How many Dexters for 7 acres?

[butterbarlt]

Hi,

Wife and I are in contract for a place with 7 acres of fenced pasture (divided into roughly two equal pastures) so we've started farm planning a little. Looking to put 3-5 dexters on it for the first year and potentially more. I want to be able to cut them for hay for the winter as well, so i figure rotating them will allow one to grow to be cut while the other is grazed.

How many could I potentially keep fed with at a minimum of 7 acres? I have roughly another 2.5 acres of grass I plan on trying to either fence and graze or just cut for hay but I want the calculation to be off the fenced area in the event those other areas don't pan out.

Thanks,

Cam

[cddexter]

Hi Cam:

A little like asking how much weight will a piece of string hold...depends on the string.

1. As a rule of thumb, you can keep two Dexters for every one regular-sized bovine. Look around the area and ask the locals how many they graze per acre. You can figure on roughly twice that if you have Dexters--IF YOUR PASTURE QUALITY is equal to theirs. I'd be inclined to call it 1.5/per to start with until you gain your own experience.

2. You don't say where you are located. Again, ask locals. Usually it's an either, or, situation. Some hay early, and then graze the second crop. Others use electric fencing and graze one field in strips and keep the other field for hay. You don't say if you intend to irrigate: no rain, no grass regrowth.. Is the pasture just 'grass', or was it planted to a good fescue or alfalfa, or orchard grass? How long ago? Does it need fertilizer?

3. On the whole, I'd be inclined to experiment, but keep the numbers low to start. See if you can keep one field just for hay, and still have enough pasture just using the other field. Dexters over the winter in a temperate zone will require a minimum of 10 lbs of good quality hay/day, or lesser hay and some dairy ration for protein. At five Dexters, that's about one bale a day. How long to your winters last....do the multiplication and work on from there. You might think about using your own hay and buying in some high protein second or third cut alfalfa to mix with it. First cut alfalfa is usually too coarse, unless you have a hay grinder. And remember, the colder it gets, the more carbs they'll need, so what works in say WA or OR along the coast is NOT what they'll need if you live in Michigan, for instance.

The local Ag extension agent, neighbors, the feed store...all would be good places to ask for help.

cheers, Carol Davidson.

[butterbarlt]

Carol,

Thanks for the advice! It definitely gives me somewhere to start. I am near Columbus, OH. I have not seen the pastures yet. I am actually out of the country for a few more months due to a deployment. We most likely will not be getting any animals until the fall 16/spring 17 time frame anyway. I plan to reseed the pastures for quality growth and fertilize as well. They have horses on them at the moment, but we are buying the farm from an older lady ( house built in 1820s) so I doubt the pasture has been manicured to the level that I will. Fortunately, we have some family friends near by and plan to cut hay this year just to 1) not have to mow with the zero turn and 2) so we can get hay for the pigmy goats that my wife keeps currently. SO we should have an idea of what the land can produce without any pressure on it.

[kansasdexters]

butterbarlt -

If you have 7 acres and divide it into two equal areas, you will only have 3.5 acres to graze, while the other 3.5 acres rests. You will not be able to cut for hay (which takes the growth down to the ground) and graze the other 3.5 acres during the same growing season, because the area that is cut for hay will need months to grow back and won't be available to rotate to, when you need to move animals off the pasture you are grazing. Two horses on 3.5 acres will pretty much preclude adding cattle unless you plan to feed hay to supplement. Do the math, calculate the pounds of biomass that each acre will produce, a cow needs about 3% of her body weight per day in dry matter to sustain and maintain. If she is lactating and gestating, she needs more. One cow normally means a cow, a weaned calf, and a current calf - that's three animals to graze on your 3.5 acres with goats and horses. Get the picture? You will be stressing the grass from the word "go" with that plan. Ohio has winter, and no grass grows in winter. If you're lucky, you will be able to grow grass 6 to 8 months of the year. You will need hay the rest of the time. You will need a pen area to be able to keep animals off the grass while it is in recovery from grazing. If you intend to keep horses and goats, I would not add any cows at all, until after you see how the pastures produce and maintain with your current animals.

