FALL PASTURE MANAGEMENT

 

Fall Pasture Management

Fall provides an ideal time of year to improve horse pastures. August 1st to September 15th is an ideal time of year to seed or overseed pastures and rid pastures of perennial weeds.

Fall is the best time to seed or re‐seed pastures due to the usually adequate moisture, less weed competition, and cooler weather conditions.

Fall is also best for perennial weed control since perennial plants are storing carbohydrates in their roots allowing the herbicide to be translocated into the root for effective control.

Make sure to check fences; especially posts. Fix broken posts before they are frozen into the ground. Finally, make sure the pasture grasses have 3 to 4 inches of re‐growth going into winter. This will help with winter survival and quicker spring growth.

Keeping horses on pastures over winter causes damage to plants and offers the horse little nutrition. Keeping the horses in a sacrifice paddock (dry lot) with access to hay, water and shelter are recommended.

Horse owners should use caution when grazing after the first killing frost of the fall. Frost-damaged pasture forages can have higher concentrations of non‐structural carbohydrates following the first killing frost of the season.

This can lead to an increase in the potential for laminitis and colic, especially in obese horses or horses diagnosed with laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome. To reduce the chance of adverse health effects, it is recommended that horse owners wait one week before turning all horses, including healthy horses, back onto a pasture after the first killing frost.

As always, the Rural KC Team-Powered by Keller Williams Partners, Inc., is here to help.  If you have any questions or need help with any of your rural real estate needs, please feel free to give us a call at 913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411.  

EFFECTIVE COOLING STRATEGIES FOR SUMMER RIDING

 

Horse riding on a hot day can be challenging and tiring. Use our tips to avoid overheating, enjoy riding and take care of the horse.

Many love summer for its warmth and long daylight hours. However, high temperatures in the middle of the season and day are very uncomfortable. Especially if you like horse riding. The fact is that horses are not designed for a hot climate and are quite difficult to tolerate high heat. If you are the owner of a stable or a horse, you are aware of several effective ways to cool an animal, as well as myths that have been prevalent for a long time. Manufacturers of various horse care products try to engage with customers by offering modern products.

Stay Cool While Riding 

There are several secrets to ride a horse comfortably in the summer heat. Follow the guidelines below to enjoy a summer day ride and not get overheated.

When planning horseback riding, determine the most comfortable time of day for this. It is important to consider several factors: air temperature, wind direction, and speed expected precipitation. Also, keep in mind that your own temperature changes throughout the day. Usually, in the middle of the day, people with normalized sleep patterns have the highest temperature.

Use special clothing that repels the sun and retains moisture in the body. It sounds strange, but long-sleeve sweatshirts made of special material make you feel more comfortable while riding than sleeveless shirts. Clothing brands offer a variety of colors and patterns to engage with customers of different ages and social groups. And these clothes really provide comfort.

Another effective way for a person riding a horse to retain moisture in the body and avoid overheating is to choose the right foods. Water-rich foods, such as strawberries, watermelons, or cucumbers, move more easily through your digestive system. Moreover, they allow you to remain hydrated for a long time. At the same time, fatty foods or rich in complex carbohydrates will have the opposite effect. Your body is forced to heat up to digest this food and you will accordingly feel worse.

Remember to drink enough water while riding. Keep a thermos of WATER on hand. You can also bring along a cooler bag in which to put a T-shirt and socks. If you feel worse, chilled clothing is a good solution. If you feel that you are on the verge of heatstroke, immediately seek help. A cooling blanket may be suitable as first aid.

Cool Out Hot Horse 

A horse needs to be cooled after exercise or riding on any day, and especially on a hot day. Improper cooling or ignoring this can lead to serious consequences and complications.

Firstly, the last ten minutes of training with a horse should be calm. Let her walk and restore her breath. Next, give him as much water as he needs. Let him drink until he quenches his thirst. Make sure that the water temperature is not too high or low. Ideal – cool water, comfortable for long drinking.

Your next step is external cooling. Use the horse cooling sponge. Draw water into it and squeeze it over the horse. Repeat this procedure until the water flowing off the horse ceases to be hot. It is best if you have access to running water and you can shower the horse from the hose.

Do not forget about scraping. Special ridges help distribute moisture and allow water to reach the horse’s skin. Even when you pour cold water on the horse’s back it manages to warm up to the stomach. Scrape this water off the horse and add cold again. This process speeds up the cooling of the animal.

After that, walk the horse in a cool, shady area. On particularly hot days, you may need fans. Make sure they are properly installed and deliver air from cool areas. It will be possible to feed the horse an hour after training or riding. Be sure to add enough electrolytes to his diet.

4 Extra Tips for Horse Lovers 

To accurately determine the condition of the horse after the exercise, you need to know its indicators in the usual state: temperature, heart rate, and respiration. So, you can notice and take emergency measures if the usual methods do not help. So, it is recommended to use medical cooling gels and sprays on especially hot days.

