We recently took over the family ranch that my grandpa homesteaded almost 100 years ago. My problem is that it is such a mess. They never threw anything away and it's mostly junk, so I know an auction wouldn't work (already had an auctioneer take a look). The buildings (barn, houses, shop, etc) are in such disrepair that we have to tear them all down. Cows destroyed the vegitation by overgrazing the 500 acres with 100 cow/calf pairs for 20 years (thanks to the previous owners). It's really quite embarrassing. I let the ground rest last year, but this year there is a ton of grass, but the weeds are horrible. I had a guy go spray, so now my hay fields look good, but the rest of it is still horrible. We only have 4-H stock on the place, about 20 cats and 500 gofers, skunks, raccoons, and other pests. We shoot the pests and poison, but it doesn't seem to touch it. We have taken some advice from relatives, but they helped with the process of letting the place go so bad, so I would like some advice from some people who have succeeded at this. We do allow trespass fee hunts to help with some costs, but it really doesn't touch it. I would also like to know when we should introduce livestock again and what to bring in. I really would like something that brings in a proffit or at least something I could handle that would benefit our family with nourishment. My husband and I both work, so we can't have a lot of anything anyway. I thought about Dexters, but I don't know how profitable they would be in Northwest Colorado and how expensive they are to buy. I am very overwhelmed and discouraged. HELP! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I would get some advice from your local county extension office. Ask for a soil analysis kit too. This will give you an idea of how well or poorly your pastures are doing. Some of your local 4-H people may have an idea too. I think there is more money in boarding horses or U-Pick than other operations. I thought about doing a small cow-calf operation, but most of the local ranchers tell me it is cheaper to buy steak at the store.
Thanks Joe. I never thought about horses. I did think about u pick, but our growing season up here is very short unless I look into greenhouses. Do you know of any good greenhouse distributors? I work next door to our county agent and I didn't even think about that. I guess sometimes talking out the frustration with someone really does help. I am so focused on the problem that it's hard to see an answer even when it may be right in front of you (or next door [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ) Thanks! Just getting it out there really makes me feel a lot better. I'll let you know how things progress!
Hello pearcefamilyco, well you had mentioned a big mess to clean up! Now if that's part of the problem, where it is permitted, tearing down, burning, and buring is where I'd start. If YOU bury anything, remember that in about 20 yrs or so it will resurface unless you make provisions! Also remember the ole saying, One mans trash is another mans treasure! ALL the junk and things you want tore down, offer it free for hauling off!
Now raising animals & pick U'r own type of things, U'r better off just hobby farming to start with and if YOU have a nack for it, ease into it later on! Now on boarding horse, it can be a profitable operating on that much land, if YOU are near a large town! and have clientele but YOU will need barns with stalls and secure areas for feed and hay! If that interests YOU, there are several folks on site that have done this including myself! We all can give our advise! Hope this helped some!!!! BTW, ALL other advise was great, don't evpect to make a living off the land right now, best you can hope for is maybe pay some of the taxes and break even!!! But isn't that about all we do anyway!hehehe
The fences are ok. They are mostly 4 barbs and we (my dad, husband, son, and I) have kept up on those because of all the cows my uncle ran. The elk and deer have a tendancy to run them down so we keep up with that often.
The other people around raise cattle and sheep but they are all very well off with thousands of acres under them. Down the road about 10 miles is an Elk ranch and huge guide and outfitting, fishing, 4-wheeling guest ranch. They have their own roping arenas, etc.
I would get more advice from neighbors, but my uncle lost the ranch in forclosure and that's where I picked it up. However, he's told everyone that he gave it to me and I sold all his cows and I kicked him off, so most of the neighbors think very little of me. Most of the neighbors grew up there and they are all in their 60's and 70's and are a pretty tight knit group.
For the record, I didn't kick my uncle off the ranch. I asked him to move for a while and we could build a better house for him (because there was no plumbing and it was falling in). He made the decision to not come back. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
We have dug a huge pit and have burned and burried 5 14x70 trailer houses that were about 30 years old or more. We buried them on a part of the field we can't really grow anything on. We just have so much more to do. We have had people haul off a lot. Any suggestions on all the pests?
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