[butterbarlt]

Kansas,

Thanks for the advice. We only have 4 pygmys at the moment, and it takes them 2 weeks to eat a bale of hay. Fortunately, we will just be making hay from the pasture this summer anyway, as we only have the 4 pygmys and I won't be home from my overseas tour until early fall.

[kansasdexters]

butterbarlt -

Here's a reference that will help you to calculate the stocking rate that your land can support: www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/streeter/2006report/aums/Doing%20the%20Math.htm

If you don't have your own haying equipment or know a friend or family member that will cut, rake, and bale hay for you at the right time, you may find (like we did) that it is next to impossible to hire someone to cut, rake, and bale your hay if you have less than 20+ acres. It's just not cost effective for them to make the number of trips needed, hauling in their equipment, and then coming back after the hay is ready to rake, then ready to bale, etc. Too many trips for too little production. If you are lucky enough to have a neighbor that says they will help you do this, be aware that they will cut their own hay first, and then get around to your hay whenever. The problem with that arrangement is that there is a very small window of time when the grass is ready to be cut and baled to obtain maximum nutritional value. The weather can always ruin your plans and your hay. You still have to pay to get the crappy hay raked, and baled, in order to remove it from the site so that the grass can grow back properly. It's much more cost-effective, and much less risky to buy hay. When you buy hay, you can select from the best that is available in your area, and you can then utilize your land for proper rotational grazing. Rotational grazing is much more beneficial to the long term sustainability and fertility of a pasture area, compared to hay making. You will actually use less hay, if you can properly graze your own property and extend the grazing season to optimize what it produces.

Patti

[cddexter]

Hi Cam

1. Always chat with neighbors. Some are good farmers, some do it like grampa did (which isn't always a bad thing, by the way, just as long as his way isn't full of old wives tales).
2. The county extension agent, or help from a local university is always really good. You sometimes can also get grants for the work you do. I assume you are not independently wealthy, so...every little bit helps. Ask.
3. As Patti says, hay cutting takes all the grass and it takes a long time to regrow. Here's a tip many (often male) farmers don't understand as their heads are usually in the 'most yield' cloud. This is where the old wives tales come in. If you cut close to the ground, you get lots of hay, but the grass has been mowed right down to the white stalks about 1-2" above the ground. If you do this, the grass needs to regenerate from energy from the roots. This requires time and water with no dryout periods in between. However, another way to do hay is to set the shoe about 6" off the ground, so you leave at least 3-4" of green showing. You get less hay, but the grass recovers in about 1/4 of the time and doesn't need constant watering. The recovery is faster because the grass can use the chlorophyll in the stems to regrow, much like cutting lawn grass. Kind of a duh' issue, but not one most think of. If you cut like this, you can graze it, just wait for a bit so the grass has a chance to get into recovery and growth mode. The locals here thought I was nuts until they saw the results.

4. Patti is also right about getting someone to hay for you. Equipment is expensive, so you don't want to go to the expense of being all set to do your own for such a small area. However, there is a viable compromise, especially if you do have a neighbor who'd be willing to come over and bale for you. Not much problem for him, just one more little field, and you're done. Mowers come in a variety of styles, and hay bobs or tedders do to. If you own those, they are not expensive picked up second hand, and will get most of the work done for you. I used a revolving drum model, with a series of cutting blades on the bottom. Tedders will fluff hay if set one way, and winnrow if set the opposite. That combo lets you cut, spread and fluff to your heart's content, and then ted ready for baling with just two tools. Around here, they are about $1,500 each. Balers, on the other hand, even used start at $20,000. Keep an eye on the weather, make sure the ground is warm enough so the grass dries, cut when the grass is headed up but not yet in flower, and be sure to have a couple of friends available on the day it gets baled so you can put it in the barn or under a tarp immediately. A moisture meter is really useful, too. If the hay is a little wet (more than around 16% moisture), you could end up with spontaneous combustion...so if you have room, leave a bit of space between the bales to allow for air circulation, and stack the bales cut edges up (set so the string is on the sides, not top and bottom), again, that allows the moisture to wick up through the bale and dissipate. Stacked flat or string-side down, the moisture is trapped.
.