Do not use a horse cooling blanket. The myth that it helps to cool the animal faster has long been refuted. An additional layer between the skin and cool water or air only exacerbates the cooling process.

Do not add salt to horse water. This prevents them from drinking enough after exercise. That is, they will drink less saltwater than ordinary. You can add salt to food or a second or third serving of water.

You can purchase special equipment for yourself and your horse so that riding on horseback in a hot time has stayed comfortable. Manufacturers try to engage with customers using a variety of marketing tools, however, even the simplest methods are effective and efficient. Factory products can be additional tools for you.

How do you cool a horse after a walk? Please, tell us about your special procedures!

A special thank you to Betty Lockwood for her expertise.

WHEN CAN YOU USE A USDA LOAN TO BUY A HORSE FARM?

 

When Can You Use a USDA Loan to Buy a Horse Farm?

by BARB on MAY 17, 2021

Buying a farm can be a very large and intimidating purchase. With such large land sizes, getting a mortgage loan seems unavoidable. Unfortunately, getting a mortgage is expensive and difficult. Luckily, you can get a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sponsored loan with many benefits that make getting a mortgage much easier. As part of the Rural Development Guaranteed Housing Program, individuals in rural areas can use USDA loans for any property type.

What does the USDA do?

The USDA oversees many different programs including programs specifically meant for horse farm loans. Specifically, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides many types of farm loans. For example, you can use a horse farm ownership loan to purchase or expand a horse farm or ranch, a microloan to help small and beginning horse property owners, or a youth loan, which helps people aged 10-20 with their educational agricultural projects. There are many more types of loans, but what you’re looking for is how to buy a farm using one of these loans, specifically the horse farm ownership loan. You can get this loan by going to a USDA-approved lender and it will cover up to 100% of your financing needs. At a maximum loan amount of $600,000, you can afford a sizable property.

Eligibility Requirements

But before you contact a loan officer, you should first make sure that you fulfill the USDA eligibility requirements. There are many requirements that you may not fulfill, so it’s important to check beforehand. The most important qualification is that you meet your county’s income requirements. Your household income must be less than 115% of your county’s median income. Luckily, the other eligibility criteria for a USDA loan are very easy to fulfill. You must classify the property as your primary residence, your county’s population must be less than 20,000, you must be a US citizen or permanent resident, and your debt-to-income ratio must be less than 41%. There is no credit score requirement, but the loan application process and your mortgage terms may vary depending on your credit history.

With a direct or guaranteed horse farm ownership loan, the maximum mortgage term is 40 years and there is an additional managerial experience requirement. To ensure horse farms are being properly managed, congress wrote that you must have at least 3 years of horse farm management experience that was acquired within the 10 years preceding the loan. Managerial experience can include many different things, but generally, this can be split up into business management experience, military experience, farming experience, and farming education. You can also reduce the managerial experience requirement to 2 years if you studied agriculture in a post-secondary institution, have significant business management experience, or have leadership experience in the military.

Applying for a USDA Loan

Once you verify that you fulfill the minimum requirements, you’ll have to go through the pre-approval process where your lender will check all your financial information including tax returns, debt, income and bank statements, social security, and your government-issued ID. Once you are approved for a farm ownership loan, you can do many things with the money, but most of the time, you would use it to purchase a farm or ranch. With a USDA loan, you’ll be able to purchase more acres of property than a conventional or FHA loan. Generally, you’ll be limited to 10 acres or less, but there is no official maximum for the number of acres you can purchase. However, the value of the land cannot exceed 30% of the total value of the property.

Once you are ready to get your loan, contact your nearest farm loan officer or farm loan manager. They can help you complete the FSA loan application process and give any other assistance required. You can then submit an FSA loan application form and any other required documentation to the USDA Service Center or FSA County Office. These programs are specifically designed to help individuals own residential property and make the purchase barrier much easier to overcome. If you are eligible for a USDA loan, then choosing it is probably your best option, so take the time to learn about what’s available to you.

If you are interested in purchasing a horse property, please feel free to contact the Rural KC Team at 913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411, or go to our website ruralkc.com.  If you are in need of a lender to help you with your financing process, give us a call; we have several waiting to help.  

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU BUY RURAL PROPERTY

 

So you’ve decided you are going to move to the country. Of course, you want to make

sure that it is the best possible move with the least amount of stress. There are 10

questions to ask yourself before you begin looking at country property.

1) The first is, what is the biggest reason, or reasons that you want to move to

the country? Now, there can be a lot of those. Some people want privacy or

seclusion. Some people can work from home, and they want to do so in a

quiet environment. Some people move to the country because they want to

have animals, horses, goats, or other livestock. Maybe you want to move to

the country because you want to raise your kids in the country, or if you are like

us, you want to have a place where grandkids can't wait to get to come to see

grandma and grandpa. Maybe you want a garden or farm, or maybe you're

looking for rural recreation. Maybe you're into fishing, or hunting, or hiking, but

you need to know what those reasons might be because they will make a big 

difference in what kind of property you look for.

2) The second thing you would have to determine is what does my ideal country

property look like? Am I looking for scenic views? Do I want to a stream or a

pond, or maybe to be lakeside? Do I want some, or maybe a lot of timber? Do

I want something property that I could have trails in? Am I looking for a property

that's got some roll to it? Maybe I want some hills for hiking, or do you want

the more open property? Do I want more grassland because I want grazing

animals? But have in your mind, and be able to describe to lenders and

realtors what your ideal country property looks like.

3) The third question is, what does my ideal country house look like? Now, this

isn't a lot different from what you would answer in the city. Do you want to live in a

ranch or a two-story? Do you prefer brick to regular siding? How many

bedrooms, bathrooms? Do you want a walk-out basement? All the things that

you would normally decide in the city apply here as well. Or maybe what

you are looking for is a lot to build on, in which case you can build a home

that is specific to exactly what you want. In either event, you should be able to

give a description of what type of house do you want to live in.

4) Now, this fourth question is important because it really impacts the amount of

money you are going to spend. That is, how far am I willing to live away from

the city or other facilities? Most of the people who we deal with as realtors

have some need to live close to the city where there might be work or school,

or they just like getting into the city for shopping, restaurants, healthcare

facilities, or any number of things. You have to think clearly in terms of how far

away can I be from the things that are in the city that are important to me. How

long a commute can I tolerate when I need to go to those things? Now, if

you are planning on living in the country and still working in the city, obviously,

you are going to want to be as reasonably close as possible.

If you don't need to go into the city for work every day, then you just need to

think in terms of what are the normal facilities that I need? When you think of

this, don't think in terms of miles, but think in terms of time. In other words, I

need to be 30 minutes away from the city center, or I need to be no further

than 45 minutes away from my place of work. One of the things you will find

when you move to the country is that the commute times are much less

because you can pretty much drive highway speed most of the time. So think

in terms of time, not miles.

5) The fifth question is perhaps the most obvious. What's your maximum budget

amount? You should think that through to make certain that you don't wind up

with payments that are uncomfortable and recognize there are going to be

some other additional expenses you might not have considered. You are

probably going to spend more on gasoline, for example, than you would when

you were living in the city.

6) The sixth question is have you already lined up the necessary financing?

What you will find is that when you move to the country, particularly if you want

larger acreages, the lender you used to buy your home in the city may not be

able to help you. If you are willing to move to the country and buy a home on five

or fewer acres, you can probably use the same lender that you used when

you bought your current home, but the more acreage you want, you are going

to find out that some of those lenders are unable to help you.

Quite often when buying a country property if the value of the land is

significantly higher than the value of the house the requirements for minimum

down payments and potentially higher interest rates will have to be

addressed. Now, as luck would have it, we have several podcasts on our

website, RuralKC.com, about financing country property where we talk with

various lenders about optional financing programs. But don't just assume that

you can use the lender when you're buying a home in a subdivision.

7) The seventh question you would want to ask, is what are the minimums and

maximums that you might want on acreage? Often people will come to us and

say, "I just want to buy 1 or 2 acres out in the country for privacy."  You find

that in most of the counties on either side of the state line around Kansas City,

the counties have minimum acreage requirements. Meaning that if you want

to build a house, or you are expecting to live in a home in the country, you are

going to have to live on a minimum of 10 to 20 acres. Now, often counties

have various programs that allow you to live on less than that but don't just

assume that you can carve out any acreage that you want. Most counties

have zoning regulations that will prevent that.

8) The eighth question is have you considered all the pros and cons of living in

the country? We've got a podcast on our website RuralKC.com that

addresses the pros and cons. People move to the country mostly to change

their lifestyle, and we don't want you buying into a country property that you are

going to be unhappy with. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

9) Now, the ninth question is do I have an experienced realtor that knows the ins

and outs of buying property in the country to help me? I like to put it this way;

if you came to me and said, "I am looking to negotiate a lease on a

condominium in downtown Kansas City."  I would politely say, "Let me help

you find somebody who is experienced and who really knows all about that

because I'm personally not your guy."  I think that applies equally well when

you are talking about buying rural property.

The issues that you run into when you buy rural property are not the same

issues you had when you were buying a home in a subdivision. If you are

considering a doctor, you don't want to have a doctor that isn’t an expert in

your particular illness. In the same way, you are going to want an expert in

buying country property.

There are all types of issues, that a rural realtor will understand that an agent

for subdivision homes won’t understand. Things like septic systems, surveys,

gas and oil leases, easements, rural internet access, zoning regulations,

fencing laws, and a whole host of things that you may not have come across

before, which means that you need to deal with somebody who has got a lot of

experience in helping people buy country property.

