How many acres minimum?

[Lizza]

Hello All,

I have been looking at property. We had 15 1/2 acres for the last six years, mostly all on a hill and forested. I am trying to decide what the minimum I need. I like to raise animals and would like to have 1 beef cow and 1 dairy cow. We also have a small herd of dairy goats and I like to raise a few pigs a year (I like to raise an extra one to sell to help pay for my own). Of course a big garden and chickens and I always seem to have a few sheep.

So how many flat acres do you think are needed? I was thinking 5-6 acres would be minimum? Of course the more the better but I'm really thinking how much pasture for all those animals?

Thank You!

[Danaus29]

A lot would depend on how much livestock feed you wish to grow for yourself. My grandparents had a small herd of cattle (maybe 50 head between calving and butchering) and a huge flock of chickens on 120 acres. They grew nearly all of the feed for the cattle (lots of pasture and hay) and not much for the chickens. They also had a huge garden which they used for growing most of their own food. There was some wooded land but the cattle went into the woods to forage. The yard was pretty big, maybe 8 acres. There were some fruit trees and berry bushes in the yard, and a rhubarb and asparagus patch also.

[no1cowboy]

you dont need flat ground to pasture cows, goats and sheep unless you plan on cutting hay. the animals dont mind hills

[Lizza]

Thank you Danaus......how many acres per cow do you think you need? My dairy goats really only need a few acres for all of them (we only have about 10 of them).

[Lizza]

Originally Posted by no1cowboy

you dont need flat ground to pasture cows, goats and sheep unless you plan on cutting hay. the animals dont mind hills

Thanks nocowboy......my 15 acres of hill I heard once ran cattle but it had been planted in Fir mostly about 30 years before I bought it so it was literally all forest so I never really thought about putting cattle on it.

[MariaAZ]

You might want to check with your state Ag department. This worksheet from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension explaining how to determine how many animal units one can graze on small tracts of land might be helpful. Keep in mind though that this is a document developed with Arizona in mind. The number of animals one can graze on land depends on a lot of factors. Here in Arizona, it takes a lot of acres of natural growth to support a cow and her calf because vegetation tends to be sparse and we don't get a lot of rainfall to refresh the grazed land. In places where it's wetter and the grasses grow more lushly (or on irrigated and maintained pasture), one needs fewer acres to support that same cow and calf.

[chewie]

maria said it well--where i grew up, one acre would do a horse jsut fine. here, you need at least 3, better yet 4. the areas where one acre is enough usually has higher percentage of population, and to buy such land is usually quite spendy. lots more variables on this issue than just 'min. acres.'

[bill not in oh]

Here in Ohio, the calculation is the number of head per acre of cattle that you can raise.... in west Texas and New Mexico it's the number of acres per head...

In your area of Oregon?...

[Lizza]

Thanks everyone, maybe it just depends too much on the land. If we buy in Central Oregon then it is a really big deal how many acres have irrigation (if any) so I guess I'll just to take it on a property by property base. I guess it just really depends on how good the 5 acres is and what you can do with it. Thanks again.

[MariaAZ]

Originally Posted by bill not in oh

Here in Ohio, the calculation is the number of head per acre of cattle that you can raise.... in west Texas and New Mexico it's the number of acres per head...

Here in AZ, in some areas (if my memory serves me correctly) it's measured in the 100s of acres for one animal unit (cow/calf) if left to graze for an extended time on natural range.

[Danaus29]

Check with your department of agriculture for grazing info. It would not be the same as Ohio's grazing info. Keep in mind that he also put up hay from his property for winter feeding. He did have several pastures which were used on a rotating basis and allowed grazing in the old hay fields before they were rotated for growing soybeans or oats. Grandpa never used irrigation.

[Lizza]

I remembered that I had a book with the info I was trying to figure out, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live it by John Seymour:

http://www.amazon.com/Self-sufficien...329472&sr=8-11

Now I just need to FIND it. We've moved into a rental for this winter and are planning on moving next spring/early summer so my books are everywhere!