I have read several articles on the internet over intensive (rotational) grazing. I am a little confused as to how many cows per acre. I know ultimately it depends on your type of land, but I read the ratio can be 2-4 cattle per acre all the way up to 10 per acre. Is this ratio for the total acres (for instance 160 acres, 320-640 cows -does not sound right), or is the ratio for the average size of the paddocks (20 acres, 40-80 cows). Thanks.
Intensive Grazing
- Thread starter ksnewb
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
hillbilly
Well-known member
Its per paddock acre, if you had 160 ac. divided into 8, 20 ac.
paddocks and ran 3 pair per acre you would still only have
60 pair....
Start low and work your way up.
hillbilly
paddocks and ran 3 pair per acre you would still only have
60 pair....
Start low and work your way up.
hillbilly
Texas PaPaw
Well-known member
There is an excellent book titled "Management Intensive Grazing" by Jim Gerrish. Also the Stockman Grassfarmer magazine focuses on MIG. Go to http://www.StockmanGrassfarmer.net and request a free sample copy of the magazine. You can also order Jim's book, along with other books from SGF. This book is well written, in an easy to understand format. It has chapters on fencing, water systems, and most other relevant issues with MIG and grazing in general.
Regards
Brock
Regards
Brock
dcara
Well-known member
Below is a link to an short index of articles on grazing. The article titled "Estimating Stocking Rate" tells you how to determine how many cows per acre.
http://www.foothill.net/~ringram/gzoption.htm
http://www.foothill.net/~ringram/gzoption.htm
SF
Well-known member
ksnewb":1pgqqi4r said:
No different
I know there are a million factors that determine how many cows you can have per acre, and one of the best ways it to find out what a neighbor is doing. Well, nobody around here does rotational grazing. If most people in my area are putting 1 cow per 7 acres (soon to be cow/calves), what ratio would somebody start with if they were going to use rotational grazing. Thanks.
ksnewb":nnzr37eg said:
I'ld start with 1 cow per 7 acres and adjust from there. May seem overly cautious but ti's easier to add then it is to subtract. The first couple of years you'll be on a pretty steep learning curve, better to go easy at first.
dun
dun,
So I am a little confused. If you can own 70 acres and run 10 cow/calf pairs on it, why would you want to do Management Intensive Grazing running the same amount of pairs? It does not seem worth all of the extra work if you cannot run more cattle.
What kind of ratio can you expect to have if it is a normal year, let's say two years down the road?
So I am a little confused. If you can own 70 acres and run 10 cow/calf pairs on it, why would you want to do Management Intensive Grazing running the same amount of pairs? It does not seem worth all of the extra work if you cannot run more cattle.
What kind of ratio can you expect to have if it is a normal year, let's say two years down the road?
ksnewb":yrudr84f said:
What it will allow is not having to feed any hay unless it's under too much snow. You can also hay off the excess in the spring and hold it for your own use or sell it in Feb and March
dun
DiamondSCattleCo
Well-known member
I think everyone is referring to using the 1:7 as a starting point. You can hay any extra the first year, then increase the number of pairs you have next year.
Rod
Rod
As far as the bulls go, I don't know. Here in Iowa we can get a cow to three acres, maybe a little better. Let's say you have a 300 acre pasture, which would be pretty good size for here. It could run 100 cows pretty easy, which might require 5 bulls. But if you had it divided into 75 acre or 50 acre pieces, you could easily get by with 4 bulls. The cows are no longer spread out over the 300, just the 50-75. We run one bull less in our 240 acre pasture, now that we have it cross fenced, and haven't had any problems. Calving distribution continues to improve, open rate didn't increase, etc.
Thanks everybody for the replies!
I am thinking about doing rotational grazing and was just trying to get an idea as to what some of the benefits are. I have read Jim Gerrish's book over MiG, and wanted to know what people that were currently doing it, thought about it. Thanks all.
I am thinking about doing rotational grazing and was just trying to get an idea as to what some of the benefits are. I have read Jim Gerrish's book over MiG, and wanted to know what people that were currently doing it, thought about it. Thanks all.
Texas PaPaw
Well-known member
ks
After reading the book, I'm sure you can see there are a number of advantages in using MIG. One of the best advantages is the cattle become more docile and easier to handle. They get used to seeing you and look forward to fresh grass. Just open the gate and step back. Great opportunity to get a close look at them or to count. A lane connecting paddocks to corrals makes bring in cattle for any situation an easy task.
The best advice I was given when implementing MIG: "Plant nothing but fence posts for the first 3 years." No use in planting that miracle grass prior to being able to properly utilize what mother nature has provided. As with anything new, there is a significant learning curve. We all have made (and will continue to make) many mistakes in our pasture amnagement. Fortunately mother nature is fairly forgiving. When you inadvertantly overgraze, a little longer recovery period will usually fix the situation. As long as you don't overgraze too many paddocks too often, a little R&R works wonders.
Good luck and great grazing!
Brock
After reading the book, I'm sure you can see there are a number of advantages in using MIG. One of the best advantages is the cattle become more docile and easier to handle. They get used to seeing you and look forward to fresh grass. Just open the gate and step back. Great opportunity to get a close look at them or to count. A lane connecting paddocks to corrals makes bring in cattle for any situation an easy task.
The best advice I was given when implementing MIG: "Plant nothing but fence posts for the first 3 years." No use in planting that miracle grass prior to being able to properly utilize what mother nature has provided. As with anything new, there is a significant learning curve. We all have made (and will continue to make) many mistakes in our pasture amnagement. Fortunately mother nature is fairly forgiving. When you inadvertantly overgraze, a little longer recovery period will usually fix the situation. As long as you don't overgraze too many paddocks too often, a little R&R works wonders.
Good luck and great grazing!
Brock
