave them on one particular pasture for a set of time, just what the grass will do for them and move them when one is eaten down and/or the other is ready. Last year we ended up baling quite a bit of the pastures right away in the spring because the cattle and horses couldn't eat it down fast enough. This year we were able to buy hay off of the ground so we haven't baled our pastures. We have some willow thickets that the cattle get into where the grass doesn't grow as fast but it comes in thick and it is several degrees cooler when it's blistering hot. Trying to get them out of there when they need to be moved is difficult, but keeping them out is even harder. Luckily we have a pair of dogs and saddle horses that don't mind going into the thick stuff.