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Anonymous

I live in the SW Missouri area and have recently inherited 120 acres of land from my grandfather and I am cosidering investing in some cattle. Eighty acres of the land has been leased for the last decade for crops. What I was wondering is would it be feasible to turn this land in to pasture for the cattle and if so, what would be the best way to do it. Also, how many head would be appropriate for this amount of land? Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Hey! Am a little familiar with Missouri territory... Crop ---> Pasture. Probably recommend you check with your County Extension Agent about good NATIVE grasses (or proven ADAPTED grasses) for your area. Also, with good grazing and supplemental feeding in winter, probably could run 1/2 to 1 animal per acre. Lot depends on forage production, etc.

Also, should you be interested in Texas Longhorns, they are very gentle, intelligent, excellent browsers (will eat forage the "English" breeds will pass up, have 99.7% unassisted calving rates (per university research), naturally lean beef, high disease resistance, high tolerance for all climactic conditions, excellent milkers and mothers, can be bred at 12-16 months of age, produce calves every year (with few exceptions), calve into their late teens and into their 20's (almost twice as long production as the English Breeds which means fewer replacement heifers and more to sell).

When you compare the efficiency of the breed and low maintenance with NO artificial additives or hormones used, etc., vs. the sale barn "docking" in price, you'll find the Longhorns are a wise investment for productivity, longevity, and good lean beef. Look at the numbers....!

Bill

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You can turn crop land into good pasture but you'll need to soil test it first. We're looking at a field on another farm that has been cropped and we're still trying to determine what will work the best. We're in South Central MO. Although I detest KY31 fescue, it's still hard to beat for winter stockpiling. You USDA NRCS folks can help you with what is best for your area. If you're around Southwest City, you might talk to Kirby Lane at Neosho Farms concerning Red Angus. There are actually a number of breeders of good Red Angus in the area. Being relatively close to Carthage, MO will also prvide a good marketing facility and they have an annual Red Angus rectified sale there each fall. Kirby works with that deal also. There are a lot of different aspects to the cattle business, from cow calf, stocker, raising replacemnts and even just leasing pasture. You could even plant it in alfalfa and hay it. Look into all the options before you make any decisions.

dunmovin farms

> I live in the SW Missouri area and
> have recently inherited 120 acres
> of land from my grandfather and I
> am cosidering investing in some
> cattle. Eighty acres of the land
> has been leased for the last
> decade for crops. What I was
> wondering is would it be feasible
> to turn this land in to pasture
> for the cattle and if so, what
> would be the best way to do it.
> Also, how many head would be
> appropriate for this amount of
> land? Any and all suggestions
> would be greatly appreciated!
 
> If it's crop ground, and in good shape p.h. fertilizer. ect. look at your end market, do you want to sell sides to your own customers or do you want to sell calves or just run stockers during the summer and fall, That will determine what you plant,for cow calves listen to Dun, If you want to run stockers, plant some alfalfa and mix the grasses,

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Lets be real, if the crop ground is up to par, ie. ph 6.5 to 7.0 just have a fert. check done by local chemical co. I would plan on fert. at half rate , twice.. Once in spring second in fall.I would drill in several grass in different areas Again Fescue, clover, timitoy blend for fall ,spring and some kind of summer grass.. Look bottom line if you are going to grow beef, you frist have to grow grass, grass is your crop and beef is the fruit..I would also plan three to five years befor your grass is right...ALF

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