Do We Have Enough Land For Our Cattle?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2021
- Do we have enough land for our cattle? We've had a great grass growing season so far, but have temporarily run out of pasture. This prompted me to sit down and do the math on cattle pasture and hay consumption. What I found is eye-opening, and differs from conventional wisdom on cattle stocking rates. Join me as I share how to calculate cattle land requirements for pasture and hay, as well as the various options for adjusting your hay and pasture needs to meet your desired herd size.
Note:
-We do not offer farm tours
-We do not ship our farm's products
-We do not sell live animals
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Well, I’ve been saying it for over a year +/-. This is one of the best farm channels on TH-cam. A no BS approach to livestock farming. It’s also a space where products aren’t being pushed or “advertised.” Thank you.
I can second, Peter Baez.
Yep that’s what I always do at my farm
Exactly. Most people on TH-cam push their ways or thoughts but Pete gives opinions and advice.
Agreed
An absolute education..love it.❤❤❤❤❤
I remember when I fenced a 3/4 acre behind our house for raising a beef cow people told me it couldn’t be done, that the cow would eat the grass down to the dirt. Well, it can be done, and we never see dirt. Yes, we do supplemental feed including lots of hay during the winter but I only take 1 cow through the winter each year. I buy a calf each Feb and I take a cow to butcher each November. Takes 2 years to grow a beef cow to slaughter weight but I’m still saving money over grocery cost and nothing beats growing your own food in my book.
Exactly! Have a small farm of only 5.3 acres. Raising for pigs, have 20 laying hens, growing our own garden, and in the process of fencing in 4.5 acres to have about 3-4 cows. One of which will be for food for the family and the other 3 I will sell the calves to help make some of my money back. It’s time the world gets back to those roots! Raising my kids to not depend on getting everything they need to survive from a grocery store! Def makes it taste better knowing you invested your hard earned time, money, and work to make it happen!
@crimsonwizard01 well we normally have 2 except for those 3 months of winter between when 1 gets taken to butcher around 1st of Nov and late February when I pick up another calf. But we also keep chickens on the pasture with our cows and they can keep them company. The goat suggestion may work also but goats can be escape artists.
Good stuff, And you don’t have to worry about grocery store meat and what the cows that provided it were fed or injected with, including growth hormones, GMO grain, insecticide sprayed fields, etc.
@@Billy_Ruck Homegrown vegetables actually do taste better than store-bought. Most store-bought vegetables are grown in greenhouses and is not as nutritious.
This makes me feel better. We have a little over one acre and were wanting a longhorn. We're in TX.
When I first started in the cattle buisness a old timer told me. Figure out the carrying capacity of your place. stock it with half as many as that. And you will be about right. It was real good advice.
Hey sir I hope that you're all good I'm derick from Uganda and I'm currently looking for any agriculture activity I don't care what activity. I'm flexible and reliable because I can adopt to any environment
And some of our young adults don’t think “math knowledge “ is necessary in their lives. A very interesting episode. Your farm looks so beautiful! ❤️
A-A-Ron I agree with you...this was simple math and very useful. Doug, I beg to differ with you. My statement was not just a chance to complain about young people as you suggested but it was based upon my husband’s 25 years experience as a math teacher in High Schools.
Abraham Lincoln read his geometry textbook every year. His stated reason? Math teaches us to think. That's reason enough for me.
@@a-a-rondavis9438 ohhh unit circle 😆
@@a-a-rondavis9438 "I've worked 20 years in the inner city" one of their best episodes
Its nice to watch a truly honest and faithful to proper farming and animal husbandry on a farming TH-cam channel. Keep up. And we will keep learning an enjoying.
Happy Independence day to Your Family and You.
Pete, I don't know how to Thank You! What you just did is valuable!
You're welcome Tim!
I am not a farmer/rancher but I really enjoy your business approach and how you help others.
Thanks for explaining the numbers. Helped me to run the math.
I have 3-acres here high desert of So Calif.
Got garden going, chickens, meat chickens, started planting more fruit trees. I started working out my land to raise a meat cow for my family. Been trying to figure how much hay to grow for 1 cow. I set aside 1 to 1.25 acre for grazing.
My favorite farming channel to learn from. No BS, real world, no nonsense and straight forward information. Thank you and keep it up Pete!
Ever thought of buying even more bales now at $35 and selling them in the winter for +$100? Extra protection for yourself and potential profit when your neighbors need it.
Very informative!! You are a well of knowledge and buffer that with common sense......Thank you so much and Happy fourth
In farming, most everything seems to be a compromise between what you would like to do, and what you have to do ( reality ).
Great explanation of feeding costs and analysis, As I have mentioned before I used to be a Hay dealer, and not all my customers were Horse stables. I have quite a few Dairy Farmers that needed good quality 2nd cut hay to get through. and believe me finding that kind and quality of hay in mid winter is no easy task even for a dealer. fact on the contrary. so I know what it is for both the farmer and the dealer to scramble mid winter /end of season needs. good sound advice Pete thanks for taking the time I'm sure you opened a lot of eyes with your info. thanks for sharing.
A very interesting way of looking at small farming regards N Ireland
I have similar acreage as you now. Spent most of my life running cattle, but decided to run hair sheep instead. Best decision I could've made for my operation.
Hey Pete, Love your videos. I'm a newer small herd beef producer and you've provided me with good info and things to think about. Happy 4th of July to you and your family and God Bless America!
Another awesome Sunday video. Thanks for taking the time to break this important aspect of heard management down for us.
I love these Sunday videos. Great idea Pete!! Thanks for this one in particular. This is something we were trying to figure out. :)
Thank you Pete. Seeing that we're in the dry Southwest,, elevation 7800'. always enjoy looking at the Green New York Countryside. This may be hard for you to believe but our first rain was this week so that brings our entire total for the year 2 in. But in the high plains mountain regions 2 in is enough to get our grasses growing quickly. We calculate in typical years one cow per 35 to 50 acres..
I love watching your Sunday videos. I’ve dreamed of starting a small farm and watching these really give me the tips and tricks to hopefully one day fulfill my dream of starting a small farm. Keep it up and I love the jokes haha
I've stumbled upon your channel and have watched a few of your videos. You seem to know quite a bit and you're a respectable teacher. I wish you and yours well on your journey.
Peace.
Thanks for everything buddy hope you guys are having a wonderful 4th god bless everyone
Thanks Pete for taking us along on the ride to discover your farms capacity. You do the calculations and run up to that then adjust to find the sweet spot. AND THEN every season throws something at you that could not be ever be expecting. Thanks again for a carefully put together video and putting out your own situation for us all to see. Dave.
This is the BEST explanation of 'cow days' I have ever heard! I just subscribed, thank you!
I love how you calculate everything. In my opinion that is the way to do it. Happy Independence Day from My farm to yours!!
That was a great video, Pete. Downsizing is a tough decision to make but it sure seems to make sense in your case. Good for you for being able to make it.
You my friend have inspired me to get back into growing food for my family I love it thank you for igniting that spark In me since I loss my dad
Well Pete, that was a very good explanation of what a person has to figure on before one starts getting into cattle raising.
Thanks for another SFS video Pete! I've been planning on moving from our 3 acre home to a 40+ acre property sometime in the next few years to expand our Maple operation and introduce cattle to our operation. Your videos are always very helpful in helping me plan this project!
Last year we started high density stock grazing moving the herd everyday. All hay fields are fenced in and we graze all 2nd crop and 75% of 3rd crop. Got us to thankgiving last year in a dry year. I think Pete your farming practices and management over longer period of time will get you where you want to be. Thanks for informing us on your operation. Keep up the good work.
Love watching these videos. You explain so well and are an excellent and pleasant teacher.
Great info that you are putting out. I just finished mowing and raking my hay on 35 acres. Did it with a haybine and an old 256 New Holland rake. Bought them for $3200, put $300 into them, and they survived the first cutting! Great advice on that old equipment. Now for the baling . . . we'll see how that goes. Thanks for giving me a direction to go in! Don't want someone to do it for me but needed someone to show me which way to go. Very odd on the numbers . . . when I have 52 Angus, I'd feed 100 lbs of grain every three days and the cows would only eat 1.5 bales (5x5) per day. $140 a month for grain, 45 bales, which I got some off my land and bought some. In MO, we only feed hay Nov through Apr.
Hello Peter. Your own method of farming, raising cattle and knowing their need for hay sounds right on. We're not farmers but enjoy following you on your channel. You make great sense when figuring what you need. Others could learn a lot from you & your family. Be well.
Thank you for the info Pete. I love seeing you explain how it all works. And to me you can’t get any better information than real world EXPERIENCE. You have farmed the same land for years and can speak specifically for your property. I learn best from those experiences as well. Believe they call it trial and error. Lol. Thanks for the video Pete. Favorite channel on TH-cam.
I'm sorry, I know you are humble and I love that about you, but your channel is simply the best. So interesting and knowledgeable!! Way to hit it out of the park every time, at least for me. God Bless!!
Knowing a man’s limitations is one of the secrets to life. You sir appear to know yours clearly and put a lot of thought into it. I enjoy your videos and your approach to maximizing what you have to work with! I grew up on a small farm in Northeast ND and I appreciate what you do! Have a great Sunday!
This is why I follow your channel. Excellently presented, easily understandable information on how to operate a farm in today's environment. Plus your entertaining amd you tell dad jokes. 😃👍🦅🇺🇸
Thanks for the Math-Lesson :) It's really helpful. I'm not looking to support kettle but it certainly is informative and I like how you and some other channels are actually getting into the the "Small Farm" business case. Lots of people don't do that.
Happy 4th to you and your family Pete. Thanks for taking us through the numbers for running a sustainable cattle operation.
It sucks that you'll need to buy hay for two years until you are back to where your herd size matches your field capacity. Some times you got to have the tail wag the dog.
Hi Pete, I love your approach and philosophies.
Another through and thoughtful video. Thank you Pete
I love your channel and love videos like these. Thank you again for sharing your wealth of knowledge and animal husbandry.
I've really enjoyed your channel!
Pete thank you for running through a video like this. I wonder how many homesteaders know about this basic cow unit calculation.?? Happy 4th to you, family and the herd. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Great video as usual. Always enjoy watching & learning.
thanks for another great video, pete. i was watching for your video all day.
THANK YOU. for years i have been looking for the numbers u just put out.
Happy independence day to you and your family ! I just ordered your book. I would like in the next five years to start my own farm and trying to pick up as much knowledge as possible so thank you for everything.
Great video! You're a superb teacher. Thank you!
Wise words from a person who is actually making it work!
Great point about stock piling grazing forage. Most people don’t want to talk about the quality. I like your hay setup
You are one of my favorite vids because of your size, old equipment (like me) and your jokes. One thing some people do in my part of the country is grow barley indoors. I've been doing a little studying on it with LED lights.
Thank you Pete for clarifying in the winter stock pill of forage I've have learned over time what you are saying is exactly right for me here in east Tennessee thank you for sharing
Hey, A fellow East Tennessean. I too was looking into winter stock piling and what Pete says is true. It's extremely less productive because you have to keep the cattle off that land until winter...it takes way more land to do this and most people like myself didn't realize that's why the operations that do this lease land to stock pile and graze.
@@hollienguyen5222 Ha Hollie thank you its taken me years to learn this thing I Agree with Mr Judy on alot that he shairs I know it works for him and many others. But it just cant for me . Alot of the land i use is small tracts and rent free. Not all can be pastured so my hay equipment has cost me less than 12 thousand dollars that way I can utilize that land what works for me won't work for others have a wonderful day and pray you get the rain you need
Really good info. We’ve owned our Dexters for a year now. Thanks for providing the method for calculating this. I think Im going to need a couple of more years data to be able to do it. But now I have the knowledge in my back pocket! Thanks Pete!
Such a great video for ppl to think about! I'm not sure what it's like there as far as farmland, but my dad will actually "Volunteer" to cut older farms pastures for them and they split the hay (at no cost other than his time, labor, machine) or he gets to keep all the hay outright just for helping the land owner have it cut each year. He's got MULTIPLE farms in our community that he does this for. Might be another thing you could look at doing--working out a deal with land owners who aren't raising livestock/need the hay themselves. :D
How you determined how many animals to your herd has been a question bubbling around in the back of my mind for a long time un-articulated. Thanks for answering a question I didn't even know how to ask!
Thanks Pete, you explained it very well and I was hoping someone would. Jim
You do a great tutorial Pete, Thumbs Up
Great information thanks Pete.
Thanks for walking through the math and discussing the options!! Have a terrific 4th of July!!!
I really enjoyed your explanation of how you arrive at the number of cows per acre that you can sustain. That is a struggle for all cattlemen. Have you looked at more efficient feeding systems to ensure you are not wasting hay? When we made the switch to more efficient feeders we saw about a 30% decrease in the hay we fed. That was several years ago and I am sure the technology has improved. We found the feeders where the base was wider than the feeding area did the best job and were still easy to use. The old bale rings with vertical sides are inexpensive and easy to use but they waste a lot of hay.
I too am a big believer in minimizing hay waste. As I often say, it's better to run it through the cow and then use it to fertilize the field rather than having the cow waste it on the field. The bale ring you saw in the video is only used for occasional summer feeding. We store and feed our hay indoors for the winter.
Great information, very helpful!
I have a small farm in Cornwall, I am always out to get what hay I can on the farm.
I only have 35 acres, and a buy in stock, and have 18 cattle.
I restock this farm last year, got about 170 bales.
This year I keep moving them, over about 9 acres.
I have a John Deere 580 round baler, and do all the work myself here in the UK.
Excellent information, thanks.
Another awesome video Pete, thank you :)
Great lecture. Thanks. Cow weight for hay vs. cows art per acre, it makes sense, cows are different. Take care.
Great math skills. Love the channel.
You made it simple???? Yes still working getting a Dexter!! You did make it easier!!! Thank you. I really love your channel!!!
Thank you for the informative video in this kind of business ❤❤❤❤
Thanks Pete great video and you also have a wonderful 4th of July
I very much appreciated your video as I want to take my next step in life as a small cattle rancher, Thank you, and ironically, exactly 1 year later, it's the 4th of July today. Happy Independence Day!
Thanks. I'm on the regenerative road but I've been trying to get my head around winter grassing and if I can do it .
You have just answered my question.
Great analysis on cow units. Very professional.👍👍👍🐂🐮
This was a very informative video.I enjoys your videos, your passion for your animals, and you are a self sufficient individual. You fix your own equipment, build your own structures for the chickens , turkeys and the pigs.
You are an inspiration to the small farmers striving to accomplish what you do on your farm.
Aloha from Honolulu, Hawaii
Thanks Pete, enjoyed small farm Sun
Thanks, have a great Independence day
Happy 4th, always nice to watch new videos
Thanks Pete! Really informative!
Hey. I hope that you will be able to sustain your farm with a smaller herd. It isn’t easy but then we must realise the reason you started in the 1st place. I love your videos and your work ethic.
great video. i like how you go in the specifics
We stacked small squares in the loft for a small dairy herd.
We were careful to stack each layer, and take them out a layer at a time so Dad could keep track of it.
I should say I live in a similar climate.
Dad occasionally purchased alfalfa, but he was reluctant.
Interesting to hear it explained as a science.
Thanks Pete.
The best part of farming is the simplicity. Feed, water, butcher, sell. Sounds so easy but never is.
Nice........
Good job Pete......
Lots to think about....
Great video Pete from ireland
Wow, excellent video! Thank you!
Our agrarian ancestors are cheering from Heaven, Pete!!! You've again hit it on the nail.......self-sufficiency is the backbone of the American spirt. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! ;o)
Just waiting for this from the morning :)
That was a great video that put information in black and white. There is 1 other option in our area of West Tennessee. There are lots of folks that have land and don't have haying equipment. Some of them need hay and others need the fields mowed once or twice a year so it doesn't turn back into woods. It's fairly common for people to split the hay with the guy that bales it and either keep or sell the rest. Admittedly we don't have dairies competing for the feed.
Happy Independence Day. Great video. Thank you.
Hidden costs always is seen by the farmer not the consumer !! Very useful information !! Happy 4th of July !! God bless you and your family !! Thank you for what you do !!
Great information, so practical too.
Awesome info in that video. Keep up the good work!
Wow!! I am not sure if I am smart enough to be Farmer. Excellent video. Thank you very much for making it. Btw I believe your philosophy is the correct one. Self sufficiency would be my main goal. I am glad I have found your Channel.
Good job Pete and Happy 4th of July.
Super interesting Pete................. Thanks
Thank you for sharing this video
Love small farm Sunday. We’ve been reevaluating our plans as we build up our infrastructure. We only have about 8-9 acres of grazing land, but we’re in Florida so our grazing season is longer than yours. We planned on keeping a bull but reconsidering that due to the concerns you talked about here. I’d rather buy as little hay as possible.
Thanks Pete.
That answered my question from the last video. I won’t say it is simple but the way to figure your farm and herd size is straight forward for sure. You already have a good idea on the amount of hay you will need to buy to make it to next spring. Just like any business here is it July of 2021 and your forecasting or budgeting out for the next year, just like all businesses. The one question you may have missed. After figuring you need to reduce your herd size for the land you have when do you figure if that size herd will make you a profit or close enough to support your family? Farmers have to be the most innovative people on the planet. To always be figuring out how to save money, making a machine to save time or a process to save time. Really a good video