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<blockquote data-quote="Sir Loin" data-source="post: 398697" data-attributes="member: 5601"><p>We:</p><p>Re:</p><p></p><p>The one cow per acre was a hypothetical example.</p><p>Re:</p><p></p><p>I tried putting a pencil to it many times but there are too many variables you can't put a dollar value on.</p><p>How do you put a value on the ease of working your cattle, or birthing ease or the value of manure dropped by the cows which increases future grass growth?</p><p>Or the clearing of wooded areas and overgrown areas in the pasture?</p><p>These and many other things simply can not have a dollar value put on them.</p><p></p><p> Lets try it this way.</p><p>IMO, There is no rule of thumb as to cows per acre. Each and every pasture could sustain a different number of cows based on its location, soil type's conditions, topography and climatic conditions for that location.</p><p></p><p>When I lease a pasture I go look at it.</p><p>But before I even walk into the pasture, I already know the climatic conditions. (rain fall-when and how much and hot and cold conditions)</p><p>I know when the grass will grow and when it will not, where it will grow and where it will not. I also know where and when the cows will graze and where and when they will not.</p><p>When I look at the pasture I try to determine the maximum number of cows I can run on that particular pasture during the prime 6 months of grass growth.</p><p>For the 6 non prime growth months I fully expect to have to do some supplemental feeding or reduce the number of cows by moving them to another pasture, which increases the acres I need to lease or simply sell some cows at a loss, which I surely don't want to do.</p><p>What all this boils down to is that I put the number of cows on a pasture that will consume the amount of grass growing during the prime growing seasons and supplement them with hay and/or grain in the non prime growing seasons which just happens to be at the same time as winter and when droughts will occur and I would have to feed them anyway.</p><p>The amount of supplement given is determined by the condition of the cows not the pasture.</p><p>If you let the condition of the pasture dictate your supplemental feeding you will surly go broke.</p><p>When the calves are born they have access to free choice creep fed hay and feed, which reduces the demand on the cows while increasing their weight gain allowing for an earlier weaning. Or a late weaning with an even higher weight gain while consuming little grass.</p><p></p><p>It's a bit of a balancing act to coordinate number of cows, hay and feed with your pasture as pasture condition continually change during the year but it does pay in the end because you can run more cows per acre and produce a better calf at weaning while at the same time you are improving your pasture.</p><p>SL</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sir Loin, post: 398697, member: 5601"] We: Re: The one cow per acre was a hypothetical example. Re: I tried putting a pencil to it many times but there are too many variables you can’t put a dollar value on. How do you put a value on the ease of working your cattle, or birthing ease or the value of manure dropped by the cows which increases future grass growth? Or the clearing of wooded areas and overgrown areas in the pasture? These and many other things simply can not have a dollar value put on them. Lets try it this way. IMO, There is no rule of thumb as to cows per acre. Each and every pasture could sustain a different number of cows based on its location, soil type’s conditions, topography and climatic conditions for that location. When I lease a pasture I go look at it. But before I even walk into the pasture, I already know the climatic conditions. (rain fall-when and how much and hot and cold conditions) I know when the grass will grow and when it will not, where it will grow and where it will not. I also know where and when the cows will graze and where and when they will not. When I look at the pasture I try to determine the maximum number of cows I can run on that particular pasture during the prime 6 months of grass growth. For the 6 non prime growth months I fully expect to have to do some supplemental feeding or reduce the number of cows by moving them to another pasture, which increases the acres I need to lease or simply sell some cows at a loss, which I surely don’t want to do. What all this boils down to is that I put the number of cows on a pasture that will consume the amount of grass growing during the prime growing seasons and supplement them with hay and/or grain in the non prime growing seasons which just happens to be at the same time as winter and when droughts will occur and I would have to feed them anyway. The amount of supplement given is determined by the condition of the cows not the pasture. If you let the condition of the pasture dictate your supplemental feeding you will surly go broke. When the calves are born they have access to free choice creep fed hay and feed, which reduces the demand on the cows while increasing their weight gain allowing for an earlier weaning. Or a late weaning with an even higher weight gain while consuming little grass. It’s a bit of a balancing act to coordinate number of cows, hay and feed with your pasture as pasture condition continually change during the year but it does pay in the end because you can run more cows per acre and produce a better calf at weaning while at the same time you are improving your pasture. SL [/QUOTE]
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