what do I do with 100 acres of pasture?

[promiseacres]

Look into replanting and fertilizer. Pastures and hay land need upkeep.
Maybe do smaller plots if necessary

 

[greybeard]

BEFORE you buy expensive fertilize, make sure the soil pH is correct for the forage you have or want. Throwing fertilizer on ground that the pH is out of whack is a huge waste of time and $$.
pH needs to be fixed before planting and before fertilizing, and the sooner the better. Altering pH can take some time to work.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

All,

Thank you all for your input.

As for @frustratedearthmother and your suggestion to plant trees, we might do that as long as it makes the land more valuable (or I can get a good income to compensate for the loss of value) and as long as it does not interfere with the view we have (see attached pictures). Regarding what we had in mind for the place, once I retired last October, we were both interested in finding a place that was cool in the summer (we almost bought a place in Wyoming), quiet (our previous neighbors back in suburbia in McKinney, TX, were a bit noisy), a house with vaulted ceilings (we both love the airiness of such architecture), and hopefully a nice view. We were able to find almost all of that (except for the cool part) in the place we bought. But now that we have this place, what the heck do we do with it?

As for fencing and running livestock, we may do that. It may make sense to lease it out under the stipulation that someone put up good fencing. I will look into that. I will also talk to my county extension service agent for suggestions. I know my wife and I are considering getting some goats -- just a few at first -- and see how that works out.

As for your comments, @greybeard , thanks so much for all of the info you provided. You asked for pictures, so I have attached several. The first picture is from Google maps satellite view of the east pasture from the previous owner (or maybe the original owner). There were 29 or so bales in that picture. The second picture is from my porch and is the northern half of the east pasture, looking east. (That is Mount Magazine in the distance). The third picture is of the southern part of our east pasture (the Flood mountain range in the distance). The remaining pictures are close-ups of the grass that is growing in the pasture. I will definitely look into the NIFA and NRCS programs.

As for leasing out for hunting, there is definitely game around. We have seen deer and even a black bear. We are adjacent to a land tract managed by the Arkansas Dept of Natural Resources, and they plant crops that are food for deer, quail, etc. (We met the guy who runs the place.) But I am not crazy about having hunters with 30-30's near my place, sober or especially otherwise. But I will keep it in mind.

Finally, a special thanks to @Baymule for the tip and encouragement.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[mystang89]

Beautiful piece of land!

 

[Baymule]

That is a beautiful hayfield. You could lease it out for hay, the land would be fertilized, mowed and cared for. You would benefit from an agriculture exemption and you could file for timber on the wooded land, if you have not already done so. I would keep the view!

 

[BrendaMNgri]

Beautiful place. But a lot of work for a retiree; no matter what route you take (hay, grazing, fencing it, pasture, trees...) you are in for some hard work.
You can also sell it. And downsize. Don't hate me. Just saying.

 

[promiseacres]

Beautiful place. But a lot of work for a retiree; no matter what route you take (hay, grazing, fencing it, pasture, trees...) you are in for some hard work.
You can also sell it. And downsize. Don't hate me. Just saying.

Or just share. I know what I could do with 100 acres.... beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

 

[Latestarter]

Really nice land you have there. Is there a way you could partition off a couple of acres up near the main road and sub divide it out? Then install a couple of manufactured homes as rental properties or even for resale? If you did 5-10 acre plots, you could also install small barns and rent them out as horse properties. No idea what the rental market is where you're located. But it seems to me there's always a demand for smaller horse properties. Initially, I think I'd lean toward renting it out to someone for hay...

 

[MatthewsHomestead]

Beautiful place. But a lot of work for a retiree; no matter what route you take (hay, grazing, fencing it, pasture, trees...) you are in for some hard work.
You can also sell it. And downsize. Don't hate me. Just saying.

I'll buy it for my equine rescue ranch! Lol. That's what I would do if it was mine. Build stables. Set up a couple lunge paddocks. Fence out some pastures. And start rescuing and rehabilitating!

Goats are fun. Milk goats, meat goats.... Either could pull in money if you set your program up correctly and check into what works in your area. Jersey cows are great tempered and have wonderful milk. There's that option as well..... I definitely agree that you should check with your ag extension and get some pointers as to what your best local options are. It's different region to region.

Beautiful property though. You need some ducks for that pond!

 

[Basenjimom]

My advice would be to go to your ag extension and find out are there any incentives for pasture restoration. They might cover up to 80% of weed control seed and fertilizer. Here in Missouri we got into an incentive for restoration and rotational grazing they covered 80% of the fencing and putting in freeze proof water tanks. Look online to get used decent equipment we just bought a 8 foot brush hog for $3000, $4000 off new cost. After you get your pastors up to grade you can lease your pasture for top dollar if you maintain would give a discount if they maintain but make sure you have everything in writing. If you have a decent tractor you can always rent things like Drill seeder, fertilizer etc.