If a realtor is not experienced in the type of real estate that you are buying, in

this case, country property, a good realtor will tell you that and will help you

find a realtor that can make it work.

10) Now, that brings us to our 10th and final question. Do you know the phone

number or email of an experienced realtor to help you? As luck would have it,

you are not going to have to wonder about that question at all. I'm going to

answer it for you. We here at the Rural KC Real Estate would like to think that

we are the folks that have the experience and desire to help. So call or text us

at 913-837-0760, 913-837-0411, or email us at Bill@RuralKC.com

For more information, we’d encourage you to visit our website RuralKC.com,

where we have all kinds of information on a country property, thousands of

listings of country land and homes, and when there be sure and check out our

podcasts and blogs where we cover all these issues and many more.

The Rural KC Team

BUYING OR SELLING RURAL PROPERTY-CHOOSE WISELY!

 

“Who should I list or buy my land or rural property with?” is a question I was asked this week by an owner in Kansas. Many landowners and rural property are faced with this tough decision once they have decided to sell or buy their land or rural property and do so using an agent.

All licensed real estate agents are not equally good at helping you buy or sell your rural property. If you owned an exotic car, you would not take it in for maintenance to a small engine shop for repairs. Listing your hunting land or farm with a predominantly residential real estate agent can be a mistake as well. Landowners and buyers need to choose an agent and a company that can market and sell their rural property in a way that meets the sellers’ and buyers' objectives.

Since all real estate agents are not equally knowledgeable and skilled at selling land or finding the rural property, how should you select the right agent? Here are a few suggestions from a rural agent’s perspective that I think are fair and will help you choose a professional who can help you get the deal closed.

1. Ask your friends and family. Ask people you know who they have used to sell to buy their land or rural property and if they would recommend them to you. This is usually one of the natural steps and most effective ways of finding someone you will feel comfortable with.

2. Google search for relevant terms like” rural property for sale in Kansas or Missouri”,  If you are an out-of-state or out-of-area landowner who wants to sell their rural property, but you do not know anyone in the area this can be a helpful tool for identifying potential agents. Notice I said, “identifying potential agents” because this is a preliminary step in the selection process.

3. After identifying potential agents, research how they market their listings. Pay close attention to how well an agent markets their listings online. Recent statistics show that over 80% of buyers preview properties online before getting in their car and driving to look at land or rural property. You will get an idea of how much effort an agent will put into advertising your listing or finding you the perfect rural property. Will your land be visible to potential buyers? It needs to be so that ALL possible buyers are aware that you have a quality piece of land for sale.

4. Ask a local real estate attorney. Contact a local real estate attorney in the area where you own land or rural property or wish to purchase land or rural property and ask them if they recommend an agent. These attorneys will know who closes deals and can help steer you in the right direction.

5. Interview several agents from multiple companies by phone or in-person if possible. Talking to someone over the phone or meeting them in person will help you get a better feel for someone than by merely emailing. I recommend having a list of questions prepared when you meet. The two most popular are always: “What is your commission?” and “What is my land worth?”. I would also recommend asking how they market land or what the process is to find the perfect rural property, what is the average time for the land to sell, what are the most recent comparable sales in the area, how has your business been lately, and is there anything I can do that will improve my chances of selling my land or finding the perfect rural property.

Once you have spoken to several agents and feel comfortable with one, ask them to take a look at your property or to show you rural property, with you if possible. You never want an agent to give you a specific figure of what your land is worth without them seeing it. They should be able to provide a fairly close price range of where you should list it, but each property is different and has characteristics that will distinguish them from other properties on the market. List your property with an agent that is not afraid to get out and walk the boundaries and trails on your land. An agent sitting in the car and pointing out features to prospective buyers seldom helps an owner sell their property.

6. Once you feel comfortable with the agent, sign the listing agreement. For rural land, these agreements typically run for a longer period of time than residential properties. Listing agreements may last 3 to 12 months. 

7. Lastly, check them out on Facebook or other social media. It is amazing what information you can find about someone on their social media pages. Many employers are using this as part of their vetting process for job applicants. You might find that you share common interests with the agent or that you are not fond of what you see on their page. This gives you a closer look at their personal life which can be useful information for you.

I hope you find this information helpful as you look for an agent who can help you sell your land at the right price or buy a rural property, in a timely manner, and as smoothly as possible. By spending time researching and choosing the right agent on the front end, you can save yourself a lot of grief and disappointment in the long run. 

The Rural KC Team, powered by Keller Williams Partners, Inc., is the number one team to help you buy or sell a rural property in Kansas or Missouri.  Give us a call.  913-837-0760 or 913-837-0411 or go check out our website at Ruralkc.com.