high valley dream

[coranchin]

Me and my buddy just got 10 acres each of high desert and going to go in on a tractor and some attachments and we are planning to graze sheep and some cattle ( I know that's not much land for that will be doing alot of feed to)but we are hoping to get more land later. But looking to plant some grass on the property but it is pretty dry and a bit sandy and at 8000 feet. Saw some prairie blend but not alot of nutrients in it, so grass experts what u got


Pic is of similar land (if pic works)

 

[texasjohn]

You have my best wishes...
I raise cattle and have done some studies of grass.
You will note that there is very little grass in the photo and sparsely scattered low woody plants.
There is a reason...there is insufficient rain to support real grass and the woody plant roots suck water for an area around each plant, preventing any other plant growth.
The amount of grass a cow and calf eat in one year is called an animal unit. Four sheep or goats and their annual lamb/kid equal one animal unit.

My judgment from afar is that country requires about 100 to 500 acres to support one animal unit. You can do the math as to how many cows + sheep you can run on 20 acres of that country.

Thus, you will not be doing supplemental feeding, but 100% of the animal feed you will be bringing in, regularly, and providing to the animals. Thus, you will need to provide a shed for storing, in bulk (feed in sacks is EXTREMELY expensive) all the feed.
Essentially, you will be running a feed lot to fatten animals for slaughter. If you are considering a breeding operation, a bull equals 1.5 animal units and a ram is about two ewes. Consider that the kind of pens you need for cattle are different from sheep. And, you can manhandle a sheep into a trailer, not so much for a cow.

Do you have a known, reliable water source capable of supplying all your needs...do you have access to irrigation water??

In Texas, sheep and goat operations either are nightly put in a shed or have a guard dog or donkey to ward off the coyotes, or are out of business. I'm sure you have coyotes there, so you need to protect from them, 24/7.

Is there any shade on the place?? Animals will need this to avoid heat stroke in extremely hot weather but I don't know how hot it gets there.

All things considered, I cannot overemphasize the benefit you will have from consulting with a local expert. Personally, I think you should contact these folks who are extremely familiar with the water requirements for the various grasses which are native in the area.

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/SLVRC/CROPWATER/srmac10/cabotSRMAC10.pdf

The above people, without question, will be able to answer your specific question related to grass.

 

[powerscol]

I hate to say this, but you two are dreaming. I know the area well and the expense you will be spending will far out way the benefits of raising the 2 or three sheep you can graze on the 20 acres.

First call the San Luis agg service or the Colorado Extension service to get the real facts before going down this road. The fencing costs alone will buy you 20 to 50 sheep at the local auction house depending on the day. The climate in this valley can be very fickle. This is a wet spring, but normal is very dry, thus the natural growth on your land.

Just get a quote on removing the sage bushes as a start as will need to be done before planting the grass along with tilling fertilizing and planting. There is major Irrigation in the valley for a reason. If you do not have irrigation water forget it.

Sorry to be blunt, but check with the other sheep ranchers or even the Amish folk there. They will give you the real story.

Good luck and best wishes on your dream.