Pasture Lease

[farmerjan]

We are paying an average of 20-30 per acre per year for pasture. That is with good fences and water. Have paid 1,000 year for a 90 acre place that we did all the fence work/repair. The fences were "wish they were there" type of fences on part but that was wooded and the cows had nothing to go looking at. Pasture is hard to find and we have lost 2 places to sales of the properties. One we had for 25 + years. Every area is different, and every deal is different. You HAVE to take into account what you are responsible to do.

Try talking to your county extension agent. They are usually up on the going rates even if they don't know of any available. And if you are approached, or know of a place coming up, don't advertise that you are looking at it to lease. There is always someone who will come and slide in under you and offer a little more and then in a couple of years, after they have used it up and run it into the ground, then it will be available again. Then it is worth ALOT LESS because you will spend years trying to get it back into nice shape. We have 3-5 year leases on most places. Many we start out with a 1 year to make sure we get along with the landlord and it is a good fit. Sometimes there are places that you just want to get away from. A 1 year lease allows both to get to know what the other will do, etc., and lets you get out of it if it isn't working with not alot of investment of time in it . A couple of our 1 year deals have evolved into long term things.

 

[ddd75]

i'd like to get soem more ground but most are getting at least 200+ / ac for ground.

with about 15 acres I could get around 150 round bales or so I imagine. 150 x 30 = 4500.00

15 ac x 200 = 3,000.00 ...

Depends on if you get a good hay yield.. the problem is getting the grass established enough.. usually the first year you're screwed.

The thing is the hay that i'd make would be 10x better then anything you could buy.. with the new seed genetics, fertilizer, and timely cuttings.. so if I bought a 30.00 bale from a guy down the road, it sucks.. but my 30.00 bale.. which would really go for probably 50+ around here.. has a lot more value.

 

[Germon]

Were any of them worth a flip? I saw a few but they looked like the FarmerOnly.com adds....

"Cow pasture for lease. We have 12 total acres. Our house sits on 2ac. The other 10ac is available. It will only be shared with our 4 horses. We consider them friends of the family and know they will love the companionship of the cattle. Please call..." :shock:

 

[J+ Cattle]

I had a ad on CraigsList asking for available grazing lease land with a minimum of 50 acres. It was on there about 60 days and renewed often to get it back to the top. I limited to my county and the ones around me. I didn't get one response except from a guy who sent me a email to let me know that if I turned down any offers, direct them his way.

My experience was similar, I posted an ad looking for grazing land and kept it refreshed and didn't get a single contact from it.

Once I saw a landowner's ad that had land for lease, it was far away in a severe drought stricken area and had no fence on two sides. He said the previous lessor had used an electric fence but he kicked him off for cutting some mesquite trees for firewood. This was his deer hunting place and he wanted the thick cover, which I can understand, but then again he wanted 3 times the money of what it would have been worth if he had a good barbed wire fence.