Nebraska | Jon - 11/26/2015 05:23
Your view point is interesting, I however think the confined cattle operations are the future of the industry. Pasture land rent or purchase price is just out of this world plus the fence repairs or replacement that has not been kept up in the last 25 years really takes the fun out of it pretty fast. It is pretty easy to put up a dry lot with continues metal fence, one drinker on rural water system, and feed bunks along one end. When you shut the gate on those cows they have nothing better to do than eat and sleep. We have a surplus of people willing to sell hay for about what it cost to bale it, and ethanol by product to mix with it. Cheap corn makes for an awful lot of cheep corn silage and an acre will feed a lot of cows. If the cows are in a slat building the liquid manure would be dynamite corn fertilizer.
EPA : cows in confinement are not pooping in the streams.
I don't have the answer but from the outside looking in the idea of confined cattle is really intriguing. Jon
Cows need to be outside, cows need exercise, not saying it cant be done on a small scale but confining cows will never ever-ever be a good "full" replacement for grass and rangeland. Not biased against you this is just my opinion on that idea. I am probably biased because location plays a role, Nebraska is cow country and will likely stay it.
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My thoughts on cow-calf prices / future
