How do you calculate forage per acre?
Eyeball forage inventory Once you have the average height in inches of the forage in your pasture, multiply it by 200. This is an average estimate of pounds of dry matter per acre per inch of forage height. For example, if your grass is 10 inches tall, multiply 10 x 200 to get 2000 lbs/acre of dry matter.
How do you calculate forage yield?
Take the average of all of your height measurements. Multiply this average forage height by 250 lbs/acre/inch of height depending on your forage type and coverage. Check your grazing stick to find the correct conversion rate for your pasture conditions. The result of the conversion will give you forage in lbs/acre.
How many tons of alfalfa can you get per acre?
The average total yield is 20-35 tons per hectare (or 8-14 tons per acre) per year (distributed in 5-6 cuts). Top yields (intensive farming) can exceed 40 tons per hectare or 16 tons per acre per year.
How many tons are in alfalfa per acre in Montana?
Statewide, average alfalfa hay yields on dryland are about 1.2 tons per acre, and 3.4 tons per acre under irrigation. Over 90% of the Montana hay crop is fed on-site, but its value per acre is higher than our other widely-grown crops.
What are cow days per acre?
‘ And the average in their county is 80 cow days per acre, which means you can run one cow on one acre for 80 days, or you can run 80 cows on 1 acre for 1 day.” “At Joel’s farm he puts the equivalent of 400 cows on 1 acre of grass.
How many days should pasture rest?
Early in the growing season, when growth is rapid, resting time should be around 14 days. As growth starts to slow, resting time needs to extend to 30 days. Cool-season grasses benefit more from 45 to 60 day resting periods once summer heat and drier conditions set in.
What is the best time to fertilize pasture?
For cool season grass pastures, research shows that split applications of fertilizers generally maximize yields when N is applied in the late summer, early spring and occasionally in the late spring.
How many cows can you have per acre with rotational grazing?
Rotational Grazing If the 500-acre property is divided into 10 pastures of equal size (50 acres each) the stock density of cattle in each pasture is one cow per one acre (or 1,200 pounds per acre, assuming average cow weight is 1,200 pounds). The stocking rate remains 50 cows per 500 acres.
How much is hay selling for?
From the hay market, square bales, on average, will cost you between $3 and $10 per bale, but some farmers prefer selling their hay per pound, in which case such a bale will be around 50 pounds.
How many cows can 1 acre support?
You may have heard a rule-of-thumb is that it takes 1.5 to 2 acres to feed a cow calf pair for 12 months. That means we should be able to have 10 to 13 cows. Let’s see how this rule-of-thumb holds up. It looks like our rule-of-thumb held up pretty good, 11 cows on 20 acres, is 1.8 acres per cow.
How much is an acre of alfalfa worth?
In this example, the standing value for the entire alfalfa field could range from $230 to $360/acre for the entire growing season. Keep in mind ownership costs can run $300- 400/acre when the seller considers lost rent, establishment costs and top-dress fertilizer to maintain soil fertility.
How many cows can you have on 20 acres?
Can I raise a cow on 1 acre?
Obviously there’s no easy answer to how much land a cow requires. However, you will need to purchase hay to feed them because one acre is not enough land to support anything bovine. Cows can indeed be kept on small plots—an acre or two—but they must be fed.
How many tons of hay are produced per acre?
The crop, however, is actually producing 5 tons per acre. Over time the nutrients removed by the crop exceed that which the soil can supply. By determining actual yield, production problems related to crop nutrition can be identified before yields are severely reduced. Feeding Hay
How much fertilizer is needed to produce 4 tons per acre?
An example: A field believed to be producing 4 tons per acre of dry forage per year is fertilized to achieve a 4 ton production level. The crop, however, is actually producing 5 tons per acre. Over time the nutrients removed by the crop exceed that which the soil can supply.
How can I find out how much forage is in my pasture?
Look at the chart on your grazing stick, and determine the pounds of dry matter per acre inch based on your cover percentage group, and the type of forage growing. Multiply this by the height of the forage to get pounds of dry matter per acre. Input this data into PastureMap to track your pasture health over time.
How much forage does Bermuda grass produce per acre?
With adequate fertilization, some of the older bermudagrass varieties have the potential to produce up to 3 to 4 tons of forage per acre. Newer bermudagrass varieties can produce between 6 to 9 tons of forage per acre with a high level of management.
Look at the chart on your grazing stick, and determine the pounds of dry matter per acre inch based on your cover percentage group, and the type of forage growing. Multiply this by the height of the forage to get pounds of dry matter per acre. Input this data into PastureMap to track your pasture health over time.
What is the yield of 4 tons of hay per acre?
As an example of hay dryness, an “as is” yield of 4.0 tons per acre is equal to 3.4 “dry” tons per acre when the moisture is 15%. [4.0 tons x (100% – 15% moisture)] = 3.4 tons of dry forage].
An example: A field believed to be producing 4 tons per acre of dry forage per year is fertilized to achieve a 4 ton production level. The crop, however, is actually producing 5 tons per acre. Over time the nutrients removed by the crop exceed that which the soil can supply.
How many animals are in a 20 acre farm?
Total Number of Animals (total acreage = 20 ac) x (average yield per acre 9,500 lb/ac) (.04) x (average animal weight 1200 lb) x (grazing days 365) (20) x (9,500) 190,000 11 animals (.04) x (1200) X (365) 17,520 Balancing your Animals with your Forage Page 2 How much forage do our animals need each month?
