Cattle sustainability

5 posts
Mon, 10/22/2012 - 11:26 #1

Member for

11 years 6 months
Albert Park
Last seen: 10/22/2012 - 11:26
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:14

Cattle sustainability

We have just purchased 40ha at Quialigo (near Bungonia) in New South Wales and would like to find out how many cows

with calf it is safe to have on the property.  There are no buildings yet, plenty of water and improved pastures.

The previous owner has asked whether he can agist his cattle until we are ready to move forward with our plans. Curretly

there are approx 30 cows with calf. Is this too many and if so what is a safe quantity so as not to damage the property?

We would appreciate any help in this area as we go through the learning process.  Thank you

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Tue, 10/23/2012 - 13:56 #2
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

This is the universal "How long is a piece of string" question.

How many cattle you can run on a piece of land depends on the area, rainfall, soil type, aspect, existing pasture and fencing.

How long has the previous owner been running this many cattle there? Is there a good cover of pasture still around? Considering this is a pretty good year I would be getting answers to these questions before going any further. If you still have a good ground cover then its probably OK but I would be looking at moving the calves off as soon as practical till you get to know the real carrying capacity.

Cheers

Rob.

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Tue, 10/23/2012 - 14:44 #3
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44
Hi Albert Park,

You should have a formal agistment agreement in place to prevent any confusion or conflicts. Within that agreement you can stipulate that maximum number of animals that can be grazed on the farm at any one time. Also, you can reserve the right to ask (include a clause in the agreement) that the livestock be removed if the grass levels drop below a minimum level 800kg/DM/ha or if the animals welfare is at risk. 

I answered a similar question here regarding agistment which you may find useful.

 

Regards,
Charlie 

 

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Fri, 10/26/2012 - 17:24 #4
katiepooch
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/01/2011 - 10:46

Hi,

Okay, I don't know your area or farm / condition of pastures but 30 cows with calves sound like a lot for a farm that size. This may be an okay number during spring / summer when pasture growth is strong but during the autumn and winter it could be too many.

I have a book which estimates the carrying capacity of improved / fertilised pastures in Southern NSW and that is between 6-15 DSE (Dry Sheep Equivalent or 1 dry wether). Lets assume the average DSE that you can run on your farm is 9DSE. Again according to my book a 450kg cow with a 3-6 month old calf will be around 16DSE. You currently have 30, so that is 30 cows x 16DSE / 40ha = 12DSE. Are these numbers accurate?

As I said I am not an expert, but longer term this may be too many. I like the idea of the agistment agreement allowing the number of livestock to be increased or decreased according to the season. That way your farm will never be run into the ground while it has agistment cattle on it.

I hope that I haven't confused anyone (although I think I may have confused myself).

Mary  

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Mon, 10/29/2012 - 12:33 #5
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

Katie,

You are right in that this is a HEAVY load for a patch of this size. Unfortunately we are not told the rotation plan, pasture type, water management and soil type so we can really only look at worst case scenarios. My comments above rely on the integrity of the owner who is hopefully not taking a newbie for a ride and who has the ability to move the cattle to other paddocks when regrowth is needed. A bit like cell grazing.

If the pasture is not irrigated, fertilized or improved then working on one cow per 10 acres would be a good way to start to allow for the variations in the seasons and available food. Better to be understocked than to have a dust bowl.

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