Benefits of leasing land out for grazing.

[RJK70]

Are there any benefits, financial or other, for leasing out your land for grazing?

Obviously there’s the tax benefit but that’s not what I’m talking about because there’s the wildlife option.

Do people actually pay to run their cows on your land? Or is it basically something you let them do in order to maintain your ag exempt status?

I’m only talking about 100 acres but it does have good grass for the area (hill country) and has Water.

I’m leaning toward going with wildlife but want to make sure I’m not missing out on anything.

Honestly I wouldn’t mind raising a few cows of my own to make some income but I don’t think I’ll be there enough to make it feasible.


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[eradicator]

No. Other than someone else keeping an eye on the place if you can trust them.

[SmTx]

There is for me. I inherited some land. It came to me unexpectedly and buying equipment to maintain ain't in the cards.

Leasing the grazing pays to have it shredded once a year. Tax benefit wise a good bar tab is more than what I pay in taxes each year.

[TTUgrad08]

I’m further east but think some light grazing is good for the land. Might go wildlife exempt at some point but having my neighbor run a few cows has worked out good enough.

Either way don’t lose your exemption.

[Muddy Bud]

I’d go wildlife/hay exemption. Avoid the headache of cattle overgrazing your land. If they over graze it once it can be years before you get it back. Think there’s a thread on here about a L/O having trouble getting rid of his leaser cause he over grazed his property.

[TKRanch]

You can go with a Wildlife Valuation, but you have to have the AG Valuation first, you cannot go from nothing to Wildlife, so make sure you have AG to begin with. Likely won't make sense for anyone to pay to lease only 100 acres for cattle imo....... Good luck.

[Draco]

With wild life exemption, you will be paying out money to save money on your taxes, Leasing will make you money to save money on your taxes. Win win.

Plus, you don't have to worry if feed and hay is up or cattle prices are down. You get the same amount every year. Maybe the best though, if you get a good leaser, is having some one on your land that will fix fences, look after the place when you're not there, feed your dog etc.

[cehorn]

We just bought our place and there was already a cattle lease on it that we continued. We are getting $10 per ac for cattle lease I think. I have no idea if that is high, low or in between but that is what we are getting. It is a little income but I have learned I HATE hunting with cows. It is "free" money though as Draco said and it is merely an annoyance for deer hunting.

As others have said, if you do lease I would specify number of cows, months per year, or something to ensure it isn't over grazed. I'm not a biologist but I seem to always remember hearing a little grazing is good because it isn't competitive with deer. I.e. cows eat the grasses and deer eat the forbs if done correctly. So far our cattle guy is good as the cows have more than enough to eat to not affect the deer. It was pretty wet this past year so we will have to see what happens in a dry year but he does feed regularly even with good grass.

[Rustythebeagle]

I think it really depends on who you are leasing to; I leased our 50 acre place to three different people of the years and had a variety of different experiences. I'm now leasing our new place 200+ acres on a multi-year deal.

Pros: Maintaining or establishing Ag Exemption, nominal income ($5-$20acre in East Texas), having a set of eyes for thieves/damage/water leaks, maintaining fences, shredding, fertilizing. The maintenance portion is the big differentiator to me; if a tree falls and damages the fence is the tenant out there immediately cutting the tree, removing it, and repairing the fence as if you would do it. My lease always stated they where responsible however my experience with different tenants was vastly different.

Cons: Overgrazing, Overstocking, if the cows get hungry enough they will knock down fences, feed pens, and cause a fair amount of damage, liability depending on your lease/insurance arrangements, water supply (if in a drought and all you have is a pond), pond management (fertilizers, algae, invasive plants, etc)

Like most rental arrangements it comes down to a tenant; I would rather lease to a high quality tenant for close to free if they treat the property like their own and improve the pasture vs. making a couple grand but everything gets torn up.

[Deerguy]

Depends on how interested you are in wildlife and/or habitat management. Between grazing, mowing, and herbicide use, wildlife will definitely be impacted. If not concerned about the wildlife aspect, you can probably receive a little money from the lease, but probably not much, and probably not enough to make it worthwhile. I'd go with the wildlife tax valuation route.

[brokeno]

Are there workable cattle pens and good fences on your place? If not if you want to eventually run a few head of cattle get a set of cattle pens or fences repaired built instead of money for the cattle lease. One thing for sure make sure you never lose your tax exemption.

[Mule Skinner]

Some counties (hi, Edwards), will tell you that they have minimum acreage requirements for wildlife and thus deny your application to convert from ag to wildlife. Even thought the state says no minimum acreage requirement.

[Big pig]

Some good answers
I leased to the same neighbors(3 generations) for 35 years
Great people who never caused an ounce of problems or stress
Grazing was limited to outside of hunting seasons and a maximum # of cows
Hope you find the same good neighbors I did.