It has been a very learning cattle year. A bunch of things went wrong while some other did not go right. But, the learning has been good. I have been able to identify the breakdowns and develop some new directions that I am excited about.
I have 25 grazable acres on 40 total property acres. I felt that 12 breeding cows would be sustainable if I practiced a management-intensive pasture rotation system. I started with four cows. Eventually I got to 8 cows. Artificial Insemination (AI) was my method of getting my cows bred. (It has been recommended that unless you have a minimum of 10 cows, AI is more prudent that keeping a bull on-site. More on that later.) AI turned out to be problematic so one year a friend lent me a bull for a couple of months. Wow! Eight calves! Liked that! So, I bought a bull to go along with one I was raising on-site. Next year - six calves, four of them heifers. The year after - I breed two of my earlier heifer calves and they end up calving.
Now:
- 10 cows
- 2 second year heifers
- 2 first year heifers
- 4 heifer calves
- 3 bull calves
- 3 breeding bulls
- 3 two-year old steers (for beef sales)
Twenty-seven head on 25 acres. Even though that figure includes calves and yearlings that don't eat as much, they have an impact.
I have Tifton 85 Bermudagrass pastures. This hybrid is highly palatable, fast growing, and drought resistant. Still, having the right amount of forage at the right time this past year was an iffy thing. Even productive grasses need management, and I have found that Tifton has special needs. I also did not plan for the problems associated with segregating animals based on their breeding, calving, lactating, and weight-gaining needs. This made the allocation of grazable forage a real pain. In order to fill the gaps I had to supplement with hay and feed.
In addition to my land resource not performing as well as I want or think it can, I am over-extended physically. I enjoy gardening and woodworking but have little time for that. Halter-training seven calves will keep you busy. And it's just me. You can understand why I gave up showing Miniature Herefords.
My solution:
- reduce my breeding cows to six animals
- sell all the animals as soon after weaning as possible
- sell one bull, keep two
In addition, I plan to:
- revamp my vegetation management practices to improve forage utilization (timely shredding post-grazing and selective haying)
- improve soil productivity through increased liming and fertilization (started this)
- establish cool-season forage pasture for late winter-early spring grazing (started this)
- set aside pastures for the stock-piling of summer forage for early winter grazing
So far (March, 2018), I have sold three of my cows, three heifers, and one calf. One bull has been posted for sale and my three bull calves will be posted soon. I think this will allow me greater flexibility to manage my grasses and meet the needs of my herd as they change through the year. Based on a herd of eight full-grown cattle (6 cows and two bulls) I will have a base stocking rate of 3 acres per AU. The transient portion of the herd is estimated to be 6 calves; all to be sold except perhaps for promising replacement heifers or steers for beef, and two bulls.
As usual, you start with a plan and then see whjat happens when mother nature shares her ideas. I think I will have lots to write about as this unfolds. Here goes.
(I have set this blog to allow comments for anyone who wants to share some insights or has questions. You will need to click on the title of the post to see the comments box.)