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Arizona big ranch country morning

jodywy said:
When we were little on rode trips thru souther Utah Dad called it wonder grass, the cows take a bite and wonder were their next one will be.
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Kind of like when you pick up a pretty rock and ask a genuine rock hound, "What kind of a rock is this?"

The answer would be, "It's a leverite rock. Leave 'er right there where you found it." :wink:
 
:roll: Geez, y'all! Is that the way to talk about someone's country?

If you put this down, what would you say about Nevada? :lol:

Northern Arizona may be "different" than what you're used to, but keep in mind...... we turn out some of the finest cattle, horses, cattlemen and cowpunchers you'll find anywhere.
 
Very neat scenery,thx for sharing with us.Its amazing how animals adapt to flourish in all different areas.Thats why ranchers.net is so great,we learn something different from everyone.
 
Cool country, definitely rugged. Thanks for sharing the pix. It's nice to see what different areas look like without ever leaving the computer chair!
 
Thanks for posting the pictures. It is rugged wild west country for sure. One of my neatest lifetime experiences was when our family rode mules down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in November of 1997. What a huge picturesque hole in the ground that is. :-)
 
Yeah thats pretty tame country than most we have around here in this part of Arizona . Lots of side oats , six weeks grama , galleta , winter fat and some oak brush , when it rains ha ha .
 
I'm glad I don't have to weed YOUR yard!!

(Just kidding, I love seeing all those rocks and sky! So majestic) :!:
 
There is such a beauty in the rugged of the southwest that you just can't deny. Tall grass folk first see the "desert" of it and wonder how a fella can make a living on it -- it truly speaks to the versatility of a cow. They damn sure will adapt to about whatever you throw at them. Cept it would be nice if they'd learn to eat cedars :)
 
I have a good friend who ranches in the Big Bend area of texas, the terrain is real similar.He runs 300 mammas on 50,000 acres of lease land, by the head by the month. In my mind, this type of ranching is the real deal, throw some cows out in rough country and make them adapt to the environment.Not change the environment for the cows with plows,planted crops, etc.His operating expenses are lower on 50,000 acres than my familys 400 acres in fertile south central texas.All he owns are a pickup, gooseneck, horses,dogs,fence pliers.We own all that plus tractors, balers, spray rigs, etc. so we can run more cows to the acre.I think it actually pencils better in the rough country where you run your cows like deer, and all that expensive equipment is useless.I bet if you ask azcowpuncher, they feed little if no hay in winter, and cows live on dead brush leaves. J.M.O.
 
Thats right we feed nothing in the winter or summer , only thing they get from us is salt . Once in a great while if it gets real real dry and the feed isnt puttin out we might put out some of them cotton seed meal that come in blocks , but i have only seen and had to do that one year and it was just a few months til we got our monsoon . But yes these cows get nothin extra , the really just live off the land . Ha ha ha yeah i wish they would learn to eat cedars too .
 
He lets it rest 22 months ?? he dont have many cows then . cause were i am now we are at just under 200 hundred sections , and we run 1200 mother cows including bulls maybe give or take a 100 head , and we can go back in these pastures in 8 months and get 90 days out of them again . That forest permitts we are keepin them happy , i would like to stay a little longer in these pastures with out so many moves but its their game . But when we move out of a pasture , i havent seen a usage sheet ina while but i bet we are not using even 60 percent of the pasture's potential .
 
azcowpuncher said:
He lets it rest 22 months ?? he dont have many cows then . cause were i am now we are at just under 200 hundred sections , and we run 1200 mother cows including bulls maybe give or take a 100 head , and we can go back in these pastures in 8 months and get 90 days out of them again . That forest permitts we are keepin them happy , i would like to stay a little longer in these pastures with out so many moves but its their game . But when we move out of a pasture , i havent seen a usage sheet ina while but i bet we are not using even 60 percent of the pasture's potential .
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Again, difference in climate and growth.

Up here, it's kind of use it or lose it as when it goes dormant in the winter, it don't grow again until spring.

I mostly run stockers and try and take about 80%, but usually don't quite get that much used. when it dry's up and don't grow again unless we gewt some fall moisture, it's kind of a fine balancing act. Got to get enough cattle to use most of the grass, but not too many or they run out too quick.

I can't seem to afford to buy cattle in the fall to use any extra, tho my son and I are getting a small herd of cows put together. But then I have to get some hay to get them thru' the winter months when it can get all covered with snow.
 
Yeah see we dont have a very good growth either we wont get anything all winter either , and maybe in the spring we will get some good feed if we got any rain or snow , thne by may its dry as a popcorn fart and nothin will grow unless we get a little rain we are kinda in the same boat really if you think about it our stuff wont grow unless we get rain either . But i dont understand why you would let it rest 22 months unless your doin a yearlin deal and you graze it off to dirt by the time you ship off of it . I am not runnin the man down for the way he runs his deal at all , i just find it intresting that he would rest them for 22 months , i mean thats almost 2 years before a pasture see's another cow . i understand he doesnt have to have a big herd to make money he has the dude ranch to suppliment his income and that always helps .
 
There is more than one way to skin a cat and maybe his feeling is by doing this it gives the root system a long, long time to recover so he can take that 80%.. Most folks around here give 4-6 weeks of rest to a pasture but I have known some guys who give closer to 6 months by subdividing pastures into teeny areas and moving the cows everyday. They claim beter utilization, and better subsequant regrowth... I would imagine in a drier situation even more time for regrowth might be needed after consuming 80% of the DM...
I have done it on a small scale on the roadsides with ewes and long rest afterwords.. looks pretty darn good but those roadsides have the best darn root systems on the place.
 

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