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[J&T Farm]

Hey yall. I've been reading your chit-chat for a couple of years but never have got around to joining till now. I have a cattle and poultry farm that i try to scratch a living out of. W e grow chickens for Pilgrims Pride and cow calf operation. I'm looking foward to joining in with yall.

 

[John Mc.]

Howdy.

I'm in the same boat as you.

 

[TXCOWBOY]

welcome to the board

 

[purecountry]

I'm from east-central Alberta, Canada, and I'd like to ask you boys (and/or girls) about some of your areas. The Ozarks for example - how many cow/calf pairs can you run on a quarter section? What's your winters like? Snow? How much?

We looked at buying a ranch in Missouri 2 years ago when a big factory hog operation tried to come in. We were looking at ranches on the internet, and accidentally clicked Missouri instead of Montana. What a beautiful place it appeared to be.

Where we're at, we've had 5 1/2" of rain in the last 3 days. Biggest rainfall in years, but we're so dern sandy/gravelly the puddles are already disappearing. Tough to do better than 20 acres per cow-calf unit for 6 months grazing.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Welcome J & T ---- now, please tell us that you use your chicken litter to fertilize crops or pasture and not as cattle feed! :lol:

 

[dun]

Within miles of any part of the Ozarks things can be drastically different. Within the same 15 acre pasture I have 3 different soil types that grow different amounts of forage. I'm saying that to let you know that each individual place is different, in some cases very different. When we get normal rainfall we run roughly 1 pair per 5 acres, but that includes cutting winter hay and then grazing the regrowth over most of the winter. We got caught in the last drought and cut down from a pair per 2 acres. The neighbor runs roughly 1 pair per 3 acres and feeds the hay during the winter that she cuts from her own place. But she has some pretty good bottom (or what passes for bottom in this area) and most of ours is ridge and sidehill.
Land prices are starting to go nuts, 2k per acre for marginal pasture and timber, a few areas run around 1500 an acre. 6 years ago good improved pasture ran a grand and timber was 450-600.

dun

 

[Campground Cattle]

Within miles of any part of the Ozarks things can be drastically different. Within the same 15 acre pasture I have 3 different soil types that grow different amounts of forage. I'm saying that to let you know that each individual place is different, in some cases very different. When we get normal rainfall we run roughly 1 pair per 5 acres, but that includes cutting winter hay and then grazing the regrowth over most of the winter. We got caught in the last drought and cut down from a pair per 2 acres. The neighbor runs roughly 1 pair per 3 acres and feeds the hay during the winter that she cuts from her own place. But she has some pretty good bottom (or what passes for bottom in this area) and most of ours is ridge and sidehill.
Land prices are starting to go nuts, 2k per acre for marginal pasture and timber, a few areas run around 1500 an acre. 6 years ago good improved pasture ran a grand and timber was 450-600.

dun

Land prices have gone nuts here also people paying 3000 an acre for pine sapling thicket. Heck few years ago it was 1200 an acre withmarketable timber.

 

[dj]

Purecountry
Dun's right about the soil conditions. They change quickly, it varies from ground you couldn't find rocks in. To like my place rocks you can't find dirt on.
You would say we don't have snow. I think 14 inchs 6-7 yrs ago was the deepest. But the ice........ has been a problem two different years. Seems like it stayed on the ground for about a month one year.
Land prices have just gotten stupid. The place to the north, 30 acres has an old (50-70 yr) oak frame home on it. That would'nt bring 25K in town. One of the local bankers said he'd loan $92K on a $110k appraisal. :roll: I wonder sometimes how loan officers can jusitify their real estate portfolios

 

[J&T Farm]

Well to start with I never feed chickenlitter to my cattle. I keep good mineral out year round and good littered pastures.As for the land like dun and the others said it varys from one farm to the next. Our farm is in a valley and u cant find a rock to scotch your wheel but I cant complain about that.We run a pair per 2 acres and they have all they can stand but we rotate about every 3 weeks. We have fescue(which has its advant. and disadvantages) and bermuda.

 

[purecountry]

Within miles of any part of the Ozarks things can be drastically different. Within the same 15 acre pasture I have 3 different soil types that grow different amounts of forage. I'm saying that to let you know that each individual place is different, in some cases very different. When we get normal rainfall we run roughly 1 pair per 5 acres, but that includes cutting winter hay and then grazing the regrowth over most of the winter. We got caught in the last drought and cut down from a pair per 2 acres. The neighbor runs roughly 1 pair per 3 acres and feeds the hay during the winter that she cuts from her own place. But she has some pretty good bottom (or what passes for bottom in this area) and most of ours is ridge and sidehill.
Land prices are starting to go nuts, 2k per acre for marginal pasture and timber, a few areas run around 1500 an acre. 6 years ago good improved pasture ran a grand and timber was 450-600.

dun

Jimminy cricket! 2k an acre! Top cropland in our part of Alberta is $1200 CDN per acre. Good pasture is 500-800, depending on water and fencing, etc. When you get into real productive land in Central Alberta, between Calgary and Edmonton, it's a battle between farmland and development. It's anywhere from 2-5,000 per acre. Makes a guy look at ways to do more with what ya got that's for sure.

 

[flaboy]

Welcome J&T. Seems like land is cheap up there. :lol: Ya ought to try buy buying some Disney property down here. :lol: