# Neighbors cows



## StxPecans (Mar 3, 2018)

Today I had my dad come look at 2 herds of mine and while driving place to place we pass by other peoples pastures and talk about them. A few people in my area just graze to the dirt and the cow is always showing a little rib. I asked him about a few herds I drive by daily and he remarks that the guy with that herd is the same guy who has these cows and these....
He then says that guy always says gata keep a cow hungry or it will get lazy and not forage. Very rarly does he have over 2 inches of grass. All be it pasture is weed free and he is running more cows per acre. Seems to raise nice claves, bragus cows and brangus bull. 
So my question is this. I know this is far from what any publication or book recommends. But if he is running more cows raising good calves isnt he technically making more money per acre. I guess his cows my not last as long. But he also isnt fertilizing or spraying a pasture for weeds. I doubt i could do this as i lease land and my land owners would run me off. Although this guys cattle are on leased land.


----------



## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

StxPecans said:


> Today I had my dad come look at 2 herds of mine and while driving place to place we pass by other peoples pastures and talk about them. A few people in my area just graze to the dirt and the cow is always showing a little rib. I asked him about a few herds I drive by daily and he remarks that the guy with that herd is the same guy who has these cows and these....
> He then says that guy always says gata keep a cow hungry or it will get lazy and not forage. Very rarly does he have over 2 inches of grass. All be it pasture is weed free and he is running more cows per acre. Seems to raise nice claves, bragus cows and brangus bull.
> So my question is this. I know this is far from what any publication or book recommends. But if he is running more cows raising good calves isnt he technically making more money per acre. I guess his cows my not last as long. But he also isnt fertilizing or spraying a pasture for weeds. I doubt i could do this as i lease land and my land owners would run me off. Although this guys cattle are on leased land.


Dad when he was young worked for a rancher out on the Red Desert of Wyoming that said he would rather have two skinny cows than one fat one. His ranch was 30 miles wide and 90 miles long.


----------



## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

What percentage of the neighbors cows breed back so you are getting a calf every 12 months?Uniform bunchs of calves the same size is worth a bit more money,most days.

My dad had some things to keep in your mind if you were going to own livestock.

1. You can never starve a profit from a cow.

2. If you cannot afford one to die you cannot afford to own any.

I guess as long as the landlord does not think his land is abused all is well with the way your neighbor is running his business. All landlords have different ideas of what they want. I have one that wants bare dirt for fear of wildfire. Another that got upset that I overgrazed annual grasses and I pulled cows when it was still green and growing. Nether has ever owned a cow but they have money so they can have a say in what I do,weather I like it or not.

I have a neighbor that is limited on how many cows she may run by terms of a lease so she wants the largest cows possible. But there are other schools of thought that say run 1000 to 1200 pound cows and use bulls to get calves that wean at 700+ pounds,which allows you to run a few more cows. But a lot of little things come into play to say which idea will make you more money.


----------



## chaded (May 13, 2018)

It is interesting how people do things different. We bought our farm almost a year ago and everyone around here (the older guys) seems to have some kind of experience with this farm. Whether is has been making hay here, helping with cattle, or in one case being the father of one that previously owned it.

I have heard this farm will run only 15 cattle all the way up to 55 and everything between from all of them. Lol.


----------



## KYhaymaker (Jun 7, 2018)

chaded said:


> It is interesting how people do things different. We bought our farm almost a year ago and everyone around here (the older guys) seems to have some kind of experience with this farm. Whether is has been making hay here, helping with cattle, or in one case being the father of one that previously owned it.
> I have heard this farm will run only 15 cattle all the way up to 55 and everything between from all of them. Lol.


Well you arent too far from KY, and if that farm was here given our variable weather Id say all your neighbors are correct, depending on the year.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

I've found since I reduced the stocking rate that the pastures weather the dry weather a LOT better and the grass stays healthier. Also do a LOT less winter feeding now... get nearly a month more grazing out of "stockpiled pasture grass before we need to start feeding. That's worth a lot when your farms are 100 miles apart with the cost of fuel.

The cows stay fat and happy and breed back better. Dry weather the grass holds on a LOT longer than it used to, usually enough that I don't even have to worry til it's been dry for about 2 months. I was looking at things today and we haven't had any *meaningful* rain in about 6 weeks and things don't look bad at all... grass is a little dry and short but not "crispy" and not bare dirt by a long shot. That's worth a lot too...

At least to me, anyway. We pushed stocking rates for a number of years when we were switching the Needville farm from row crops to pasture because we were breeding a lot of heifers to bring down here and build another herd... the Shiner place suffered because of it and it was easy to see. Being "understocked" isn't a bad thing, IMHO. We may build back up *some* but not to where we were before when we were pushing being "overstocked"...

Course, we have a neighbor across the road in Shiner who's place is perpetually grown up waist-deep in grass... he's DEFINITELY understocked, ie "too understocked" (at least IMHO) and he's just wasting resources and not using the land to full potential. Course, he can weather droughts without a second thought and barely has to feed at all in winter...

A lot depends on the dynamics and goals of the operation in question I'd say... one thing I've learned over the years in farming is "there's more than one way to skin a cat" and what's good for one guy doesn't automatically mean it's best for EVERYONE ELSE... different strokes for different folks and all that ya know...

Later! OL J R


----------

