Stocking Rates - How Many Cows per Acre
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- Опубликовано: 16 фев 2019
- Continuing on with our business of ranching series, we take a look at how we determine how many cows the ranch can support along with grazing practices to ensure that we can continue grazing for years to come. We figure stocking rates, carrying capacity and how to analyze animal units for your own ranch.
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Our Wyoming Life
PO Box 667
Gillette WY 82717
Join us on our journey as we leave a life in corporate america to come back to Wyoming and help on the family ranch.
Our Wyoming Life features our Wyoming ranch and our ranch family. Giving you a look into the workings of ranching from raising cattle to raising and harvesting crops. Erin will join you weekly out of the garden, showing you how she helps provide for our family through growing produce and selling at local farmers markets, and Mike will take you along as he tends to the animals and land of ranch, from calving to fencing to planting and harvesting hay.
This is a great video. Mike, I am glad you posted some of these people's comments. I never would have believed it that people would be so hard on you. You have a difficult job, and making it work as you and Erin do is a testimony to your fortitude, pioneer spirit and your courage to follow your dream of being Wyoming ranchers. Keep going you guys, you are awesome and an inspiration to many of us to keep on going!
Thanks Mike for taking on the job as teacher. Every video that you post gives people the opportunity to learn something new. The importance of that cannot be over valued.
I think it is good for city people to watch this video. I am glad you didn't go into too much detail about things like % of clay, bio diversity, organic matter in soil... it would have been too much for many viewers. Great work!
You can get so far into it. We have very sandy loamy soil, little topsoil and little to no nitrogen, that can make it harder, thanks Todd - Mike
@@OurWyomingLife I am sure that there are 1000 people who can tell you how to fix every problem that your soil may or may not have but they have no idea of return on investment. You guys are doing what you can and that is just right. Keep up the good work.
Oh, by the way I consider OWL to be my favorite youtube channel.
So cool. Being a city guy, and wanting to get a small farm down the road, it's videos like this that is very useful. I'm so glad to have found your channel for the education I'm certain to need later on. Thanks as always for your help.
Mike, I'm glad you included the part that stockings rates can be vastly different than someone just a mile away. Here in Illinois the usual rule is 1.5-2.5 cow per acre. But part of our ground is reclaimed coal mining dirt. No mater how much rain or fertilizer it gets it not going to produce the same. We figured 4.5-5.5 on the reclaimed soil. The difference in soil could only be a few feet across a valley, but it makes a world of difference when figuring your cattle/sheep operation.
Thanks for the post here, I know a lot more about raising cattle than I once did. This was very educational and hope this continues. It is also good for helping me build a farm business plan.
Awesome. With you explaining all these and putting numbers on these abstract concepts, it becomes easily visualizable (is this even a word?) for us or can be easily seen the lessons you are explaining. Dude, this is awesome. Keep doing this and keep educating us on this your Wyoming life.
Hi Mike, I found the Our Wyoming Life channel by searching for antelope hunting videos in Wyoming. I was drawn in by your down to earth personality. I watched the video with the guys from South Sacramento and many others ( I’m also from south Sac). Your channel is the only one I have subscribed to. I plan to hunt in Wyoming with in the next few years. Thanks for the information and showing us around the ranch. John
I have learned so much from your channel than ever before. Always very informative.
Hello, I understood the first video you posted on this topic and the fact that it is different for each rancher and their geographic location. However, this was a FABULOUS post, taking the subject down to its simplest terms. I know these post take a lot of your time, and being new to ranching, just know you are helping a lot of us out! GOD Bless.....
Thank you....all of this information was extremely interesting. I never realized how complex and exacting cattle ranching is. Keep such videos coming!
Thank you very much :) - Mike
Right on the money, Mike. That formula is what I was taught in Range Land Management when I was in FFA many years ago. Still applies today!
Thank you very much - Mike
Intensive rotational grazing, mob grazing, holistic management.
Haven't heard you mention these.
Proven to increase stocking rate and forage, soil health. You said you're open to ideas. I'd like to see you succeed and save $. Great work. Love the videos
Great video, Mike. I and most small and part time cow/calf operators play it by ear, this explanation help put a plan in place. Mother nature has the last word. Keep up the good work, both on the ranch and your channel. Love it. Best to the family.
I have come to have a love/hate relationship with mother nature and one that I can never count on :) Thanks Mike - Mike
What a wonderfully informative video!!!
Very informative video!! I really enjoyed today's video. No other channel has info like this. Thank you!!
Thanks Chris - MIke
i love when you break down the economics!
Excellent information. Excellent presentation. Thanks for the time , energy, and effort you put in to this program.
Thank you Paul - Mike
Very well spoken. Thanks for the information.
Well done video on explaining stocking rates.
