pros and cons to this question

[plbcattle]

i am about to buy 15 acres that has been for sale for a while. more for an investment that cattle grazing ground. i am going to run about 35-40 head on it knowing that I will hay and grain and protein feed every day. what are the pros vs cons. the smaller acrage means more hay to feed but I can buy a lot of hay at the 15-30 thousand per acre land around here is selliing for. can this be done and why

 

[Anonymous]

If you need a good tax write-off; go for it. BUT running that many head of cattle on that small of an area--you'll end up with a dirt lot & eventually lots and lots of weeds. Why not put in a dozen or so cattle (or less) to keep the acreage 'maintained'? This way you'd also be saving yourself from dumping a bunch of feed dollars into the cattle. AND you wouldn't have to 'babysit' feeding them everyday. Just my thoughts...I'm sure the more seasoned fellers/ladies can be more specific on the por's & con's.
Jay

 

[Jay]

The above post was mine...I got bumped offline (big surprize--NOT) so it put me as a guest. FYI

 

[frenchie]

Can you lease any land there.........It might be a cheaper alternative.

 

[Michelle Pankonien]

This can lead to over stocking, and can contribute to higher disease prevalence in the herd as seen in feed lot cattle

If you had to do it, it would be best to rotate graze them in 2 acre lots, forces them to graze the grass and weeds, but you would also have to water to make sure the trap you started with has enough moisture to grow.

Any way you look at it feeding concentrate and hay is not an economical way to raise cattle, you would do better just to have 8 or so cows and a bull, or even fewer cows and a bull so you had a herd in production and would atleast get your the right off that you are looking for