I have 87 acres in Brown county that I am thinking about leasing out for grazing. The grass is really good (a little too good). Can someone tell me what is a reasonable lease rate and what is the typical term of a grazing lease? I've never done this and don't want to look too ignorant!

$8-10 acre depending on the place. Just becareful what you ask for. Some guys will put some cows on you and you will think you place just turned into astro tuff.

I'd find a neibhor and go in partners with them.. pay for half the cattle and have him pay for half.. split profits 50/50. Just come up with a number I probley wouldn't go more the 6-8 head on your place.

I agree with jgiles, then you have a tax write off with your cattle on there, and you can make a few bucks here and there from off spring or just fattening up calves.

8-10 is right, And if your grass is as good as you say, 12-14 head probably wouldnt hurt it to bad.

An average pasture lease with good fences, adequate water supply (most tanks are extremely slow right now) and decent grass goes for around $10 an acre. But some landowners just want enough to cover their property taxes.

Typical pasture leases are contracted for 5 years or more, paid yearly. As far as the terms, I would imply in the contract that all fence maintenance should be the responsibility of the lessee and define a maximum number of livestock allowed (IMO 12-15 head). Also, encourage any improvement to the property or land such as: shredding, fertilizing, weed spraying, etc.

Hummmmmm...........


87 acres x $10.00 per acre = $870.00/8 head = $108.75 grass lease price per cow per year.

Add feed cost if any, hay during the winter, vaccinations.........


Tbar

I agree with the 8-10 per acre estimate. I would however require a conservative stocking rate at only 8-10 head.

You can usually anticipate a lease costing around $10 per head per month. So $10 per acre is fair, if you can run one cow per 10 acres. I run anywhere from 1 cow to 30 acres to 1 cow to 60 acres, depending on the location and brush cover, etc., but I'm a little further west in the desert.

Be careful. You are the only one who cares what happens to your forage/grass base. It's not unusual for cattle owners to overstock your land. When the grass is gone, the sun can bake the ground and it can take quite a bit of time for the grass and forbs to come back. I would get a knowledgeable person to look the place over and figure out how many head the place will support. In a drought, you can overdo it.

My 205 acres hasn't been grazed in a couple of years. A lot of it is heavy oaks and cedar. I contacted a guy yesterday and asked if he could put 8 head on it for 3 or 4 months to clean it up. I will look at it then and most likely ask him to take them off.

Its usually always better to lease grass by the head per day than by a flat per acre cost. If you lease it for $10/acre the guy leasing it is going to get every bit and more of his $10 worth. So it you lease it by the head per day it doesn't cost him anymore to run a few less cows and stock it at a more conservative stocking rate. Just my $.02 worth.

I would have in the contract the max. number of livestock to be run on it. It might be wise if you hunt deer to have in the contract that he has to have the livestock off during hunting season, that is what we do with the guy that leases from us. But then you would have to reduce the lease amount.