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The Homestead Calculator

Free tools for the working homestead
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Land Carrying Capacity Calculator

Enter your ZIP code and acreage to find out how many animals your land can realistically support โ€” adjusted for your region's rainfall, growing season, and forage productivity. Select individual animals or plan a mixed herd.


Which animals are you considering?
Select one or more. For a mixed herd, enter how many of each you want โ€” the calculator will tell you if your land can support the combination.
Your Land Can Support
Total Animal Units
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AUs available
AUs / Acre
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your region rate
Forage Production
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tons
dry matter/yr
Stocking Status
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Maximum Animals by Species (if running that species alone)

๐Ÿ”— Related tools: Pasture Acreage Calculator  ยท  Rotational Grazing Planner  ยท  Livestock Feed Calculator
Animal Unit Equivalents Reference
Animal AU Value Animals per AU

Frequently Asked Questions

How many animals can I put on one acre?

It depends heavily on your location, rainfall, and pasture quality. In the humid Southeast, one acre of good pasture can support 1โ€“2 animal units. In the arid West, the same acre might only support 0.2โ€“0.5 animal units. One animal unit equals one 1,000 lb cow; a goat counts as roughly 0.15 animal units.

What is an animal unit?

An animal unit (AU) is a standardized measure equal to one 1,000 lb beef cow consuming about 26 lbs of dry matter per day. All other livestock are expressed as fractions: a goat is 0.15 AU, a sheep 0.20 AU, a horse 1.25 AU. This lets you compare and mix different species on the same land.

How does rainfall affect how many animals I can keep?

Rainfall is the single biggest factor in pasture productivity. Areas with 40+ inches of annual rainfall can grow 3โ€“5 tons of dry forage per acre per year. Areas with under 15 inches might produce only 0.5โ€“1 ton. Since each animal unit needs roughly 4โ€“5 tons of forage per year, the difference between a wet and dry climate can change carrying capacity by 5โ€“10ร—.