Most Profitable Cattle Region

[inyati13]

What would be the most profitable region of the US to produce cattle all other things being equal? What I have been thinking is in the temperate part of the midwest and south. Here there is reliable rain fall, good forage, long growing season, and healthy climate for cattle. One thing that hurts the rocky mtn area and the northern plains states like CO, WY, MT, ND, SD, is the need for large acrage and the low forage production during winter. In states like KY, TN, MO - you can produce cattle with lesss land. If you had too here you could almost get through the winter on pasture if you managed carefully. Tempertures are not extreme, parasites are easily handled, etc. This question has difficulties as I realize a poor manager would not do as well here as a good manager would somewhere else but if all varibles were equal. What do you think?

 

[heath]

I'd say any of the southern Gulf states where land prices are reasonable.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Land costs come in to play for certain.

There's too many variables to answer such a question.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have wondered the converse myself actually, when I see the inputs that are required really far north.

 

[highgrit]

FL. is way more profitable tha GA. And now with the housing bust, and low juice prices there's more land available than cows. And all the cowman has to do is fence the property off and keep cows on the land. Free rent is hard to beat.

 

[snake67]

I would say there is not one specific area - management is the key to profit

Bez

 

[ALACOWMAN]

'''''''not bragging'''''' ... but we have about the ideal area here.... decent to good grass's and plenty of rainfall, higher stocking rate per acre... course the heat would be a negative...

 

[larryshoat]

I would say there is not one specific area - management is the key to profit

Bez

1000% correct, management is always the key. No matter where you go there good points and bad . Like Bammy said they got a lot going for them, but then there's the heat and I think if you look anywhere in the country there is always something about the climate that makes things difficult at some point and that's where the real managers get ahead. Wow, what a run on sentence .

Larry

 

[sim.-ang.king]

I use to have a map that had what % of cattle came from where, and most of the beef came from the eastern plains states, and the south. Guess because the eastern plains has millions of acres of wheat land to graze, and no mud! Then the south can graze all year on grass, and no mud!
Did I mention they don't get mud like the midwest states? :lol:

 

[Dave]

It's not places with all that cheap grass on BLM land? I am shocked. The fact is it is management. Years ago I was at a grazing seminar the key note speaker was some guy out of Eastern Nebraska. The biggest thing I learned from his talk is that every area has some sort of unfair advantage. The key is figuring out what your unfair advantage is and using it to your advantage. It could be mild climate, productive pastures, low land cost, cheap winter feed, locally available by-product feeds, proxcimity to good markets sell or cheaper markets to buy at, or a host of other things. The guy giving the talk was in an area where they raise a lot of corn. They also get a lot of hailed down corn. He would drive around and find corn that was knocked down and rent it for winter pasture. Electric fences and strip grazing cost him very little. His wintering cost were very low as a result.
If you are doing things exactly the same as everyone else in your area you are probably not taking advantage of an unfair advantage.
Oh, and I do know people who graze year around out here in the west on that cheap BLM pasture. They might qualify as a pretty profitable region to run cows.

 

[Bigfoot]

Many years here I end up feeding hay 6 months out of the year. Everything lines up just right, and its three. The growth of fescue is almost non existant in late July and August. All in all, I would not call Kentucky a cattleman's paradise.

 

[melking]

FL. is way more profitable tha GA. And now with the housing bust, and low juice prices there's more land available than cows. And all the cowman has to do is fence the property off and keep cows on the land. Free rent is hard to beat.

You might think that is true highgrit but just try to get a bank to allow you to fence in and use the land they are foreclosing on...

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Many years here I end up feeding hay 6 months out of the year. Everything lines up just right, and its three. The growth of fescue is almost non existant in late July and August. All in all, I would not call Kentucky a cattleman's paradise.

we got a little of that summer slump here... hows dallis grass in your area ???

 

[Aaron]

Land has to be cheap for it to work. That is number one and the list goes on from there. Not going to make a profit if your paying 2k and up for an acre of land.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

if i had to start over here now, id never see daylight... no matter how you manage. and i make the amish jealous when it come to inputs...they bring their kids to my farm to show em how they use to do it

 

[john250]

I think rational managers have already decided this. Just look at a map of where the cattle are and you can figure those people aren't keeping them for fun.

 

[Bigfoot]

Many years here I end up feeding hay 6 months out of the year. Everything lines up just right, and its three. The growth of fescue is almost non existant in late July and August. All in all, I would not call Kentucky a cattleman's paradise.

we got a little of that summer slump here... hows dallis grass in your area ???

Never planted any. Volunteer crabgrass is plentiful during the slump. Unfortunately it means your fescue stand has thinned out.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Many years here I end up feeding hay 6 months out of the year. Everything lines up just right, and its three. The growth of fescue is almost non existant in late July and August. All in all, I would not call Kentucky a cattleman's paradise.

we got a little of that summer slump here... hows dallis grass in your area ???

Never planted any. Volunteer crabgrass is plentiful during the slump. Unfortunately it means your fescue stand has thinned out.

the dallis is volunteer here... didnt know if its was in your area are not...sure helps for late summer / fall grazing....

 

[Dave]

I think rational managers have already decided this. Just look at a map of where the cattle are and you can figure those people aren't keeping them for fun.

But the question is not where the most cattle are. It is which is the most profitable region. Areas with higher grass production will have more numbers. That doesn't mean they are the most profitable. An area with very low cattle numbers per acre could very well be more profitable than an area with higher dencity. Profitability is product value minus cost.

 

[inyati13]

Many years here I end up feeding hay 6 months out of the year. Everything lines up just right, and its three. The growth of fescue is almost non existant in late July and August. All in all, I would not call Kentucky a cattleman's paradise.

I know you are south and west of here so may be a significant difference. Most people here start hay around Christmas and end about the third week of March. I have heard stories of cattle producers getting caught in a bad place when there is a severe drought but for the most part pasture is good here to carry a well managed herd. Bigfoot, do you do any pasture renovation and if you do, are you putting in ladino or red clover? I know it slows growth also in the dry months. Can't go by me because I have only been back here 3 years now but I have heard Dad say he rarely fed cattle more than 3 months. He never put too many cows on his farm. He is 90 now and enjoys telling me what I should do. He likes to get out to my farm and every time he does, I hear the same warning not to get too many cows. I got a feeling I will not be hearing that many more times.