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When is it TOO cold?

N

newmexicobound

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Jun 30, 2007
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I wanted to get all of your opinions.
We think we may have found a buyer for this place yesterday. The place we are looking at in New Mexico will probably not be ours until November at the earliest.
We are kinda worried about moving cattle any later than November because of the weather. We don't get as cold here as NM. Well, we get cold but no rain or snow. We have had a couple of old boys tell us "you can move northern cattle south, but don't ever move southern cattle north" in the winter.
Feed isn't the issue we will have hay stored but do you think they will freeze to death. ( not literally of course)
This guy that wants this place will probably just write us a check and then if we can't move until spring we will have to pay him rent :shock: We haven't ever paid rent in our lives!! Besides the pasture in CO. right now. He is a big alfalfa farmer here and has bought 85% of this town just for the water rights. Water is a BIG issue here and since we have all the rights and one of the last AG. wells left in the valley he wants it bad and is willing to pay our asking price in cash. Good for us but maybe bad for the cows :???:
Anyway if you all could ponder on this and tell me what you think I would be ever so greatful.
 
Where in New Mexico? If it is down around Las Cruces or Hobbs or Roswell or Tucumcari or even Corona, it probably won't get cold enough to matter, for any length of time. If you are going to be in the mountains or some of that high country near Colorado, it may not matter,and it might.....depends on the weather that year and your altitude.
 
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but where you're looking at moving, is cold as a witch's tit in the winter.........lots of cold wind......just miserable.

Might not be a bad idea to sell your cattle there, and start over with some that are already "acclimated" when you get here.

Just a thought...........
 
Thanks for the reply Goodpasture! Were moving to Springer. About 40 miles from Raton, that's why I'm worried. I'm afraid they won't be haired up enough :lol:
 
I would agree with Ranchy on the cattle issue. If your cattle are just average and not terribly "special," I would sell them where they are and start over with native cattle where you are going. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and when in New Mexico, do as the New Mexicans do. I'll bet there are cattle for sale where you are going that will do much better for you over the long haul, than will the "foreign" type cattle you will bring with you. Speaking of long hauls, with the price of fuel, hauling your cattle several hundred miles to the new location will be not be inexpensive.

If you sell your existing cattle, there will be no emergency to acquiring new cattle for the new place. You can bide your time and really get value for your money. Just a thought. Good luck.
 
trucking any sized herd is going to be pretty expensive, isn't it? How many head are you talking about?

Last time I was in Springer on a regular basis, I was a student at Highlands in Las Vegas. As I recall Springer has the mountains to the west and the high plains to the east. Altitude there is about 6,000 feet. Winters are going to have a lot of snow and lows will be bitter.

I vote with the rest of the folks....maybe bring a favorite few of your stock, but sell off most of them and buy when you get there. Keep the California stock close to the barn and turn them out in late February or early march.
 
newmexicobound said:
Thanks for the reply Goodpasture! Were moving to Springer. About 40 miles from Raton, that's why I'm worried. I'm afraid they won't be haired up enough :lol:
Click to expand...

You are darn sure moving to some cold country.Can also be pretty drifty in the winter. Unless you're breeding seedstock you might be better off selling out and buying local cattle.

If you are an Angus raiser there's a heck of a chance of having Brisket problems going from sea level to 6000ft. I'd sure have them all PAP tested before moving them.
 
Thank you all so much for your answers! After hearing how bitter cold it is there I'm not worried about the cows now, I'm worried about me!! :shock: J/K
We raise Registered Longhorns. I have never really said that on here because I know how alot of people feel about them. Everytime I have ever said longhorn on other cattle boards It gets some people going :D
...We use to raise Herefords but years back it got to where we couldnt make any money with them in this part of the world. Then when the dairys in Chino, Corona and Norco started selling out to developers to make 1acre ranchettes, back yard Ropers moved in by the droves. When they started running out of room down there they started coming up here to the desert.
We kinda fell into the longhorns and have made enough money off the crossbred roper calves to buy the registered ones. Our last load of ropers will be shipped in a couple of weeks and then we are done with all that. The guy who takes them all is pretty sad to see us leave.
Anyway we have culled pretty hard the past couple of months and have a few more that will go.
We are only keeping the best cows. The ones we can't afford to replace. Not sure how many yet but we are moving them ourselves so it will only be as many as can fit in 3 gooseneck trailers. The trailers are going that way anyway well...2 for sure.
This is kind of a leap of faith for us. We are selling this place for enough to pay off everyone we owe, put a good down on the place in Springer, and have a little left over in the bank. WHAT"S THAT LIKE?? :) Of course we will still have a mortgage but that's it.
I do have one more question if you don't mind? When does it start to get cold and ugly there?
We have some cows in Colorado that we need to move to Springer too but I guess if we have to we can just keep paying rent for them for awhile
Sorry for the BOOK I get carried away :oops: :oops:
Thanks again for all the advice!
 
Longhorns are like Texans used to be.....tough enough to take anything. I would bring them on....they will make out...just keep them fed. Last winter was pretty cold so this winter should be mild, anyway.
 
I would'nt worry either.November is getting colder but not that bad it will give them some time before the real bitter weather sets in.I would make sure they have windbreaks of some sort either natural or manmade.We get an occasional calf in December and January they stay right out with the cows from day one.

Feed them good and they'll be fine.
 
Hey NMBound,

We usually have our first hard frost sometime in the first couple of weeks of October. Its been a while since it has actually happened but our weather can start getting ugly around the same time. You might check with the fellow your buying from in Springer and see if he would let you start bringing in your stock now. The longer they have to get adjusted the easier it will be on them, in my opinion. Right now our nights are droping down in the 40's and days are still warm, but it wont take long for that to change. When this country decides to turn cold it does it in a hurry.

As for yourself just make sure to buy a good heavy coat, insulated coveralls and some long underware and you will survive your first NM winter.
:roll: :D :lol:
 
We have decided if we can't get cows moved there by the middle of November we will wait it out here until spring :cry:
We should know more in the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for all of your input!!
 
We had our first hard freeze Monday night, Kit and Al said........of course, Hubby and I were in Albuquerque, but we got 4 weeks done, only 2 left to go!!!!!

Kit said it was 22* here Tuesday morning, and I believe it! You should see my poor little frozen maters........... :( Oh, well, we got 2 off that plant, so they only cost about $4.50 each...... :shock: :roll:

We're a little higher than Springer, at 7300', but further south by considerable.........my younger sister was born in Springer, but we moved back down here when she was 2 weeks old, so I don't remember much about it up there. I was only 2 1/2 at the time we moved home..... :wink:
 
Cows are tough. When you move southern cows north their first winter they don't often do real well though. Be generous with the bedding and windbreaks, and you should be fine. Biggest problem I've had is that cows that haven't licked snow before will do poorly if forced to do so. If you've got water, bedding and wind breaks they'll do ok, and next winter will be better.
It seems southern cows tend not to hair up the first winter no matter when you bring them, or at least thats my experience.
 

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