Whats your stocking rate?

[midTN_Brangusman]

In my part of the Ozarks, southern MO/northern AR, we get more than 45" of rain annually. The land is basically rolling hills/pasture land, and on a normal year we figure 1 cow-calf pair/3 acres. However, our land cost/acre is attractive around here, which is an important consideration (land cost vs carrying capacity). Check out http://www.onlineoml.com for land and prices in the Ozarks.

This is what we baled yesterday. We got 66 4x5 round bales off of 10 acres.

I have been up that way and really liked N Arkansas and S MO but I just think I would be able to market my cattle better in the south.

 

[Elkman]

Here's a link to Missouri cattle prices: http://www.cattle.com/markets/states.as ... e=Missouri - at the bottom of the list is West Plains, which is where we take our cattle.

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

Thanks everyone for your feedback! Getting a better understanding for the stocking rate in a location sure makes a world of difference when determining the amount of acreage needed in a certain area. But all in all I think it just about evens out. Locally good pasture land in my area is 4 to 5 thousand and takes approximately 2 acres per pair, If it takes 5 acres a pair in NE Texas or SE Oklahoma and the price is around 2 thousand an acre, for the same price you end up with more land and same amount of carrying capacity. However, the advantage to me of being farther south is you can have more acreage for the same price, yes it is more to take care of, but you also get the benefit of distancing yourself from your neighbors.

 

[rnh2]

Check south Arkansas and north Louisiana for land prices. My son was told cutover timber land was$500 per acre. It would cost a lot to clean it up

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

Check south Arkansas and north Louisiana for land prices. My son was told cutover timber land was$500 per acre. It would cost a lot to clean it up

I have actually looked in to that, just curious if it would be more benefitial to buy cutover and wooded land and clean up or to spend the extra 1000 or so for land already cleared. Has anyone had any experience with converting cutover to pasture? Just curious if it would pencil out.

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

Here's a link to Missouri cattle prices: http://www.cattle.com/markets/states.as ... e=Missouri - at the bottom of the list is West Plains, which is where we take our cattle.

I was referring to registered Brangus for seedstock, only thing that would be sold as commercial would be culls. I wouldn't think there would be a demand for eared cattle that far north.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Check south Arkansas and north Louisiana for land prices. My son was told cutover timber land was$500 per acre. It would cost a lot to clean it up

I have actually looked in to that, just curious if it would be more benefitial to buy cutover and wooded land and clean up or to spend the extra 1000 or so for land already cleared. Has anyone had any experience with converting cutover to pasture? Just curious if it would pencil out.

Every situation is different but if you have the time and ability you can buy an excavator, clean it up yourself, save $500/ac above expenses, and still have the excavator free and clear to keep or sell. This is assuming you can buy cutover for $500/ac and cleaned up dirt would cost you $1500/ac. You should be able to clean it up for $300-$500 acre.

 

[Post Oak]

I spring/summer calve here and I run a pair to every two acres on my primarily Bahia pastures from about April 1 to November 15. I could run more in an average to above rain year, but the dry spells keep me in check.

 

[js1234]

It's a bit different out here. In California, 10-15 acres for a cow/calf, our Nevada ranch runs 10 to the section. For stockers, 1 head per 3.5-4 acres for the winter season in California. 1 yearling per 8 acres if native and 1 yearling per 4 acres is its improved in Wyoming.
Forest Service and BLM is a whole other can of worms. Our Wyoming allotment (USFS) is for about of our WY 3,000 yearlings May-October and its just over 100,000.
We have a winter out cow permit (year round, with schedules moves within the allotment) (BLM) in Northern Nevada and it's for about 1,800 of our NV mother cows and it's over 280,000 acres. Fortunately, we are not majority public lands operations like many throughout the west are.

 

[SoILcattle]

We run a pair per 2 acres in the hills of Southern Illinois

 

[js1234]

It's a bit different out here. In California, 10-15 acres for a cow/calf, our Nevada ranch runs 10 to the section. For stockers, 1 head per 3.5-4 acres for the winter season in California. 1 yearling per 8 acres if native and 1 yearling per 4 acres is its improved in Wyoming.
Forest Service and BLM is a whole other can of worms. Our Wyoming allotment (USFS) is for about 3,000 of our yearlings May-October and its just over 100,000.
We have a winter out cow permit (year round, with scheduled moves within the allotment) (BLM) in Northern Nevada and it's for about 1,800 of our NV mother cows and it's over 280,000 acres. Fortunately, we are not majority public lands operations like many throughout the West are.

 

[Stocker Steve]

- Agriculture zone 7, long growing season
- 40+ inches of rain per year
- part of the area destined to get increased rain from global warming vs. more drought....if you believe in it
- in the Bermuda belt, with acces to affordable chicken litter out of Arkansas.
- much of the property is beautiful, with live water
- my farm stocking rate is 1 pair per 1.68 acres, producing enough hay for winter as well, even at that rate we routinely have to brush hog extra forage to keep it vegetative.
- many dairymen relocating here out of the Ohio valley and Illinois for reasons mentioned above

We can match the rain fall and stocking rate for a couple months, then it gets dry, and then it gets cold...