Gallatin Tn

[Lon]

Anybody here from around the Gallatin Tn area?

 

[tom4018]

About an hour from there, go there once in a while.

 

[Lon]

Have a friend that moved down there. He is marrying into a family that was in nebraska that sold their ranch and moved down to Dixon Springs. Me and the wife and kids will head that way end of june for the wedding and take a few days to look at the country around there hopefully on top of all the wedding stuff. But he is trying to get me to move that way to ranch. I was wondering what the stocking rate is in that area and what it is like for cattle ranching. I guess he said lots of land that is for sale needs cleared though. Just kind of wondering how it all works what summer is like winter is like.

 

[tom4018]

My area would be pretty similar to Gallatin. Most anyone around will say about 2 acres per head. That area is some rolling ground, some decent cattle markets around but they are cheaper on this side of the river. Summers are hot and humid, winters are usually fairly mild, wet muddy mess usually, this past one was worse than usual.

 

[Lon]

2 acres per head for how long? sorry in my aread its 12 acres per six month for summer grazing so the whole area like that with so much rain is new to me. Do they get snow or not really? hot and humid like 90s hot alot of days or no. Again sorry used to 90s in our area or at least mid to high 80s but we dont get humid at most we would complain that its muggy. So is it a brangus type cattle area where hauling cattle from here down there wouldnt work out so great?

 

[bse]

Im an hour to the west,my dad is 15 minutes north of Dixon Springs. Theres some good cattle country there and some rough places,deep hills and hollows,rocky in places. Gallatin is 20 miles west of there, flater and more expensive.
Not alot of Brangus type cattle around here, seen some SD cattle come in here they do fine on our fescue, might get 1 decent snow a year, you might have a problem finding enough land for a ranch most everything around is farms around 100 acres sometimes theres something will come up with more.

 

[Lon]

So alot of smaller hobby type ranches for sale than. On the flat ground do they farm it with corn and such or just alfalfa. So what is the main type of cattle you do see around there? Also what is the grazing season when things grow and when they are done and your feeding hay. Is calving season there same as here usually in march give or take some?

 

[Hook]

Must be a good friend to get you to thinking about moving. I've been lookin around that area too. And he's right. The land is good but the majority needs worked

 

[HDRider]

I'd suspect country music money has driven the price up a lot around there...

 

[Lon]

Yes he is a good friend. One of those friends you can call your only real honest friend a pal. But irregardless of that i would move to wherever makes sense for use to move in its own right. In our are this is how is goes for us right now. It take 12 acres for summer grazing which lasts 6 months from may through oct. After that than the winter land all depends on how you winter wiether you graze mostly or feed alot of hay but still allowing plenty of room cause they are there for six months too which includes calving. Now if i was to buy the land in our area it is 1,000+ per acre going for as much as 1700 an acre for just grass. Keep in mind 12 acres per pair for 6 months grazing. I have alot of rented ground that i run on right now but the cheapest it ranges is 25/month per pair. I dont have alot of that price ground and it goes up to 48.78/month for a pair. I have more of the 43+ a month ground obviously. Now i also provide all fences and water on the ground myseld so if dam dries up its my problem. On top of all that since vast majority of it is tribal lease ground than you only have it for 5 years and you have to be bonded to have it longer than 2 years at a time. We happen to be bordered to the east with lots of farmers and to the south with guys that have pivots for farming. These groups within hauling distance for cattle creates the fierce bidding for lease ground of any type seeming to riase it all the time because as you can guess most of them can go home and winter on crop residue and it balances out that high price they pay on summer ground. In our area you can farm but it isnt like we are 100 bushel and more corn area i think county average is 45 bushel and this is the first year you can insurance corn as a grain crop in our county. Like i say just in a lucky spot i guess for compitition. So with land that high to lease or buy you can see how i would entertain the idea of moving elsewhere to buy ranch land. No matter where it may be as long as there is an oportunity to buy plenty. What my hold up would be in Ten area is if most places are the 100 acre places would need more land than that to justify moving.

 

[tripleBfarms]

I live an hour to the northwest and its about the same country and climate. We feed hay 4 months out of the year, with 2 acres per pair on Fescue pastures. The only thing is, if you live down here we " Farm" not "Ranch". You wont see too many cattle out this way with ear or naval. Mostly Black Angus, Hereford and Charlois. Mainly because Those sell the best, or at least in my markets anyway. Good Luck if you do decide to make a move.

 

[tom4018]

I live an hour to the northwest and its about the same country and climate. We feed hay 4 months out of the year, with 2 acres per pair on Fescue pastures. The only thing is, if you live down here we " Farm" not "Ranch". You wont see too many cattle out this way with ear or naval. Mostly Black Angus, Hereford and Charlois. Mainly because Those sell the best, or at least in my markets anyway. Good Luck if you do decide to make a move.

The 4 months on the hay is about right unless we have a dry summer, the fescue can go dormant real quick in dry years. Some years hay may be fed in the summer some if you don't have enough pasture to rotate them around.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

I live an hour to the northwest and its about the same country and climate. We feed hay 4 months out of the year, with 2 acres per pair on Fescue pastures. The only thing is, if you live down here we " Farm" not "Ranch". You wont see too many cattle out this way with ear or naval. Mostly Black Angus, Hereford and Charlois. Mainly because Those sell the best, or at least in my markets anyway. Good Luck if you do decide to make a move.

He pretty much sum'd it up. Earred cattle don't sell real were here, you'll make the most money on anything with black hair. Yeah, we farm not ranch :cboy:

 

[Lon]

Thanks everyone for the answers and help here i really appreciate everyones time put into it.

Lon