what do I do with 100 acres of pasture?

farmerjan

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Hi and welcome. I think that the basic suggestions have been covered. Yes, go to the county ag office; your taxes pay for them to come out, give you advice and recommendations. Every state has different programs, and there are also some that are national. Find out what is available. There are different requirements for "land use taxes" and the difference between that and just regular taxes is usually significant so you want to make sure you do what is necessary to qualify for land use or ag taxes.
GB is right. FIRST get a soil sample that tells you the PH as all the fertilizer is useless if the PH is too high or too low. Again, the county extension agent can help you with that.
Was the land fertilized for hay in the past? There are so many that think they can just keep cutting hay with nothing put back into the land. The stand of grass gets thinner, weeds work in and the land gets poor from taking all the nutrients out in hay and never putting anything back. Got a few farmers here that do that and then complain that they don't get much hay.

My son and I do make alot of hay. We have about 150 acres that we cut, and try to make 2 cuttings off much of it except where there are fences. Those fields we make first cutting then try to graze the later growth. We fertilize hay fields every year. Often with poultry litter as it adds back organic matter, also with conventional fertilizer. We soil sample every year. We do renovations with fields that get weedy with a 2 year rotation. There is no magic bullet. It costs money and time to keep hayfields productive and in good shape. This year our first cutting was late getting started due to rain right when we should have been making hay. And our production is off mostly because of our very cold and dry winter. For example. We have a 4 acre hayfield that is mixed grass. Normally makes 13-14, 5x5 round bales first cutting. We got barely 11 round bales. The other field above that is about 6-7 acres and we didn't get 20 and normally get about 25. Our well established orchard grass 10 acre field was about 6-8 bales short of normal, but I cannot tell you off hand how many we got. We are making our bales bigger too, 5x6, but it will only account for about 1 bale for each 4-5 acres. We roll them tight. The amount of rainfall will determine the hay obviously, and this year it was dry and cold early, then alot of rain, then it is over mature, and now we are getting some more rain so there will be some decent 2nd cutting we hope.

We want to get 3 5x5 rolls to the acre on an average field. There are alot of variables that go into that. That is minimum for first cutting. 2nd cutting is always less although it should be a little better quality hay.
Again, we are talking here in Va. Different area, different grasses/hay, different rainfall/climate. You should be able to get a better idea of what is normal there from the extension agent. And the guy who did your hay, should be a reliable source of average yield. 1 roll per acre is just not worth the time and effort to travel the field a minimum of 3 passes. Cut, rake, bale. That is if conditions are right and you don't have to do any tedding, to get it dry.

The field could be fenced, in different sections and grazed. But you are looking at not only fencing; with prices in the $3.50 to $4.50 per foot...that is complete with the fencing guy supplying everything, except gates. Then you are looking at needing water....and that even if you have to only put in one well and then pipe it, it isn't cheap. A field like that should be cross fenced in order to utilize the grass for grazing efficiently. You can use electric for cross fencing, that is portable and moveable, but I never suggest electric for perimeter fences.

I think that getting it renovated and cut for hay will be your best bet. Owning your own equipment, for maybe 2 cuttings a year, with no livestock to feed it to, is a waste of money for someone who doesn't "know what you are doing". No disrespect, but you say you are not farmers. Around here, due to the cost of equipment, most of us will do hay on shares and it is 70/30. With us getting the 70%. Years ago it was 50/50 then 60/40, but is now 70/30. We just had a shaft and splines go out on a less than 3 yr old discbine, to the tune of $2,000. Can't cut hay without it. We traded in our older discbine the end of 2015 when it started to need alot of little things that were adding up to alot of money, and still would have an 8 yr old machine. So we traded it on a new one, that costs over $25,000 new, figuring we would have 5 good trouble free years. WRONG. Seems like 3 people in the area have had problems this year, 2 with the same problem we had but not all the same model/year machine. So you are looking at alot of money as you priced it, then there is fuel, and the time involved. Add fertilizer to that, and it is not worth it to most of us doing any custom work anymore, unless the yields are good. That is why we try to keep our fields well fed and productive. Seed is expensive and the rotations we do, are to try to clean up any weedy/junk that is growing, get a usable crop to feed and then get it back into good orchard grass which is what sells best here. We use sorghum/sudan grass, wheat or barley for the winter crop, then repeat and then put orchard grass back in the third year.

You might talk to the guy who made the hay and see if he has any suggestions. Has he made the hay in the past?

I think that hunting rights might be an economical way to utilize it if you are not wanting to put alot of money into it. But realize, that it will need some maintenance like bushogging to keep it open or the weeds and scrub will grow up in it fast.