Thank you Dave - Mike
thanks mike love these videos showing the business side of things Deffenetly a big help for people like myself looking to get into the business
Great job Mike! information like this is really valuable and helpful.
Thank you Kris - Mike
Love your videos I look forward to each one. I’ve learned so much and enjoy seeing the projects. Thank you and God bless
Thank you Nick - Mike
Another great video mike. And also informative
Thank you Russell - Mike
Good Math lesson, actually wrote down the numbers and done the calculations. Much appreciation, thank you.
I enjoyed joining you on Our Wyoming Life. Loved the video 👍
Thank you very much - Mike
Good video of part of the business side of the ranch, Mike. I love the new logo. Have a blessed Sunday.
Thank you Giles - Mike
Thank You. Excellent information, on stocking animals. Fairly simple formula. Thanks again.
Full of good information! Good in-depth explanation!
Thank youy very much - Mike
I learned all of this information in college, and it is really interesting and very useful. Its really sad to see people disliking you and even calling you out on how you are wrong when they come from total different parts of the world where they stocking rates and carrying capacity is probably much lower.
I agree, there isnt a whole lot of tolerance with some people. Thank you - Mike
Hey Mike, Love the math (ha!) and the business of ranching. Thanks for sharing. Good job.
Very informative. Thanks Mike
Thansk Caolan - Mike
Love your videos Mike! Great job
Thank you - Mike
Thank you for the great Sunday morning math lesson Mike!
Thank you very much - Mike
Incredibly informative video, Mike! I must say you have to have a thick skin to put up with some of the comments you (and I assume all RUclipsrs) get. Having lived all of my 69 years in arid lands, it amazes me that there are places where you can run 100 cows on as many acres. It's also becoming clear to me that some folks from those kinds of places will never "get" the challenges of farming and ranching in areas where it doesn't rain every other day.
The challenges make us stronger, I hope :) - Mike
Thanks for a very informative video!
Thanks Mike great video
Thanks Cliff! - Mike
Great video mike 👍 thanks for sharing that info very good information very knowledgeable great way to wake up to Sunday morning always learning something new hope you all have a beautiful Sunday be safe hope you're having some great weather
Thank you Ernest, have a great day - Mike
Mike you're great mate, keep going.
Awesome vid, subscribed to the herd report
Funny Mike, you layout the numbers out and haters call BS.. Your land fall under Fragile land: (Sustained production requires specific management practices) and your doing just that. Thumbs up on your report. Also we just got schooled today, and today is a good day..
Man, such and great and informative/educational video!!!! Taking the time to school us folks who know nuthin about nuthin when it comes to ranching. Thanks again from San Diego!
Thank you very much, Erin is planning a trip your way - Mike
great job Mike!
Thank you - Mike
Very informative video....Thanks Mike !
Thank you very much - Mike
Very interesting. Thanks Mike.
Thank you - MIke
That's some good stuff Mike. Thanks a ton.
Thank you Jeff - Mike
Fantastic video Mike! I'm glad you covered this, I've noticed many questions coming up about why you dont have more cattle. This hit that nail on the head and set it with one swing. I really enjoyed!
Thank you sir, hopefully this helps some folks understand where we are coming from. - Mike
@@OurWyomingLife it definitely should, seeing you explain the way you did even enlightened me.
:)
Great video and very informative. These are the things folks need to know Ranchers face everywhere.
Thank you very much - Mike
More homework for me and what my place will hold.... Nice video Mike!
I have enjoyed your channel since I found it , your explanation was perfect. I have several subscriptions with varied interests you are not alone dealing with the keyboard experts. no worries you have plenty of us who enjoy your channel
In the beginning it bothered me more than it does now. You have to grow a thick skin. Thanks James - Mike
Interesting Stuff. Thank You.
Thank you for sharing this information. Very interesting.
You're welcome, thanks for watching Ron - Mike
Thanks for the info I have never even thought about that
Thank you for watching Alan - Mike
Thanks for the information great video
I really enjoyed your lecture. I am an Environmental Biologist Freshwater Ecology is my specialty, you showed the Ecology of Carrying Capacity = K. Your numbers describing Cattle food requirements was fascinating, Cattle Herbivores need vast quantities of autotrophic grasses, you described the field acreage numbers to show what you as a rancher need to maintain the food requirements of your herds.
Fascinating, very informative. We drove past Gillette a few years ago - a big empty landscape and I now know why. When I first heard how big your ranch was, I thought wow, you are rich. Then I found out how many cows per acre - and thought the opposite.
From the UK, so a very different climate. ( the average English farm is less than 150 acres ).
Thanks for the channel.
Thank you very much John - MIke
John Fox yes here in the U.K. farmers talk about cows per acre and not acres per cow never mind numbers of acres per cow.
