South Florida Beef - Forage Program

"Article of the Month"
May 2001


Examination of Pasture Management Practices Can Improve Profitability


Mark Wade, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Indian River Research and Education Center, University of Florida


Pasture improvement has long been established as a way to increase the carrying capacity of Florida ranches. Herd sizes can be increased through intensive grazing and aggressive pasture management, or current herds can be maintained on less acreage when denser, more nutrient rich forages are available. Environmentally, this practice is preferred because marginal, environmentally less stable lands can be taken out of production.

In the February 2000 "Article of the Month," Doug Mayo discussed the importance of pasture improvement as part of the overall strategy to improve the efficiency and profitability of Florida's cattle operations. This raises the question, "what are cattlemen doing to manage this valuable resource?"

During 2000, a survey was mailed to 2000 Florida cattle producers across the state asking about their forage management and pasture renovation practices. Over 275 completed surveys were returned. The results were aggregated and sorted by size of operation; small (operations with fewer than 250 beef cows), medium (operations with 250-750 cows) and large (those with over 750 cows). The base survey data is described in Table 1.

Table 1. Base Survey Statistics (Average Per Operation)
Size of Operation
SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Number of Operations 211 37 23
Number of Cows 71.04 381.08 2,185.26
Number of Bulls 4.09 22.51 120.61
Number of Calves 59.99 313.57 1,596.30
Total Acres in Operation 695.17 1,867.62 13,326.09
Acres of Pasture 299.70 1,475.73 12,392.83
Acres of Improved Pasture 166.15 1,021.70 6,358.70
Acres of Hay 26.22 87.03 153.48


In the survey, 35% of large producers reported that they intend to increase their acreage of improved pasture, compared to 27% of medium and 31% of small producers. Large producers rely much more heavily on university sources for information about pasture management (83%) than do medium (67%) or small producers (51%).

Management practices also vary by size of producer. Small producers reported that 79% of operations have their soil analyzed (0.68 times per year), while 95% of large producers analyze their soil (0.56 times per year). Forage analysis is conducted by 84% of large, 19% of medium and 14% of small producers. This is done 0.84, 0.69 and 0.92 times per year, respectively.

Pasture renovation practices for weed control is more consistent across operation size. Table 2 lists the weed control methods utilized by respondents.

Table 2. Weed Control Methods for Pasture Renovation (Average Per Operation)
Size of Operation
SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Disking 0.39 0.31 0.57
Burning 0.24 0.50 0.70
Chemical Control 0.55 0.61 0.65
Mowing 0.82 0.86 0.83


Costs to manage and maintain improved pastures vary throughout the range of operation size (Table 3). While economies of scale or size are present, they are not always consistent. This is due to the fact that not all operations utilize intensive management practices. Therefore, costs will vary. It is also important to recognize that cost will depend greatly on the product used (such as specific chemical treatments), frequency of treatment, application method, etc.

Table 3. Improved Pasture Management Practices and Costs (Average Per Operation)
Size of Operation
SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Percent that disk 30% 27% 25%
Times per year 1.07 0.45 0.20
Cost per acre (dollars) $9.30 $16.00 $12.67
Percent that burn 23% 38% 74%
Times per year 0.70 0.79 0.60
Cost per acre (dollars) $10.89 $2.13 $2.10
Percent using chemical weed control 62% 70% 74%
Times per year 0.62 0.68 0.34
Cost per acre (dollars) $13.69 $12.09 $19.63
Percent that mow 85% 91% 100%
Times per year 1.34 1.15 0.70
Cost per acre (dollars) $11.11 $10.44 $10.67
Percent that fertilize 96% 94% 96%
Times per year 1.37 1.30 1.11
Cost per acre (dollars) $41.59 $38.21 $34.23


Large producers report that the overall cost to renovate a pasture is approximately $99.17 per acre. Medium size operations will spend $132.41 per acre and small operations will spend $154.05. What is the leading factor in the decision to invest in pasture improvement? According to the survey data, 74% of large, 69% of medium and 47% of smaller producers state that the price of cattle influences their decision to invest in pasture improvement.

The information provided in this article is a tool, which may be used in assessing your operational costs of production and management practices. It can be helpful to examine what other operations of like size are doing, and use this as a gauge for your activities. However, it is important to keep several factors in mind. First, your operation is unique, and must be treated as such. Management practices must be adapted to fit your operation and your needs. Second, production costs can vary widely, even within a given size category. This data provides some general indications about Florida cattle operations, but is not intended to be a representative enterprise budget. Finally, recognize that no evaluation or judgement was made with regard to operation size in the summation of this data. Size categories were only profiled as a way to more thoroughly discuss the data. It is not implied that one size operation is "better" than another.

A complete report of the survey findings will soon be available on the South Florida Beef Forage program web site. A special Thank-You to all those who participated in the survey - your assistance is greatly appreciated.

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