However, what really got my attention is the age of the house....I'm in architecture buff, and have done quite a bit of restoration of old buildings, from fdn to trim. Do you plan to keep the house but add insulation and double glazed windows, or will you build new?

cheers, c.

[kozzy]

Since you say you are re-seeding, remember that it's usually recommended that 2 years go by for the new grass to establish before it's grazed. Even if it looks nice and green, the time is needed for the roots to develop enough to withstand cutting or grazing.

Don't forget to add the cost of regular fertilization into your plans. Old pasture has often been highly depleted of nutrients so can take a while to bring back to fertility. Fertilizer is expensive when you apply the stuff you actually need to bring back fertility rather than just cheaper nitrogen for top growth. If you can get some down into the soil when you go to re seed, all the better. This often means liquid fertilizers and more specialized equipment than just tilling a granular fertilizer into the top few inches (or top dropping)...you want to get it as deep and mobile as possible.

If you plan to go organic and skip the commercial chemicals...add some more time to the whole process. Organics are great but aren't bio-available as quickly and tend to be less "hot".

Weed seeds in the soils of older pastures can be a problem too. A horse will often eat weedy stuff that a cow won't touch so you might not notice the extent of weeds until you try and re-hab old pasture. Dealing with those latent seeds/weeds causes arguments about chemicals so I'll leave that one to set for now. In any case, don't let them get ahead of you or your effective yields might be cut in half. It's a tough challenge because some weeds seem to be born pregnant: By the time you notice a problem, they seem to have already done their seedy deed, leaving you stuck with another year of battling them.

[Dahdo]

Hi Cam,
You have already gotten some great ideas. I'll chime in because we have a place with about the same amount of pasture, 8.5 acres. When we got this place in 2009 the soils were very depleted from 20+ years of haying with little or no input. You'll want to get a soil test btw. Our's confirmed we were low in K and P, low ph, but had high organic matter so the news wasn't all bad. We applied lime to bring the ph back a little, and used commercial fertilizer to kickstart the production, as we also wanted to get some hay. I found that buying fertilizer, and paying someone to make my my hay didn't work financially. We now buy all our hay and our pastures support more Dexters during the spring and summer. Rotational grazing probably increases our productivity by 25 percent and we no longer buy commercial fertilizer because most of our nutrients stay on the farm, and in fact by buying hay, we are "importing" nutrients. Our pastures are much improved. The only seeding I have done was to add clover and birds foot trefoil to our native grass pasture. We started with two steers and two bred heifers, and are at what I think is a good number now, which on average will be five cows, a bull, two steer calves, two yearling steers, and a yearling heifer. We will sell a cow and a heifer or two each year. Wishing the very best, and thanks very sincerely for your service.


Dave
Beavercreek, OR
Hifalutindextercattle.com

[thegoodag]

I've got 7.2 acres in pasture in SE Texas split into a 2 and 5 acre pastures. Currently carrying 2 cows/ calve, 3 steers (micro, super tiny 2 yr olds) 3 heifers, planning to level out at 3 or 4 cows. Doing the rent a bull routine now but have had bulls in past. Where I'm at with rain, fertilizer (5c per year), rye in winter and imported feed you can carry 1 full size cow per acre and a half. I've had a bull in past but have to cut back a cow / calve and steer. Then bull gets bored with only 2-3 cows and tears up fence to visit neighbors cows. I've also tried 4 cow / calf with bull and that was really bad from a feed bill and grass health stand point.

When all is good I rotate 1 week on small pasture, 1 - 2 weeks on large pasture.

When it drys up I start feeding in small pasture (I also call this my trash grass pasture) and give them 1 -2 days a week in the big pasture. When it gets really dry the cattle stay in the small pasture. ie the drought 2-3 yrs back, cattle stayed in small pasture for 7-9 months.

Usually there is 2-5 semi drought periods per year that I feed quite a bit.


If I were you I would fence all and have 2 nice pastures and one trash / feed pasture.

Good luck and enjoy!!

Imported feed is 20 round bales, 20 bags of 20% cubes and 1 -3 protein tubs per year.

And yes I'm looking for more land as this is tight ............