It looks like nice land. We would give our eyeteeth to have most all our hayground in one or two parcels like that. WE MAKE MOSTLY 4-10 ACRE PIECES....with a few that are 20 acres.
 

farmerjan

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A couple of things on the fencing. We would not consider leasing a place like that in exchange for fencing without a 20 yr lease minimum. And water availability would be at the owners expense. There is not enough money in cattle to make it pay. We figure 1 1/2 to 2 acres per cow calf pair here. It costs approx $450 to$ 500 per cow per year to keep. That is figuring feed/grass/hay, value of the land or cost of lease ground, mineral, any vet costs, etc.. A cow should have one calf every 12 months. If it is a steer, at say 500 lbs at 6-7 months old, it is worth maybe $750 to $800. So that cow is maybe making you an average of $250 a year per cow. You need 100 steer calves to make you $25,000 a year. That's allowing for a death loss of 1%.
Any places we lease have fences on them. One place we replaced 330 feet m/l of fence (a roll of woven wire fence is 330 ft) a year instead of paying $1,000 yr in rent. We did a minimum of 5 year lease. If the fences are decent, it is up to us to keep them up. A fence is good for 25-40 years. By 25 years, there is some fence post rotting, you get fences that high deer traffic will break down/stretch out... and then there gets to a point that it is not maintenance but rebuilding sections at a time. It is time consuming to build fence, it takes us several hours per pasture to just walk fences and do repair jobs on decent fences. Trees fall on them, deer do a number on them, all sorts of things and they need to be walked every year before we put cattle in and then checked periodically to make sure nothing has happened. Especially after storms and such.
 

greybeard

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There is not enough money in cattle to make it pay. We figure 1 1/2 to 2 acres per cow calf pair here. It costs approx $450 to$ 500 per cow per year to keep.
Now Jan....tsk tsk tsk
You know as well as I that in just a few short years it's easy peasy to have a fat bankroll of $100,000 in your account from raising cattle.
Tell 'em the truth and stop being so negative...you're giving them a pessimistic outlook on cattle.
I might stop back in here later and explain how if you haven't already....
:drool
 

promiseacres

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@farmerjan wow, we still make hay for 50%.... 70% is crazy to hear. Just shows different areas. Plus we don't do much. 10 acres last year, 20-25 this year.
 

greybeard

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Now Jan....tsk tsk tsk
You know as well as I that in just a few short years it's easy peasy to have a fat bankroll of $100,000 in your account from raising cattle.
Tell 'em the truth and stop being so negative...you're giving them a pessimistic outlook on cattle.
I might stop back in here later and explain how if you haven't already....
:drool

How to accomplish this?

Start with $250,000...........
 

farmerjan

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@promiseacres ; the 70/30 is for us to also do all the fertilizing. We have one place we do on a 50/50 and they pay half the fertilizer. And it is pretty decent grass and they are willing to do weed control and such.
We make hay on several places that we get all the hay, do all the fertilizing and do all the work, and don't pay anything. But they get the land use tax break and for most it is several $1000's worth of break. It is whatever grass/weeds/fescue that is existing. And when the owners start getting too picky or demanding, we tell them thanks but no thanks. Then they often find out that they have to pay hundreds for custom bush hogging, and they get no tax break.
There aren't enough people around anymore that are willing to take their equipment 5-10-25 miles down the road to make hay, for hay that is so/so types of grass. It sounds mean spirited, but when you go and bust a $2,000 piece on a piece of ground that is not going to produce hay that is more than mediocre, it is not worth it. There are so many farms that are being run by kids that have left for better jobs so only "part-time" farmers. Most make hay to keep the land open. and get the tax breaks. We can buy hay 9 out of 10 years for less than what it costs us to make. We do it for a few as "favors", old farmers that we respect and feel bad that they have no one to take the farm over even on a part-time weekend farmer type basis. But the hayfields have lost the good grass, and we are making "just grass" for hay. We don't charge them, they don't charge us, and we keep a part of their past/heritage/livelihood alive for them for a few more years. The farm will be sold when they are gone and they usually go into small 5-10 acre plots that are so far out of our reach because we cannot make the land pay for it's self with cattle. So the farms are broken up, more houses are built, more roads, infrastructure, and people who get further away from understanding what farming and food and reality really are.
 

Senile_Texas_Aggie

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Much thanks to all for your thoughtful and in-depth replies. (And no offense taken, Miss @farmerjan , as I definitely don't know what I am doing. That is why I am turning to you folks -- like you -- who do. :p).

I contacted the county extension agent, who was booked up till the end of next week. But he referred me to a representative of the NRCS. She in turn told me of a number of programs that NRCS offers, some of which applied specifically to me, namely new farmers who don't know what they are doing. They mentioned growing pollinator covers (wildflowers), deer food and cover, quail food and cover, etc. She also gave me the number for the Farm Bill biologist (whom I have yet to reach), who could come and see the land for himself and provide advice.

One thing you guys probably can answer for me -- in case I cannot get someone to cut the hay without me paying them a whole bunch, if I bought a small tractor (25-40 hp) and a bush/brush cutter, and cut the pasture myself, would the cut grass help to return nutrients to the soil the same way that mulching grass for a lawn does? Or would I just be killing the grass if I did not rake and bale it?

The guy who cut my pastures and I discussed the idea of having him do everything needed to grow hay, similar to what you mentioned, Miss @farmerjan , but I have not pursued it further until I could learn more from you folks and others.

Thanks again to all for your thoughtful answers.

Senile Texas Aggie
 

Baymule

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Yes, you could bush hog it and the cut grass will rot and return back to the soil. But why? That is a beautiful piece of land. It would be a shame to just keep it mowed. I think a deal with the hay cutter would benefit both parties.

You could use ag exemption on your taxes, the land would be cared for and kept up and you would have a lovely view. You might want to enter a specified number of acres in reserve in case y'all decided to get goats or other animals. They you could buy your own hay! LOL
 

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