The Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast: How to Extend Grazing Seasons to Maximize Ranch Profits

How to Extend Grazing Seasons to Maximize Ranch Profits

Maximizing profits even during high markets requires paying attention to input costs – specifically, feed costs. Extending grazing seasons and reducing days spent feeding hay or supplementing can be a low-hanging fruit for many ranchers with this goal.

“Hay is one of the most expensive feeds that you can feed, whether you're buying it or baling it yourself,” shares Chance Tynes, ranch manager for the Noble Research Institute’s Oswalt rRanch.

The Oswalt rRanch is approximately 5,100 acres of native grass on rough, rocky terrain. Bulls are turned out around June 1st for 60 days which times out for calves to be big enough to navigate the terrain of the summer pastures.

Tynes’s strategy for extended grazing focuses on avoiding overstocking and providing grass with adequate rest time.

“We connect all the way around, it's kind of a horseshoe,” says Tynes. “We start on one end and and graze through the summer, and then usually when we start back over during the winter feeding.”

Most winters, the Oswalt rRanch can go without feeding hay;, however, they do supplement protein for several months to ensure the nutritional needs of their cows are met.

This strategy for extending grazing seasons works because cattle are moved every 1-3 days, depending on paddock size, grass is measured monthly and the grazing plan is created early on.

“Most animals are going to graze their favorite parts of the pasture most of the time,” explains Tynes. “We usually try to split those off so you can make sure that you get a pretty common graze across the whole paddock.”...



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