Opinions on properties ability

[marksmu]

sounds like i need to move to texas

I am far from an expert on cattle (I consider myself a beginner), but I cant help but think that our drastically different environments between the north and south, leave the south with some form of an advantage in terms of input costs. As an example, I wintered 44 cows, 4 with nursing calves on 100 acres with no hay this year. I planted rye grass in September, that came up great. I grazed dormant bermuda and bahia until the 1st week of January and then turned the cattle into the rye, which at the time was about 7" tall. Despite the coldest wettest winter I can personally remember, I could have wintered another 40 head and still been able to do so with no hay.

My pastures consist of rye grass in the winter and spring, and permanent bermuda, and bahia, as well as a grass the locals call long tom that grows in the poorly drained areas. In the dry times, the bahia and bermuda carry the herd, and when its wet the cows cant keep up with the long tom even if they want too. (they love the long tom...will stand knee deep in water to eat it)

I graze the rye until the Bermuda and Bahia are back in full swing and then move the cattle off the rye and let it go to head so I dont have to plant as much the next year.

I by no means want to tell folks that what they are doing is wrong, but I just feel like the input costs are so different. I have only started the tractors 4x since September 25 and that was only to let them run for about 10 minutes to keep them fresh. I dont have to bail hay if I rotate the pastures properly, and the amount of rain we get (56in avg), coupled with the fact that the bermuda/bahia does not stop growing until November leaves us with a lot of bonus grass growth that ranchers up north dont get.

Not to mention the costs of land here are much much lower. Many of the ranches and rice farms around me sell around $1,000-$1500 ac.

There are downsides....the heat (100 F) can stress out the cattle if there is not adequate shade and water...our grasses have more water and less protein so the cattle have to eat more to have the same gains...mosquitoes and flys are a bit worse....hurricanes are a major obstacle, and flooding can be a big issue during the late spring, but all in all, the costs and methods are just so different.....

We are all so close together, but the methods of ranching are just very very different.

 

[JRDbuilt]

keep it coming guys! I really appreciate everyone taking time and talking about their opinions and what they have seen in their own endeavors.

Talking a stocker system again. What kind of income would it generate? I completely understand everyones costs are different but to get a general idea of what the gross income could be it would help me figure out what kind of costs / income that i could possibly generate from the land.


and right now the stocker system / and direct selling is what has interested me the most. direct selling being the #1. Just like the idea of it. but still wanting to find out information on that subject also.


ps, also trying to figure out how to upload pics of the cars.