Good Morning Mike. We use 1 1/2 acre per cow calf here in north central Indiana. Some claim they can do it on 1 acre but I think that is a little optimistic unless you use a lot of fertilizer and good limed ground.
Love your videos,( best on you tube)for the farmers and want to be farmers and ranchers. Always waiting for the next one.
Thank you very much - Mike
In southern Indiana, it's about 1.5 to 2 acres per cow/calf and we usually get 3 cuttings of hay. One good years we can get 4 cuttings.
Good video...well done. Makes you appreciate farmers and what they have to do to make a living.
Thank you Bill - Mike
It was the "cost of ranching" video that got me hooked on your page. And I've been watching ever since. It's funny how we can take things like ranching for granted. How many times in my life have I been driving by or through someone's ranch land and say to myself, "I wonder what that guy does for a living to keep this place going?"
He makes youtube videos :) Thanks Boyd - Mike
Excellent video Mike.
Thanks Jonathan - Mike
Good info Mike!
Thanks Brad - Mike
Hard to believe how many acres per cow as we can easily put 1 cow calf pair per acre here in southwestern Ontario. Great video makes much more sense now! Thanks!
Very interesting topic, showing your calculations, thanks
Thank you Tony - Mike
this was interesting,enjoyed it very much..
Thank you Jody - Mike
Stocking rate is a critical issue. Too many people run too close to the maximum animals. It’s dangerous if anything goes wrong, like drought, grass fire, even flooding in some areas you can overgraze seriously. The land I sold out west had a stocking rate of 20 acres to one cow, 1 cutting of hay per year. Here in Kentucky it is 2.5 acres per cow, we get three cuttings of hay per year. However the hay has poorer nutritional make up than dryland hay. This is due to high rainfall/rapid growth and bleaching. I do miss western hay weather.
Excellent video, you really explain it well.
Thank you Fiona, I'm honestly glad you get to see both sides of it. Really does help me out - Mike
I live in Kentucky also but I don't push my farm to 2.5 acres per cow. In fact I run almost 3.5 acres per cow, I would rather have a lot of extra hay to sell then to run short on a drought year. Also it is much easier on the land.
Great vid man, very comprehensive. I'm sorry so many people sought to comment and demean your intelligence from that stocking rate quote in that video...that certainly wasn't my intent when I posted my comment on that vid. I think that was clear but just in case it wasn't, I'm making it clear now. Your reply to that comment was a good reply.
I'm looking forward to future updates on improvements, your arid environment is far beyond what most people are used to dealing with for sure. Then to have so much harsh winter and short growing season mixed in is certainly going to make it rough. People don't understand that when it comes your livelihood, change doesn't come easy or quickly. I encountered the same thing when landlords wanted me to change my operation to encompass more soil health practices. I was like, well I have equipment, budgets, people that count on me and everything else to consider...what if something causes a train wreck? I'm willing to change but I can't do it all at once when I'm crawling out on a new limb to start with.
You guys keep plugging away, I'll certainly keep watching. Best regards.
Thank you Brent for the kind words. It can be difficult, it hard to make improvements that cost money when you have to buy 50K in hay but we are working with what we can. Thank you again - MIke
gr8 information! weLLdone... thankYou
that deep voice is stunning !
I have no idea what was said in this video nor am I a farmer but it was still interesting lol
I've never thought about my stocking rate I've always just played it by ear
Thanks for watching Chase - Mike
Gabe Brown is a farmer/rancher outside Bismarck, ND and is doing incredible things to increase the water capacity of his soil. Anyone who is looking to raise animals in an area with minimal annual precipitation needs to read his writings.
Another great video Mike high five from Down under
Hi Mike, Always enjoy, interesting last season I ran one of my herds , at 27 Limousin cows, and a bull, grass only on 20 ha so 50 acres. Clay soils, electric fencings , etc Come to NZ and I'll show you what we get up to over here Lol,
The secret is grass grows grass, so you must never over graze , back fence and protect regrowth. regards Owen.
Love Wyoming
This is great information, thanks.
My great grand dad was a cattle rancher and so was my grand dad, but sometime ago when it was my dad's turn he sold the farm and got into working for a multinational company.
Over the years I have bought land and I want to start up a cattle ranch.
I need to work the numbers and see if I can handle it or just let the land go.
I don't want to be a farmer. I like to be a cattleman.
Thanks ! Very informative !.🌟🌟👍👍👍🌟🌟
Thankyou and thanks for watching - Mike
Very interesting!....thank you...
Thank you and thanks for watching - Mike
Mike, look up installing swales to capture water and help hold it in the ground for longer as well as improving soil biology which both will help increase production of the land. Hopefully you can use both to find a way to work for you and Erin.
