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North Central Oklahoma | I have looked very closely at my numbers. If you don't believe me then call my banker and ask him what he would rather finance. Yes it takes some inputs, but the return for inputs even with high fertilizer prices are better than the return for inputs using grain crops. I have about seven years history of records to back it up. Last years wheat crop might be an exception. It was probably equal to rye grass profits. I was cutting 55 to 65 bushel wheat last year and getting $8+. But this years wheat crop won't be near as profitable unless it was grown for insurance.
I wear both hats on my farming. Cattle and a crop rotation of wheat, beans and corn. I do well at both cattle and grains. But on a per acre basis the rye grass farm out performs the grains year end and year out. A guy doesn't have to put his whole farm to it. A few places breaks up having all acres in one enterprise or system. Like not having all of your eggs in one basket.
I would say that trying this in sand or red hill sides probably doesn't work as well. Need a good amount of moisture to grow the grazing and those soil types won't hold those kind of reserves. in some soil types it just won't work.
You would be right about water. It takes a lot of drinking water for those kinds of numbers. I am just lucky I have a good size stream that runs year around and never freezes over.
Labor can also be tough when it comes to the cowboying side of doctoring and gathering as most people who run cattle anymore try to do it by looking out the window of their pickup. The cattle care skill for stockers is becoming harder to find and somewhat a lost art. I hope that I can teach my sons these skills so that 20 years from now some one in our parts will know how to do it. We are flush on youngsters that know how to run a GPS, but few who have hardened cattle skills.
I returned a lot more than 5% per acre last year. So maybe your last stamen is incorrect. Of course a lot of invariables can make a difference in your profits. Your cattle buyer can make or break you before you even get started. I think that this is where a lot of stocker/feeders stub their toe before they even get started.
I have never introduced rye grass to any farm and I am real aggressive at controlling it where I don't want it. I happened to bump into a already established stand that others didn't know how to properly manage.
Sometimes the most profit and happiness in life isn't trying to farm thousands of acres and be the biggest farmer in your parts. It could be from getting more from less.
I feel your pain as a lot of people don't know what it is and are ignorantly spreading it with their combines in places I wouldn't want it. But it is hear to stay. That is some damn tuff stuff to kill where you don't want it.
Bottom line, that stand in that picture could make a lot of money where I am from.
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WhoopsieDaisy, 3020 floater turned over (pics)
