Willamette Valley Oregon head per acre?

[roar9roar]

I am looking into raising beef on my new property. I have 2.5 crossed-fenced pasture acres with barn (it was a horse property). It is established pasture mowed late this summer but has not had horses on it in at least 5 years. It is level, unirrigated, and has great sun exposure. I have never raised cows alone before but I have limited experience working on a dairy. I am sure i will have many questions but will search before I post.

For those familiar with the amount of rain we get here in the willamette valley, how many head can I comfortably raise? I don't want to overtax the pasture. I am looking for a sustainable number that I can feed through the summer here without irrigating the pasture.

Anyone local have a sustainable number?

Thanks for your help. Additionally if you have a link to any beginners guide or how starting from scratch would appreciate it!

 

[Katpau]

Your question should perhaps be posed as acres per head, rather than head per acres. The answer depends on your soil and forage, and will vary from year to year depending on the weather. The Willamette Valley has some good soils and growing conditions, but do not expect to feed even one cow or steer on 2.5 acres year around without supplemental feed.

I live South of you. Roseburg is at a slightly lower elevation and we have just a bit milder climate, but pretty similar to the Willamette Valley. We run 40 pairs plus bulls and replacements on 500 acres of a 1000 acre parcel from about mid March through early November. (The other 500 acres is in forest) The rest of the year we feed hay. In dry years or when it does not warm up enough for grass growth in spring, we may feed hay much longer. Calves are born in February and weaned and sold about October 1st. We also have a 100 acre flat parcel where we are able to run 40 to 60 stockers for 5 to 6 months each year, depending on rain and temperature. As you probably know, summers here can be very dry, and without irrigation the grass is pretty much done growing by the first of June. We can get some nice fall growth if we get rains in September or October, but often the rains don't begin until it is too late in the season and cool temperatures prevent much growth. This fall rains came early and warm weather hung on so forage growth was exceptional, but there is no guarantee that will be repeated. Sometimes we get temperatures that allow grass to grow well in early March and other years we may not have much growth until almost the first of May. I moved here from Central Minnesota over 20 years ago, and I thought with this mild weather it would be paradise for livestock, but I was surprised to learn that Minnesota grew more forage in those short summer months than I can grow here year around. I would think you might run one or two calves on that 2.5 acres for a few months, but don't leave them too long. Cattle are herd animals, so I don't recommend one alone. Be prepared to buy hay and feed them much of the year. I would not leave them on it in the winter or you will end up with a muddy mess. On such a small parcel you likely would be better off with a few sheep or goats.

 

[roar9roar]

I appreciate the input. I am not convinced that the climates are similar though. Looking it up we average 47 inches of rain vs 36 down in Roseburg. Judging from the amount I have to mow here on my unirrigated lawn I really only have a month and a half of brown times. On my field I am not sure how it will perform with wet areas and such as I just moved into this property a month ago. Supplementing the feed for a month or 2 is ok if I end having to go that route. I have a neighbor that is running about 30 head on 20 acres but he does feed them. I have been watching his fields and he only seems to mud out in the low wet spots here and there.

 

[Rhune]

I think most of that rainfall change is during the winter months. Summers are still long and dry. Try a couple of calves and see how it goes.

 

[Katpau]

This was a great year for grass. Rains lasted longer in the spring and we had good rains already in September. The temperature has mostly been above average since Sept, so grass is continuing to grow. I think in a normal year you will feed hay more than a month or two, but I bet your neighbor could give you a better idea of how long you might expect to feed. I have not seen your place, so I can't really give any advice. Perhaps you might start by seeing if that neighbor would want to run a few head on your place for a monthly fee or you could charge him for gain. That would give you a chance to learn and someone who could teach you. You would have little financial risk that way and if you run out of grass or things get chopped up you could have him remove the cattle and not be forced into buying hay.

Do you have facilities to work cattle? This is an expensive time to get into raising cows. My calves sold off the cow at 6 1/2 months for $1350 to $1500. A good bred cow will cost over $2000. A decent set of working corrals will cost thousands and is in my opinion an absolute necessity. Unfortunately you will need that to worm, give vaccinations, and doctor cows from time to time. I am not sure I could find a way to run a sustainable operation on such a small acreage. There is economy in numbers and it can take the same infrastructure to run two cows as it does to run 100. I am not trying to discourage you, but I feel I need to be honest. I guess I am not sure what you have in mind. It is possible you might be able to buy a few light weight calves and run them until they reach 800 pounds or you run out of grass and then sell them at a profit.

 

[Dave]

I am a little north of you and I run about one cow per 2 or 3 acres depending on the year. As a very young kid my folks had a place that was 2 1/2 acres. They bought one steer in the spring and butchered it in the fall. With a little rotational grazing the steer had enough grass but there was never enough extra to cut any hay.
The soil survey says that on a Newberg loam (one of the best soils in the valley) with perfect management and weather conditions you can achieve 13 AUM's per acre. The problem is that the vast majority of that grass growth (probably 70%) will occur in April, May, and June. So how do you manage that to have feed year around?