Who's Got the Most Acreage?

[Harv]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

Cripes! I'm only a weekend warrior at best, but it's all I can do to maintain my piddlin' 42 acres myself.

So, when your acreage stretches into the thousands, what do you do with it? I'm assuming first of all that most of it is treated as "maintenance free", or is maintained by hordes of domestic beasts who spend their days brush hogging for food. Seems almost too big for running horses, but then, I know nothing about raising horses. Just guessing that you'd keep such valuable creatures a little more contained so's you could keep an eye on them.

I used to have some friends here in the S.F. east bay who had a spread that they measured in square miles (don't remember how many) and stretched from one town clear into another. They raised cattle and horses, and when they retired they just kept "a couple hundred" acres for themselves. I remember at that time I went to visit several times, and each time they said they'd sold another[/b] 500 head (cattle). Can't imagine what they started with. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[rancar]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

<font color=blue>"...my Uncle and I own together in Idaho is 38,000 acres...Together all of my family in Idaho and Oregon own well over a 100,000 acres."</font color=blue>

Wow...we own 158 acres and we think this is a bit big due to the high taxes that creep higher each year. Mind if I ask, cowboydoc, what you have to pay in property taxes on a parcel this size?

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

SHF,
The land is just that poor. For the most we don't do much with the rangeland. Occassionally we'll seed it. Mostly just repair fences. The tillable ground we raise hay, wheat, sugar beets, potatos, onions, and corn on. Probably only about 10% of the ground in the family is tillable. There's some of that ground that is 100 year leased ground from the govt. too.

The land is used to raise horses and cattle on. It's sectioned off and cattle and horses are moved from one piece of ground to the next throughout the year. Most of the cattle only see people two times a year, at branding and when we separate the calves to take to market. Most of the horses are turned until they are 2 and then brought in and broke then they are turned back out until the 3 yo year when they are brought in to be part of the remuda.

I know it sounds like alot of ground but it's not alot. Having that much ground out there is like having about a 20th of the ground where you can run a unit per acre. The 38k that my uncle and I have together we only run 1500-1800 head of cattle on it depending on the year. There are around 150 head of horses too. At my place here in contrast I run between 200-300 head of cattle on only 200 plus acres. So it's really kind of relative.

The taxes aren't that much. They work out to between .50 - 1.00 an acre depending on the ground and what exemptions you can qualify for.

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

Here are some pics of what alot of the ground looks like.

 

[cowboydoc]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

alot of it is sagebrush as you can see in the background

 

[glennmac]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

Hey, Doc, I've been away for a while and I've been looking at your signature. On my small screen I can't make out what is says in the green rectangle. I think it says ranch but I can't make out what it says in front of that. I also can't figure out what you've got on your 3ph.

The only thing I think I know for sure is that the tractor, although colored green, appears to be an older Kubota D3650.

 

[rancar]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

It never disappoints...seems where ever I see rural landscapes, there's a certain beauty about it...even the sagebrush. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif This reminds me a lot of the central and southern Utah rangelands I was familiar with when I went to school out there.

 

[njrqs]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

Coyboydoc

Hey that looks like goo dold crappy Aussie country there !!

We stayed with friends on a 40000 acre sheep property a few years ago, about 800km from the coast.

We thought it looked terrible but he said that was a reasonable period as we could actually see some grass. When it gets bad there is nothing but dirt.

Cheers

 

[Egon]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

Cowboydoc:

Reminds of many long years ago. I can just smell that hair burning .

Egon

 

[Old_Wanker]

Re: Who\'s Got the Most Acreage?

cowboydoc thanks for sharing. If I remember right the biggest issue out where your family is is water rights. Im guessing that you have the water where your tillable land is.

My father used to raise cattle in Africa during the colonial days on a big spread like that. Lots of work and self reliance but theres nothing to beat it while your young and healthy. He got off the big place when it was time for the family and moved closer to civilization. My mother refused to be stranded out there in the wilds for days on end while he was out mending fences and the like. Before he moved he had a well drilled. They hit water at 400 feet that gave a steady and high flow and it doubled the value of his property (they already had a couple of springs and some surface water).

My father now has a rare form of cancer and not long to go. The doctors blame it on the cattle dip he used to use - apparently there is some link with what they did back in the early part of the century and this particular cancer. You see lots of it in farm workers. Be careful around that dip! He has no regrets though as he remembers those days as some of his happiest times.