# How many cattle on 35 acres



## buck_1one (Nov 26, 2004)

I am looking at a farm in Hampshire county WV. I am just starting to look at it and wondering if someone could give me an idea of how many cattle I could pasture on 35 acres. I have no way of making hay so I would have to buy hay for winter. Right now the farm is just overgrown crap. I would plow under and then plant for pasture.

I understand there could be a lot of variables to this so I'm not asking for something written in stone, just an idea.

Thanks in advance.


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## Gravytrain (Mar 2, 2013)

The pasture will not be overly productive initially. 

An alternative to plowing under and replanting is to get some supplemental hay and push the limit of how many head you can hold on pasture alone. Depending on how much you are willing or able to feed hay...this could range anywhere from 10-40+ head initially. That larger number is just to illustrate what COULD be done...not necessarily what SHOULD be done.  Unless you have woody brush in your pastures, the cattle would do most of the renovation work for you. The larger the mob, the faster the reclamation, as long as you follow basic mob grazing rules.

Assuming you have all the preliminary requirements in place: Perimeter fencing (with at least one hot wire), water, gates, etc., the routine would be to subdivide a paddock at least daily, allow the cows to graze whatever is available (down to about 4 inches) THEN feed hay on pasture, move them, mow whatever the cattle could not/would not eat, maybe drag a chain drag harrow around with a tractor of atv to break up manure patties and smooth ground and repeat until all the ground has been grazed/mowed. The next rotation you might want to spread some seed by hand/tractor/atv before the cattle graze to allow them to trample seed into the soil. Every successive grazing the pasture should improve AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT ALLOW THE CATTLE TO OVERGRAZE. You do not want any bare soil. If a bare spot develops, chuck some pasture seed on it.

I have done this many times to renovate old, overgrown pastures. Most of the time there is a valuable seed bank of old, sometimes many decades old, pasture seeds waiting for the right conditions to sprout. The key is to make conditions conducive to grass/legume growth and conditions adverse for weed growth. Feeding hay on pasture will help in this regard.

Once your pastures are productive, the holding capacity will depend largely on your management system. If you plan on continuous grazing, I would guess 8-10 head...MIG 14-18, Mob 20-25. Starting out, you might want to start slow and get a feel for what the land can hold.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Gravytrain's plans are sound. I would simply add that you could ask the county extension agent to come see the property and advise you on stocking numbers; he/she could also point you in the direction of resources in the area to assist you with this project. Good luck with this!


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## slingshot (Jun 25, 2014)

It really depends on how your going to manage them.... 

If your going to move them everyday, they will really do a great job on the pasture. Just takes time. 

The number of head is not as important as your plan for them. I would rotate a group through with a once a day move and see how you do. How big of group I don't know because of all the unknowns. Your budget will dictate that number as well. 

Do you have experience handling large animals? Do you have any type of facilities? Corrals? Or someway to contain them? All this directly dictates the number you should start with. 

A few round pen panels makes a fine portable corral, how's your fence? Do you have portable fencing? What about irrigation? Do you have a way to get water on the pasture if it doesn't rain? 

All these factors plus a few more should be taken into account when deciding on a starting number. 

A flock of chickens following these cattle will really speed things along also. 

So if it was me maybe I'd start with 10 and watch and learn how they affect what's there, move them every single day and adjust the area they have to use based on how they eat it. 

35 acres is a decent piece, with proper rotation you should be able to get at least one good cutting of hay, have a neighbor cut it for you. It's worth it. 

Take before and after pics, you will be amazed by the change.


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## WVhillbilly (Mar 11, 2016)

Our farm is in Mason County WV, we have about 30 acres in hayfield and another 55ish in pasture. The pasture is a mix of fields and woods, and we could run 25 cows on it with little to no hay supplemented except during the winter.


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## shaky6 (May 15, 2015)

This question cannot be answered accurately because there are too many variables involved. Soil quality, management effort, terrain, how deep your wallet is, how much hard labor you're going to invest, etc. Start with 5 head and increase gradually over 5 years to a saturation point that your land (and you) can handle.


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## shaky6 (May 15, 2015)

Gravytrain said:


> The pasture will not be overly productive initially.
> 
> An alternative to plowing under and replanting is to get some supplemental hay and push the limit of how many head you can hold on pasture alone.


Hey, so many of the agronomists out there agree that plowing under is the last option to consider, and the worst for soil systems. The best process for forage includes subsoiling and seed drilling. 

So every couple years I'll run the subsoiler through at about 24" spacing, lightly disk to break up the clods, and thats as much "tillage" as it gets. 

Lime and fertilize as needed. Rotational grazing. After each rotation I go through with a drag harrow and spike aerator for maintenance and reduce the parasite load. There is a spring planting for warm season forage and a fall planting for winter pastures. Both accomplished with a grass seed drill. 

I live in south Alabama though, where we have very little winter. This past winter I had to feed exactly 0 bales of hay. I actually used most of the hay last fall during the draught.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

With experience with rotational grazing and intensive management you should be able to handle 25 frame 4 brood cows year round on your 35 acres provided you do not have a drought. Storage of some hay bought during time of hay surplus will take fretting off your mind when the weather is not cooperating.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Yup -do what G.Seddon wrote. Contact your county agricultural extension office. The man that came out and walked my land with me was so knowledgeable and helpful.


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## Atgreene (May 4, 2017)

Put your money into a real good high tensile perimeter fence and high end charger. Let the animals do the rest. As said above, MIG/MOB grazing and some simple easy to move cross fence to break it into pastures each day will pay better dividends than plowing etc... We run 30 head on 45 acres, but it's hard to compare apple's to apples. The more years you graze the more the land and soil improves allowing more head.


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