Tornado Alley (PROG)

[DesertDrifter]

Well, for starters, if you have the basics of range management 101, you would know that an AUM is an animal unit month, which is the basic measure for pasturage on range. It is the number of acres that can support a cow/calf pair without degrading the range. The large ranches you claim to know about are, in the west, mostly based upon public land usage. A rancher has to have enough land to support their cows in winter, but most of the cattle are on public land much of the year. They pay pennies on the dollar of the value of the forage. They also get fences built, wells dug, roads maintained, and seeding done by the government. When there is severe drought, the ranchers enjoy many subsidies and relaxed rules.

A "ranch" may have fee title on a few hundred acres but have grazing rights on thousands of public land acres. It is one place in our system that is feudal, that is, grazing rights on public lands are passed down by familial lines, and land only opens when someone surrenders the rights by going under financially or lack of heirs. Being born into a ranch gives one rights that are not available to other citizens.

In the west, drought has not been an issue for the last several cycles. Roughly 85% of cattle production is in feedlots and small holdings in the east, which is dependent upon calves produced in the west and growing of feedstocks. Most hay in my area is grown for milk cow operations, the alfalfa being trucked to milking operations generally near the large cities. Grass hay is often harvested for overwintering operations.

But do tell about row crops... that is considered farming and not ranching among most land managers, which I have a lot of experience at.