Cattle Guy Overgrazing Property

[Fmjag64]

Agree your land your rules and he should abide, period.

That said, and giving the other fellow the benefit of the doubt, unloading cows can absolutely create a hardship if not planned or if the market goes bad. Sound like you've given him notice several times but i would still do my best to work with him in a timely manner. Ranchers can get over extended real quick when market shifts. I know a few that were wanting to sell some late last year but are having to wait until market came up some so they didn't lose their ***, especially if they borrowed from the bank.

That might not be the case at all here, just keeping an open mind. Known several good ranchers get in a tight spot from time to time due to market shifts. Going forward, i would go per head or set a max number. Hope it all works out

[Dale Moser]

"Some of these cattle need to leave, as they are destroying my land. I can use several backhanded means to put you in a bind, and we can both spend a bunch of money on lawyer fees fighting about it, or we can come to an agreement to start fixing the problem. I want it down to __ head by __ day of ______, or I open the gates and drain the tanks".


If he's already feeding them hay, he's likely already losing money, and waiting on spring grass to save him. No reason he shouldn't be able to sell a few a month for 3-4 months to cut the feed bill, buy feed for the rest, and get the numbers back in line. If he owes money on them, that's his problem, not yours.

[Collier]

Cattle Leases

In all of my leases, its a 45 day termination timeline, meaning I have 45 days to get cattle, pens, troughs etc. off the land.
The owner has the upper hand, as it should be. You own the land, you have the ultimate say.
There is a place to get sale cattle, just about every day somewhere close by. Now he may not like it, but it is what it is in the cattle business

[S-3 Ranch]

Most contracts in the state of Texas have a 30 day written notice, I would look into that first with your lawyer.

Think long and hard before draining ponds and turning water off.

Isn’t it illegal to shut off the water to a lease property?
I know Texas has some real estate laws different from other states

[etbowhunter]

The first thing I would do would be to get a lawyer to look over the lease and give me a list of my options. Grazing leases range from fairly simple, handshake deals to pages of fine print depending on who you're dealing with. Once you know what you CAN do, you can proceed from there.

[Lone_Wolf]

How many acres? How many head is he running? Two sides to every story. What kind of fencing did he put up?

[bbqfan5909]

Dont know about you, but I believe draining a tank and shutting water off on a grazing property would not end well, knowing that is the only water source for the cattle. Would imagine this would create hardship. Giving someone amp time to remove the cattle pending what the agreement states is the right way to go about this. Like recommended before, most contracts in the state of Texas are 30 day outs.

Isn’t it illegal to shut off the water to a lease property?
I know Texas has some real estate laws different from other states

[texansfan]

How many cows and how many acres?

Don't know if it does any good but here's a chart to show how many head/ acre. Your county might have a livestock commissioner or officer that can tell you how many head/acre you can have for grazing legally.

How many acres? How many head is he running? Two sides to every story. What kind of fencing did he put up?

Key detail is being overlooked
100 heads on 30 acres is too much
30 head on 100 acres...

[Big pig]

Time to bring it to a head. I would have my attorney send a letter

Do you have a written contract? I would not be draining a tank

[SaintBlaise]

Tell him the price of the lease is going to be 3X current price next year if he doesn't slim down the herd. And request him to aerate the pastures. I wouldn't restrict the water, it's not the cows fault.

[Fmjag64]

I am a couple years into a 5 year lease. I dont have a set number of cattle written into the lease, my thought was if I control the water, I can control the amount of head on the property. He states that he doesnt have anywhere else to take them and I am creating a hardship. I have asked nicely for about 6 months now and am thinking about pumping the tank dry if I have to.

I missed the been asking for 6 months part. That's enough time for him to figure something out, Still would avoid draining water as that might come back to it you in the ***.

[wytex]

I hate overgrazing but to me it sounds like you have a 5 year agreement and numbers of cattle are not stipulated. He may have all the rights he needs to keep overgrazing.
Get a lawyer to look over your agreement and see what you can do.

[CEO]

Definitely would not try to withhold water. If you don't have a stipulation on head per acre or total he has some wiggle room, but sounds like he acknowledges the property is being overgrazed. If he isn't temporarily paying more for the lease, or cutting down the herd, he is essentially taking money out of your pocket.

[gingib]

Sounds like your too nice! Nice guys finish last

If he don't like it bye bye

[squirrel]

Its 100 acres and right now its 9 heifers, and 1 bull, but he just sold off I think 8 calves. Its an older guy so I am compassionate to an extent, but I think that effects his thoughts on future leasing opportunities. I have documented correspondence, just looking for what levers I can pull. I thought the water was pretty reasonable (there is still a large tank) versus say taking my gates off for repairs.