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Ragsdale Farms, Inc. is a family farm corporation
with interests in Southeast Colorado and Southwest Missouri
Net browsers may learn more about production agriculture or livestock production in Southeast Colorado from Stulp Farms
or Livestock production in Southwest Missouri below...
Southwest Missouri operations typically run cow/calf pairs. Fescue is the primary grass and in an average year the carrying capacity is 3 to 4 acres per animal unit. Cows are normally kept from 8 to 10 years before replacements are needed - at which time the replacements are made on a rotating basis. However, if a cow fails to reproduce, she is culled from the herd. Yearlings can be run on about 2 acres per animal. The carrying capacity varies depending on the conditions, and how much fertilizer has been applied.
Pasture maintenance includes:
- Fertilizing each year to enhance grass growth
- Applying lime every 5 to 10 years (helps buffer the ph of the soil so that grass will grow better and that the fertilizer can be better utilized)
- Brush hogging (rotating pastures so that about every 4 years pastures are cleared of unwanted brush and tree sprouts)
- Keeping surface water available (usually ponds or creeks are in each pasture)
- Maintaining fences includes some chemical applications to clear fence line of tree sprouts
- Rotating pastures for grazing to allow better growth of grass
Fescue seed can be harvested under certain conditions. The fescue is grazed heavily, and then allowed to come back and produce seed. It may require additional fertilizer, and the production depends on the weather conditions. Fescue is considered a bonus...farmers can't depend on it every year.
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS:
Southwest Missouri, with its "Christmas card" landscape and picturesque green rolling hills with lots of trees, provides a natural environment for livestock production. The rocky soil depends on weekly moisture to keep its productivity.
- Usually mild climate
- Average rainfall approximately 40"
- High summer humidity
- Hazardous winter ice storms
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