I would like to raise 50 head of Longhorn cattle, how many acres would this require?

Answer 1

It depends on your nutrition program, climate, and terrain, but at the least 50 acres. My best advice would be to contact your state beef extension agency. You should be able to find a website or phone if you search for it on yahoo.

Answer 2

There are far too many variables there. What kind of land, what kind of forage, are you planning to feed hay. What is your marketing plan? (Are you selling breeding stock or finishing them for steers and meat?) If you're running 50 head of mama cows keep in mind you'll also have about 40 head of babies (allowing for some loss) - and the yearlings and 2 year olds if you're raising for sale. So that can easily put you at up to 180 head on the place at a time if they don't all sell the first year.
Not all land is created equal...land where grass grows well (many areas east of the Mississippi) will support MUCH more than land in NM, AZ, WY. One of the best herds in the country is in CO but also have a ranch in OH. You will have to find a balance between the efficiency of grazing Longhorns and the space needed to allow for horns. Longhorns typically space out to graze more than other breeds. On GOOD pasture you can pretty easily do with 40-50 acres but with that you will have to provide extra hay in the winter time and allow crop space for grain or purchase it.
You can expect to pay $1200-4000 for good stock - higher quality is available too. My advise would be get a half dozen good cows or cow/calf pairs and a young bull - see how they work for you. Getting 50 head at once might be overwhelming.
Check the links below for everything you could want to know about Longhorns and raising them and if it's not on there ask. They have GOOD stock for sale too.

Answer 3

Depends on where you live and how much supplimental feeding you are planning on doing. If you are going to only pasture feed you will need about 3 acres or more per head. If you are going to supplimental feed hay you will need less pasture land.
It also depends on if you are finish feeding or just grass grazing them.
It depends on the type of forage available it your area and how much nutrition is in the forage available.

Answer 4

i know in our area, you need 1 acre per livestock.
Personally, I would have much more then that so there is more grazing land, less waste to clean up.
I would aim for about 200 acres myself.