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| Pecans make more than livestock. Did graze sheep in our orchard but quit thinking compaction and just nutrition they used up. Also spraying pecans you have to use a chemical labeled for grazing. Sheep are prefered over goats as they do not tear up waterl lines. Cows will break off any pvc above the ground and goats well are goats.
Hard to just graze in the winter as you have to have a place fore them during summer.
I do lease some riverbottom pecan orchards that are mostly natives and not irrigated. I graze year round and pull cattle out 2 or 3 months before harvest till harvest is done. Still cattle is less profitable than pecans.
Even in the last 2 years which due to weather have been pretty bad years. Last year was 90-95 % loss fue to hurricane harvey and this year was a short crop from the after effects of harvey and wet harveat conditions. Stillpecans are more profitable.
Edit to add
Pecans take a long time to come into production so take that into account. But from years 3 to 7 you could graze sheep. Really you could graze sheep always execpt for harvest. But a sheep will eat up to about 6 foot so you have to get your trees big enough to have sheep in there.
Also i have not had sheep in the orchard for 4 years now and money and time saved from heribicide is substantial with sheep.
They sure keep an orchard clean.
I should probably get back into sheep.
Edited by StxPecans 1/5/2019 11:37
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sheep? hairsheep
