Hi, We ranch in Montana but my wife is originally from Oklahoma and still claims to be a Oklahoma girl. We have considered engaging in ranching in southeastern OK. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts (good and bad) from those who ranch in that area and surrounding states. Can angus/red angus breeds of cattle be used? Do you have to supplemental feed in winter? What kind of weaning weights do you have considering the heat? What are the going grazing rates? Ranching problems you encounter? Other? Feel free to pm me, I would like to visit with anyone from there personally. Thanks for your help.
Southern U.S. ranching ??s
- Thread starter ranchland
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I'm not sure the specific area you are referring to, but some of that area always seems to be in a drought. I would prefer red cattle in the hotter drier regions but that is just me. In the warmer climate you should be able to grow and stockpile more grass for winter feed, and winter shouldn't be as brutal as up north.
Thanks for response, interesting how cattle are raised in different weather and grazing situations. I guess one question is which part of the country is the most ideal for raising cattle considering all aspects such as weather/markets/overhead expense. I realize this all varies from year to year but it seems that in areas where you don't have to put up 2-3 ton of hay per cow to get her through the winter would be more profitable, but maybe not with the other things factored in. Maybe the cooler summers up here with good hard short grass make up for higher feed costs in winter.
loomixguy
Well-known member
You need to take into consideration the effect on you as well. If you're not used to it, the heat and horribly high humidity can leave humans even more miserable than the livestock. My grandfather moved to northwest Louisiana because he was tired of the Nebraska winters. Poor choice, IMHO. One can sweat themselves into fermentation here, and it only gets worse the further southeast you go. Unless you are in the A/C 24/7, the conditions are almost insufferable for folks from the north. Humidity is a deal breaker, I think.
Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
I think you'd be better off staying in Montana. Like Loomix says that heat and humidity will kill ya. :shock:
We went to Florida one time the 1st week of August. I carried a hand towel with me all day to keep wipeing the sweat off. Then it rained about 5 pm each day the rain would have cooled things off up north but down there the water was warm like a shower and it got even muggier afterwards If I move anywhere it would be farther north.
Faster horses
Well-known member
I was raised in Wyoming but my parents were from Missouri. At one point, after I was gone from home, they went back to Missouri. They found it difficult to adjust to the temperatures/humidity after
being gone so long. My mother used to say, "I have this beautiful yard, but it's too hot and humid to be outside enjoying it." They moved back to Wyoming.
We went there to visit relatives back in 1966. In January. They said it was 40 degrees there, so we were planning on enjoying the weather. We found out 40 degrees there was colder than ten below (dry cold) in Wyoming/Montana.
I went back in 1993 as my aunt had passed away. That was the first time I remember seeing cattle in a pond up to their neck, trying to cool off.
This is not to say Missouri isn't a beautiful state. It is.
I think if you are from the south, you could adjust. Otherwise, I think it would be a difficult transition.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
being gone so long. My mother used to say, "I have this beautiful yard, but it's too hot and humid to be outside enjoying it." They moved back to Wyoming.
We went there to visit relatives back in 1966. In January. They said it was 40 degrees there, so we were planning on enjoying the weather. We found out 40 degrees there was colder than ten below (dry cold) in Wyoming/Montana.
I went back in 1993 as my aunt had passed away. That was the first time I remember seeing cattle in a pond up to their neck, trying to cool off.
This is not to say Missouri isn't a beautiful state. It is.
I think if you are from the south, you could adjust. Otherwise, I think it would be a difficult transition.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
Mike
Well-known member
4Diamond said:
I spent a few years above the Artic Circle and the coldest I have ever been in my life was in Orlando, Fl. at a Citrus Bowl football game, when it was cold and rainy. Could not put on enough clothes.
loomixguy
Well-known member
I've been in Evanston, Wyoming, when with the windchill it was -95. Awful cold, but I thought I was going to freeze both my feet years ago at the horse sale in Ada, Oklahoma.
I lived around Salina KS for 9 years. While that area isn't terribly humid, it was a whole bunch more humid then anywhere I have ever been. I somewhat got used to the humidity, but Lisa never did.
Funny thing is here at home, the humidity is about as bad as it was down there, this year, but the grass is green and tall.
Funny thing is here at home, the humidity is about as bad as it was down there, this year, but the grass is green and tall.
I like humidity. I feel colder in low humidity in the winter and the hot dry air is like a blast furnace. Humidity keeps my skin youthful and supple. I also like the smell of soured shirts. Sweat streaming off of me in a steady trickle kind of makes me feel invigorated. Cattle with their mouths open while working them at daylight makes them calmer. I also feel like calves neck deep in the stock tanks make them grow better. Our washy grass is also a good place to breed mosquitoes and flies...... On second thought I don't like humidity.
Soapweed
Well-known member
redrobin said:
You about had me convinced that humidity is a good thing, but now I'm not so sure. :wink:
loomixguy
Well-known member
This country wasn't as humid years ago, but thanks to the tillers of the soil and their pivot irrigation running 24/7 this valley is now a steambath in the summer.
I never cared for sweating entirely through my clothes, let alone sweat running down and around body parts best left covered up by Wranglers.
I never cared for sweating entirely through my clothes, let alone sweat running down and around body parts best left covered up by Wranglers.
TexasBred
Well-known member
ranchland said:
The heat and humidity of summer would definitely be the big adjustments to you personally, but a lot of folks start putting a little bit of brahman in their cattle the farther south you get. We have a lot of angus cattle in Texas but they do "hurt" when the heat gets bad but markets want black so that's what folks raise. Summer hurts me most but almost anywhere you go is air conditioned. You just learn to keep the truck running every time you stop in the summertime. Winters are basically mild but depending on where you are there will always be a few days that can be in single digits or the teens and seems we have more little ice storms (sleet and freezing rain) than snow.
Thanks for all your input. I was more concerned on how the cattle handle the heat/humidity than myself personally. As Texasbred said we have the luxury of AC, I know what you mean even in Northern Montana about leaving the vehicles running with the AC on, most all of our machinery now has AC. Far cry from the old days. Same here in the winter when it gets to -40 - 50 below zero, downright unbearable. But we make do. Cattle sure the heck struggle to maintain weight then as well. I guess I was trying to analyze it from a financial picture with the biggest benefit being not have to put as much hay up. We spend all summer haying so we can spend all winter feeding it. ??? Always envied those that are able to graze close to year round. On the subject of being able to find grass to rent or possibly buy, are there in areas of the country that have excess grass that isn't being used? I'm sure the answer is probably no where, but when I travel across the Midwest and south it seems that there are parcels of pasture that don't appear to be grazed at all for some reason. Anyway enough rambling, just some thoughts.
TexasBred
Well-known member
Hard to find a good landowner around here willing to lease out grazing even if he has it. Seems over the years a lot of folks have abused rented properties taking everything from them and putting nothing back, destroying fences, grass getting thinner and thinner folks would just about rather having it set idle than leased out.
loomixguy
Well-known member
Not to mention that whatever grain prices are, the tillers of the soil continue to tear up pastures as fast as they can. The old soil conservation practices (terraces, waterways, etc.) are now a thing of the past. After another dust bowl there will be another soil bank program and a lot of the marginal and poor farm ground will be planted to grass once again...at taxpayer expense.