What kind of crops could you grow ??

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Anonymous

I am wondering what kind of crops you could grow using the information below. This land is near Newell, South Dakota.

Avg winter temp 29
Avg summer temp 73

Precipitation
Jan .4
Feb .4
Mar .9
Apr 1.7
May 2.7
Jun 2.8
Jul 1.9
Aug 1.3
Sep 1.0
Oct 1.4
Nov .6
Dec .4

Thanks
 
It is in Butte county, I think it is near Montana, not exactly sure, I am still researching it.


:)
 
Something to keep in mind is soil type. If you're eyeballing a certain property ask for a soil analysis. Precipitation is important, but it also takes soil to grow grass or crops. And you might want to inquire as to how rocky the land is (speaking from experience, our home quarter is a steep 85% rock covered hill - useless for anything but a bit of bush grazing and as an overwintering base).

Up here we've got a fair bit of grey wooded soil (Class 4 or 5), and although you can graze stock and grow some hay on it, the best farmland has the good black loam (Class 1).

PH and the way the land lays also are determining factors for our soil classifications. Poor drainage can also be something to watch for. Not much productivity in a bog for most cattlemen.

Not meaning to interfere, but as long as you're investing in land, you may as well get the most bang for your buck. Best wishes with your endeavour.

Take care.
 
Excellent points, Annie. Doesn't matter if you get 60" annual rainfall, if it all falls on rock. Supernew, keep in mind that if you are looking for good cropland, you will probably pay more per acre than for good cattle country. Seems to me like the farmers can outbid the cowmen every time.

As Annie stated, you want the most bang for your buck. If you're still looking for land to run cattle on, that means stay AT LEAST 100 miles from urban areas. Stay away from good farmland. And be sure the deer are long gone and nobody even remembers the last time they saw quail in the area!
 
Besides the variables of precip., soil type, ph, etc., look at first and last frost date also.

dun
 
Supernewtocattle":2oroeax9 said:
It is in Butte county, I think it is near Montana, not exactly sure, I am still researching it.


:)

On my soapbox again... :) Probably my day to play "Devil's Advocate"...lol. Anyway,

I'm curious about your method of searching for crop and/or livestock land. Based on your posts, I get the feeling you are using a "throw a dart at a map" search, then searching deeper after the dart hits....

Suggestion to make your search simplier:

  • 1. First decide what part of the USA YOU would like to re-locate too.
    2. Search on the Web for USA topographic map to see what type of terrain, etc. there was there.
    3. Get a State map and look at the locations.
    4. Check out topographic features, e.g., wet, not so wet, dry, arid, desert regions...will tell you a lot.
    5. Re-think USA "Geography 101" and what the different regions have to offer.
    6. Consider that essentially ALL states in the USA have a range from "Very Undesirable, Unproductive" to "Highly Desirable, Highly Productive" land for sale.
    7. Generally the higher the elevation, the more arid the land will be.
    8. Consider that a line North of Interstate 70 is probably going to be colder in the winter than South of Interstate 70.
    9. North of Interstate 90 will be COLD, COLD in Winter.
    10. South of Interstate 30 and I-20 will be HOT, HOT in Summer.
    11. The more open spaces in the terrain, the more WIND you will experience; if combined with Snow, will become BLIZZARD conditions which can be very hard on livestock and people alike...

    Just some random thoughts to aid you in your random (perhaps "shotgun") search for properties...

    :) :cboy:
 
Well now I am looking at some land in Missouri. I am just looking all over location doesn't matter to me as long as I can grow some decent hay, and raise a few cattle :) And cheap land. This land in Missouri I found is only 850 an acre.

:)
 
Supernewtocattle":14b51exw said:
Well now I am looking at some land in Missouri. I am just looking all over location doesn't matter to me as long as I can grow some decent hay, and raise a few cattle :) And cheap land. This land in Missouri I found is only 850 an acre.

:)
What part of Missouri is this property.
Missouri property Varies Greatly in value.
 
Supernewtocattle":35uj6nzl said:
The land is 9 miles south of Houston, Missouri

The main propertys of soils in that area are steep, rocky, shallow, droughty, stumpy if not cleared properly, needs lots of lime. Ridge tops won't be steep, but all others apply. There are pockets just about every where around here that may have good deep fertile soil. It's usually referred to as intermediate bottom land.
That is some pretty country around there, just about too steep for my personal tastes. It's just starting to get into the pine forest type areas rather then oak hickory.
Some foriends of ours just put an offer in on a place at willow springs.

dun
 
The land around Houston Missouri is purdy. Is it open? what % open?
Is it rolling or wicked roller coaster? Dont buy land in missouri planning on clearing it untill youve walked it.
There are two nice rivers near Houston and a bunch of creeks, This may be land like Dun's....or it may be more like mine.
The price is inline with the location. Cabool is the nearest town of any size
10,000? pop. 20 miles or so.
You might want to look at it.
Hillbilly
 
It looks relatively flat in the pictures. About 1/2 is just grass, the other 1/2 is treed, but has been selectively timbered. (I think they must take certain kind or size) There is a small pond fed from a spring, electricity, and rural water (whatever that means). It looks really nice in the pictures.
 
Supernewtocattle":znz0u52m said:
It looks relatively flat in the pictures. About 1/2 is just grass, the other 1/2 is treed, but has been selectively timbered. (I think they must take certain kind or size) There is a small pond fed from a spring, electricity, and rural water (whatever that means). It looks really nice in the pictures.

Either walk it or have someone that you trust that doesn't have a bone to pick walk it for you. How many acres is it?
I can take pictures of some parts of this farm that would look great too. But it isn't really worth a crap. Great for wildlife but useless for cattle. Remember that the realtor has a vested interest in moving this piece of land. Make haste slowly!

dun
 
Supernewtocattle":1sr7zcby said:
It is a 40 acre parcel.

We had 60 acres north of here that had about 15 acres of timber, the rest was improved pasture.
With a dozen head including calves, we ran out of grass after a couple of months of excellent grazing. Pasture was up to test on ph and fertilizer, over seeded with clover, drilled with OG, fescue and timothy. About 7 acres had great lespedeza but wouldn't grow grass, 4 acres grew good grass the rest grew good grass in the spring but the soil was so shallow it dried out and the grass died out every year as soon as it got warm. That was practicing MIG. On that 45 acres we had glade rock, heavy clay, some intermediate bottom and the rest what we call laclede county sand. That's head size and larger rocks just below the surface. You have to spend some time on it to really see what you have.
I say this as one who has "been there, done that".

dun
 

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