This is one of those videos you've made that makes this city boy have "Huh i never thought of that" or "This is alot more complicated than I thought" moments! I cant help but think that this video will be used by teachers and be the basis for exam questions. i.e. #1) Define the following terms, Stocking Rate, Animal Unit month, Carrying Capacity, and give an example of each. #2) How does the native wildlife and insect population effect native forage?
See, learning something every day. :) - Mike
Well explained. It is amazing how many people don't understand the math, even ones who should like bankers and rural real estate agents.
I agree, thanks Rob - Mike
Amazing video. I'm only wanting to get a couple bulls for a few acres btlut I enjoyed seeing the numbers
In farming ther is always a cost you need to pay.
I have boer goats and they cost me to,
Vet. Cost, grain and some hay as well ...
So i understud you very well.
In farming is always cost some times feed other times machine parts and gas... but we do it any way because we love it !
Nice video Mike !
Yes it is, thanks Mark - Mike
Mike has that great radio voice.
In Northern N.M. is about 45 acres , thank you for sharing
Thanks Gustavo, I spoke to someone in NM who said they were close to 100. That is wild. Thank you - Mike
When I lived in Mountainair, in central NM, it was 80 acres -- and that was in the "good" years!
In Southern NM it's 60 to 100 acres. I have friends with a 30,000 acre ranch running 100 head of momma's. We're also having a shortage of rain and they're looking at selling part of their herd. Luckily I have irrigated farmland and run 2 acres/head. Also, don't forget that state and federal land leases come with stocking rates that you can't exceed.
I imagine in wetter areas there will be less acreage per cow
Good video, thanks for sharing. Where we are fom we figured that it's around 3 some acres per cow calf, cuz cow's eating that much to produce milk, and the calve's eats that much cuz there'll growing. But yeah season are different, in other areas, so thanks for the video sir.
Thank you Randy - Mike
I Love your channel
Thank you very much - Mike
Hey Mike, great video about the economics and limiting factors in your operation. You noted that rotational grazing doesn't help If you don't have water to let the grass grow back. But you collect water in ponds and you have water runoff from your fields - so you have water, but at the wrong spot or time. Maybe you could have a look at Keyline Design that was designed in Australia to keep water in ponds up the hill to irrigate your fields by gravity after July. Kind regards from Germany, Thilo
I have seen the Keyline system, looks very cool as most of our reservoirs are downhill. Thank you very much - Mike
that was interesting Mike
Good ideas. I am interested!
Thats what makes him and this great
A great video as always, nice to see the factual and economic sides of Ranching, but the more important question of the day is how do you regulate cow farts? is there a formula you use for that? asking for a friend...
Very interesting! Who'd have thought farming could be that technical???
It can be, thanks Adrian - Mike
I salute your calculation
Thanks for that information! I've been wondering about this. It amazes me that even with all of the science and math that you have available, there are still years where unforeseen things can come close to crippling the ranch. It shows that we don't know near as much as we think we do. I have to wonder how those ranchers in the 19th century managed without the technology and knowledge we have today.
A lot of them didn't manage at all and it showed.
If you go back into open range days, they just moved cows until they found food, but I'm sure it caused plenty of fights back then. I have read stories about gunfights over watering holes for cows. Thank you very much - Mike
In 1974 in southern mo, we planned 3 acres per cow/calf pair.
I think the biggest difference is annual rainfall.
It's very interesting to see how you guys do it over there in the usa. Here in the UK we furtilise, harrow, roll and plough up and re seed grass pasture quite often sometimes. Do you ever do any of that over there?
My district, San Francisco Unified School District, has been teaching ecosystems using farming and the Commons simulation. I ran across your site, and found that it ties into what we teach extremely well. May I use your content, particularly this video, in my own curriculum, and perhaps other Biology teachers in my district. Regardless, Thank You for the knowledge and content you share!
Kevin C. Hartzog
Biology Teacher
Balboa High School
San Francisco, Ca
Great content Mike, info the AG community needs especially anyone contemplating raising animals that you require to forage. I actually learned something I had not taken into account, the insect factor and the wild antelope factor, two things if you had not figured into the totals could have been a killer for the ranch. I'm curious, are there government sponsored classes through agriculture programs you can learn about the business end of ranching OR is it just learn by doing. Great video! Look forward to seeing Erin on your next video, say HI to all the family from Arizona/Cali we are part-time in both places. I wish I were younger, I think I would have taken up ranching...I love the life style!
Thanks Brenda, there are plenty of programs, most charge you and some have even contacted us about working with them. But this information should be out there. Thanks you - Mike
As a cattle farmer from Wisconsin that spent several years working in Billings MT, I had never heard of acres per cow until then. It was always cows per acre. Raising cattle in a more arid environment has its challenges. On the flip side, nowhere near the level of per acre property taxes by you. Good luck, enjoy the videos!
Thank you, very informative. I guess when I graduate I'll get a cowboy hat. I thought the stocking rate was more for control of disease.