True property lines versus existing fences

[Sandhills]

We bought a cow about a year ago
for about $1000. She’s ate another $1000 in feed at least. Plus a $400ish butcher bill.

We’re expecting to get 325# of meat.

To be clear we aren’t doing it for cheap food. We’re doing it for high quality food at the end of a very short and flexible supply chain.

And she’ll still be cheaper per pound than the crop of pigs we just sold. Pastured pork goes for a premium around here.

How big of critter are we talking? What was your hanging weight?

 

[Sandhills]

Are those the calves?

Yeah steers and heifers, from 3 weights up to 9s. Bottle calves are going for 1500 a piece

 

[Rich M]

We bought a cow about a year ago
for about $1000. She’s ate another $1000 in feed at least. Plus a $400ish butcher bill.

We’re expecting to get 325# of meat.

To be clear we aren’t doing it for cheap food. We’re doing it for high quality food at the end of a very short and flexible supply chain.

And she’ll still be cheaper per pound than the crop of pigs we just sold. Pastured pork goes for a premium around here.

The research i done said that this years spring calf should hit 600-800# by thanksgiving. Not sure how true but thats about 250# meat without buying feed.

 

[huntsman22]

this years spring calf should hit 600-800# by thanksgiving.

only if you spend every waking minute shoveling corn down his throat......

 

[Traveler]

Not really, a spring calf would include those born in February around here. A lot of calves will be 700# at 9-10. months if weaned at 6 months and feed for 3.

 

[Rich M]

only if you spend every waking minute shoveling corn down his throat......

Totally derailed this thread but learning stuff - thanks.

The first year does see a rapid increase in most critters - how big would a good guess be if there was decent graze?

 

[Sandhills]

Figure 2.5 pounds of gain per day. Some breeds gain better on grass only diets than others. I suppose it all comes down to how big of a critter you want to process. My inlaws send there's off at 1600 pounds. My buddy who runs a 18000 acre spread tries to finish em at between 1500-1800. Then a guy I work with finishes his at 1300.

Totally derailed this thread but learning stuff - thanks.

The first year does see a rapid increase in most critters - how big would a good guess be if there was decent graze?

 

[Ken158]

Seems that you are the guest of a friend that allows you hunting privileges. You know the fence is not the property line and likely the neighbor knows the fence is not the property line. I would ask the neighbor if the outfitter who leases knows the fence is not the property line. I have property and have fenced off certain areas where I do not want cows to enter because of terrain where they will likely go but cannot / will not exit on their own. Just because I have a fence does not mean my property ends. I also have a yard fenced off from the fields to keep out the cows. A survey trumps all fences. I would suggest putting a few pins on the property line, paint them easy to see, maybe wrap with survey tape and call it a day.

 

[ID_Matt]

Legally, the property survey trumps all. I can put a fence through the middle of my backyard but it doesn't mean my neighbors can come hang out at will.

Drag free solution would be confirming with adjacent landowner that they know the fenceline isn't the boundary to mitigate a conflict before it happens.

I don't think that is always the case with the survey trumping everything. A family member just went through a long drawn out court case for something like this regarding a fence line. Boundary by agreement could come in to play if the fence has been there long enough and if one of the parties (or previous owners) has run under the assumption long enough that the fence is the property boundary.

 

[jmez]

Folks will always do what benefits them.

What is worth a trip to court? I cut fence on my land for animal access but would be pissed if some dude pinched my fence and a cow got out.

At $1,200/cow what would you do?

If you can find a cow in todays market for $1200 let me know where. I'll buy em all. 4x that figure is what they are selling for.!!

All the OP's situation would get you would be kicked off your private land. Involve a lawsuit trying to prove ownership the landowner is invovled, with his neighbor. The fence will define the property line.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

you would have too look into adverse possession laws to see if they even exist in the state this is happening in. Some states dont have adverse possession laws. Property line determination is going to vary state by state especially if "Possession Lines" are involved. In alaska, possession lines dont really mean crap, unless all other evidence of property corners and controlling monuments are deemed lost. Unless you hire some sketch ass surveyor, they should be working for the "publics interest" and hold all landowners interests equally. You guys are potentially going to be talking about 50 YARDS, not a few feet. Any 2 surveyors worth their salt, recoving the same monuments and reviewing the same data should not come up with 150 feet of difference between their computations.

