What to charge for cow pasture?

[Kelpie]

Hi Folks! I post on BYC but need to venture where the cow experts are! I have 4 acres of fenced pasture. Right now all I have in there is my mini donkey and a small run-in shed. A guy told me he'd like to keep 10-15 young cows in there till fall and asked me how much I would rent it to him for. I have no idea what's appropriate. Land in our area is fairly expensive, many houses are still selling for over $200k. There is lots of open farmland in the county, so its not so built up its at a premium. Anyone know what a fair price to ask is? Do I rent by the month or the season?

Any comments on a mini donkey getting along with cows? He is the type that tramples. He attacked my pygmy goat and pot belly and killed one of my geese so I am worried about him with calves. He has killed raccoons and skunks. He is a little guy though and I think he just doesn't like animals smaller than him, he is fine with horses. At the same time I know he is lonely and could use friends.

Thank you folks!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

They better be pretty small calves or else your pasture will be ruined! I had (key word "had") a mini donkey once. He killed a goat, bit another very hard on the neck, and bit and flung a calf by the neck. He couldn't get along with everyone, so I sold him to a donkey farm. Yeah, definitely not good to have a lone donkey out there. He's probably miserable.

I can't really comment on the lease amount. Around here, farmland goes for $80-$100 cash rent, but pasture my be different. Perhaps you can call your local Cooperative Extension Service for some ideas on amounts.

 

[herfrds]

Mostly it is done by AU (animal unit) per month.
Now with just 4 acres there is NO way it would support 10-15 cows.

I would stay away from this deal.
Could run into a bunch of trouble if there is not enough forage for all of them and the cows tearing down the fence trying to get something to eat. You could have trouble on your hands even if they are not your cows.

 

[Kelpie]

Thank you both for the advice. I had some new developments which also make me think this is not the right situation for my donkey. He must have slipped out the gate behind me and was hit by a car today. He is in remarkably good shape but is obviously sore and could be bleeding some internally. I just don't want to add more variables to the situation that could lead to him getting out and hurt or upset.

 

[jhm47]

Four acres would comfortably support just one cow and your donkey. Either the guy who wants to rent your pasture is terribly misinformed as to how much a cow needs, or he plans to feed hay for supplemental feed. Either way, your pasture will be a dirt lot in a very short time if he puts 10 cattle there.

 

[Gregg]

Don't know about your area but 4 ac will carry 1 cow /calf for a yr in good weather.
Here on my farm I am contracting calves for the summer to run on pasture. The pastures are broken into paddocks using electric fencing. Now I stock them in early spring (now) until hot summer at the rate of 2400 # per ac which is 6 hd of 400# calves, using this I can go up or down depending on the amount of rain.Remember as the calves grow in weight the # of hd will go down per ac example 2400# of 500# calves= 4.5 hd per ac, 2400# of 600# calves = 4 hd per ac.
You will need to adjust up if getting enough summer rain grass will go more say up to 3200# of grass pr ac using the same weights 400# calves would be 8 hd , 500# =6.4 hd, 600# =5.3 hd per ac.
It is a good way to use the grass and you can still cut hay of paddocks just grazed. I graze each one for no more than 5 days then move the cattle to fresh grass. Cut the paddock just grazed for hay and let sit until ready to graze again. Now I know I have more land than most on here but the same will work on small ac farms. Usually here in the summer will graze average 120 hd on pasture, remember I will adjust up if needed and down if needed. Three yrs ago when it was so dry , I grazed 50 hd of 800# heifers and 2 bulls for 120 days with no extra feed , just salt and mineral. We preg tested the heifers on day 120 and 48 of them were bred good for a summer of 10 in of rain from April to Sept and temps in the 95 to 110 degree range.
Now to answer your question on cost I am charging this yr $19/hd per month with a 5hd min , I have 65 hd of 450# heifers on contract and on pasture now. These are owned by one rancher, will be grazing these heifers until 1 July , I have some opening for the rest of the summer.

 

[glenolam]

We brought our heifers to a farm near by to be bred - we kept them there for 2 mos at $1/day/heifer. I'm pretty sure that was a good deal....

We have 3 hereford heifers and they keep their 5 acre lot trimmed nicely - the grass grows, but doesn't get too high because they get to it first.