Leasing land for cattle

[Dorkus]

Ok, I have some more info and I think I captured most of the questions here, if not, please remind me.

Water supply - Two small ponds about a quarter acre and two large ponds one about 3 acres and the other about 5. Definitely no water issues at all even during the rough times of drought.

Soil type - I looked it up online and most (60%) of the property is Stephenville fine sandy loam, 3 to 5 percent slopes, eroded. The second most (25%) common soil type is Stephenville-Darnell complex, 5 to 20 percent slopes. I have no idea what that means but hopefully you all do.

As for current grasses, I have no idea but will find out next time I am out there. It would definitely be in the native or weed category and not Bermuda, alfalfa etc. Nothing high quality I am sure.

This help?

 

[Roy14]

I’m in Garvin county as well. It’s been several years since I leased land but at the time I was paying $10 per acre for unimproved pasture with good, not great perimeter fences, a small lot with loadout and two ponds that would endure through drought. I was required to spray as well.

Depending on how many animal units per acre your place can carry, I think you’ll find pricing to be up to $30 per acre of grass - subtract areas that can’t be grazed, heavy timber etc. I think there’s still plenty of places being rented for 10-15/acre, or the labor value of that in cleaning up and caring for the property, sometimes including a side of beef for the owner. Finding a good trustworthy caretaker of your property would be worth letting them use it for free, as it’ll be improved upon and not fall into disrepair.

It’s hard to find people who will care for a property as their own, especially with margins being as small as they are.

 

[dennishoddy]

I would really like to do something really crazy like get three or four bison. No real reason other than I think it would be pretty interesting. Good meat too.

Bison have their own set of issues. When working cattle ranches in my youth, one cowboy in the bison pasture got attacked by a bull while on horseback.
When it got done with the cowboy, he was pretty much unrecognizable as a human.
I didn’t see it personally, was back on the day after. It was a prettier somber group I came back to.

 

[Roy14]

Bison have their own set of issues.

That’s a nice way of putting it. 4 legged killer herbivore or bloodlusting murderous furry cow cousin is how I’d describe them.

 

[CHenry]

That’s a nice way of putting it. 4 legged killer herbivore or bloodlusting murderous furry cow cousin is how I’d describe them.

I've seen 2 wranglers up in West NE trying to get one in a stock trailer. One on horseback and one with a truck and trailer. My brother and i were parked on top of a Sandhill watching. That Buffalo took turns chasing the rider, then the moving truck, headbutting the trailer. I saw him fly over the fence several times to get to the horse rider who was running for his life. I wish so bad I had a video camera.
Never heard the outcome but I have an idea a riffle slug was involved.
He was rank AF

 

[Two Gun Warrior]

That’s a nice way of putting it. 4 legged killer herbivore or bloodlusting murderous furry cow cousin is how I’d describe them.

Bison are a lot like Brahman cattle, they can be real gentle until you try to cowboy them, then the fight is on. Once you have stirred them up they are ruined for handling. We did not use a horse around them they were penned with feed and handled ease, if could not get them that way ,you dart them and load them. We had one cow that was crazzzzzy, wound up shooting her.

 

[SoonerP226]

The only thing I can add is if you want to get into ag, go talk to your county extension agent. They're the folks who can give you the best, most localized info on the subject.
Garvin County:
https://extension.okstate.edu/county/garvin/index.html
McClain County used to have a really good agent, though I haven't talked to them recently. The one my dad liked was Wes Lee, who left to go to the Oklahoma Mesonet; last i saw, he was doing the Mesonet spots on the Sunup TV show on OETA.

The McClain County Extension office is next to the county fairgrounds in Purcell, near the Chickasaw Nation complex.
https://extension.okstate.edu/county/mcclain/index.html