 

[huntsman22]

Figure 2.5 pounds of gain per day. Some breeds gain better on grass only diets than others. I suppose it all comes down to how big of a critter you want to process. My inlaws send there's off at 1600 pounds. My buddy who runs a 18000 acre spread tries to finish em at between 1500-1800. Then a guy I work with finishes his at 1300.

You're talking yearlings, he said spring calves. Which would be 450-550 # at thanksgiving

 

[Weldor]

Agreed, the funniest part is you are absolutely right. Do two survey's and get two different hubs. I can honestly say I have only seen one were 2 different companys actually were in the same place.

 

[Sandhills]

You're talking yearlings, he said spring calves. Which would be 450-550 # at thanksgiving

Guess that depends on when you calve out. My inlaws calve pretty much year around and a lot of guys here calve in February and March.

 

[huntsman22]

Show me a February born calf that goes 1600 at thanksgiving. just one, will do.....

Heck, you could even do a first of January born one.....

 

[Sandhills]

Show me a February born calf that goes 1600 at thanksgiving. just one, will do.....

Heck, you could even do a first of January born one.....

Didn't mean they'd reach 1600 by Thanksgiving of the year they were born. Was meaning what a guy gets for meat depends on what your finished weight is. Guys getting 300 pounds from a whole beef is foreign to me. Heck we got 145 from the last quarter we got but I kept the tongue, oxtail and the liver and heart for dog feed and fish bait

 

[Pulleye16]

I spent almost ten of the last eleven years as a field surveyor. Boundary is complicated.

We don't have any information about what kind of survey the property owner had done. We don't know the legal description of either property. It's possible the neighbor's survey may show the fence in the correct location. It's possible that the fenceline begins on the correct line and diverges over distance. Is the disputed swath 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, or 1 mile?

There is not enough information here to make those determinations.

I am well versed in the line work shown on apps like OnX.

So no, it's not as simple as going out and pounding some posts.

Every guy who knows a guy that disputed a property line thinks they're an expert in legal boundaries. The more you actually know about it, the more you realize the nuances.

Yes...I agree with you. I'm only going off what the OP stated, if in fact true. He said "known proeperty line, that was surveyed. If all else considered and the property was surveyed like he stated, he could just mark it.

 

[Chris in TN]

How big of critter are we talking? What was your hanging weight?

She was part of a package deal where we bought multiple animals, with plans to eat her first.

Which kinda sucked because I got attached to her, as a pet. She was a big bony older cow we knew wouldn't likely get very fat. 1045# live, 575# hanging.

 

[Chris in TN]

The research i done said that this years spring calf should hit 600-800# by thanksgiving. Not sure how true but thats about 250# meat without buying feed.

Yeah I wouldn't count on that. The smaller calf we got last May was maybe 200# and here it is almost April now and she's had great access to feed and I don't think she's more than 600# now.

Pigs, on the other hand, grow much faster. We can pretty easily buy just-weaned piglets in May and by the following January have them at 300-325#. We held them until March this year and they were all in the 360-400# range. We may take a break this next cycle. Pigs can be tiring.

 

[Rich M]

Yeah I wouldn't count on that. The smaller calf we got last May was maybe 200# and here it is almost April now and she's had great access to feed and I don't think she's more than 600# now.

Pigs, on the other hand, grow much faster. We can pretty easily buy just-weaned piglets in May and by the following January have them at 300-325#. We held them until March this year and they were all in the 360-400# range. We may take a break this next cycle. Pigs can be tiring.

Good to know! Want to go into this with my eyes open.

Will ask around there and see what the farmers prefer for grazing grass.

We're gonna stay away from hogs - the property is essentially a bowl with pond in middle - don't want to mess that up.