Lease your land for cattle grazing in Texas
Texas ranks 90/100 for cattle grazing lease — exceptional statewide suitability. Texas is a top-tier state for this use; provider competition is strong.
Lease your Texas land for cattle grazing — AUM rates, brushland economics, stacking
Texas grazing leases run $15–$30/AUM with carrying capacity from 0.05 AUM/ac (West Texas brush) to 1.5 AUM/ac (East Texas improved pasture). How rates work, lease structures, and how grazing stacks with wind and oil-gas.
Texas has more grazing acreage than any other state — roughly 100 million acres of rangeland, ranchland, and improved pasture. The economics vary dramatically by region: a Hill Country ranch grazing at 1.2 AUM/acre runs very differently from a Trans-Pecos brushland operation at 0.04 AUM/acre.
Per-AUM lease rates in Texas
A USDA NASS Texas grazing lease survey breaks down by region:
- East Texas (Piney Woods + Post Oak): $20-$32/AUM, 1.0-1.5 AUM/ac
- Central Texas / Hill Country: $18-$28/AUM, 0.4-0.8 AUM/ac
- South Texas brush country: $14-$22/AUM, 0.3-0.6 AUM/ac
- Rolling Plains: $16-$24/AUM, 0.4-0.7 AUM/ac
- High Plains: $18-$28/AUM, 0.3-0.5 AUM/ac
- Trans-Pecos (Far West): $10-$18/AUM, 0.04-0.10 AUM/ac
For a typical 1,000-acre Hill Country property at 0.6 AUM/ac × $24/AUM = roughly $14,400/yr in grazing income. Trans-Pecos rangeland at 0.06 × $15 = only ~$900/yr but the acreage usually comes with mineral rights, wind potential, and stacked income.
Texas grazing lease structures
- Per-AUM: most common, flexible. Pay-per-stock, easy to scale up or down with rainfall.
- Per-acre annual: $5-$50/ac/yr depending on region; predictable income, less rancher flexibility.
- Per-head: $5-$15 per cow per month on improved pasture; very common in East Texas.
- Share lease: landowner gets a portion of the calf crop. Uncommon outside heritage operations.
Stacking with wind, oil-gas, and hunting
This is where Texas grazing leases really compound. Same parcel can carry:
- Wind royalties: 1-3 turbines on a 1,000-acre Panhandle ranch = $35-$80k/yr, with grazing continuing around them
- Oil-gas surface use payments: $1,500-$10,000/well-pad/yr if you control surface (more if pipelines cross)
- Hunting lease (whitetail in East TX, mule deer in West TX, exotic species in Hill Country): $10-$35/ac/yr layered on top of grazing
- Mineral leasing: bonus payments + 25% royalty if you hold minerals in a tier-1 basin
A 2,000-acre Howard County (Midland Basin edge) ranch could realistically combine: $12k grazing + $40k wind + $35k hunting + $25k surface use = $112k/yr without producing any oil.
Texas property tax — the "ag exemption"
Critical: Texas Agricultural Appraisal (often called "ag exemption") requires demonstrating "primary use" of land for agriculture, which includes grazing. Maintaining a grazing lease keeps your ag-valued tax basis, which can be the difference between $400/yr and $40,000/yr in property tax on a 1,000-acre tract. Don't drop a grazing tenant without lining up the next one.
Best resources
- TPWD Land Conservation Assistance Network — connects ranchers and landowners
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension — county agents can value your pasture honestly
- Tillable and AcreTrader Lease — emerging digital lease platforms
- Local livestock auction barn — best informal lease network in any Texas county
Next step
Run a free Landholder.com assessment — we score your Texas parcel for grazing using SSURGO soil data and identify stacking opportunities specific to your county.
Quick reference — cattle grazing lease basics
- 1Determine carrying capacity
Stocking density varies wildly: 0.05 AUM/acre in Nevada to 2.5 AUM/acre in Florida pasture. Your county Extension agent or NRCS conservation planner can give a site-specific estimate.
- 2Find a rancher
Local cattle producers, county Extension, or commercial brokers (Tillable, AcreTrader) all help match. Many leases are word-of-mouth via the local livestock association.
- 3Choose a structure
Per-AUM (most flexible), per-acre flat (most predictable), or revenue-share on weight gain (rare). Most contracts run 1-5 years with renewal.
- 4Set ground rules
Spell out stocking density, water responsibilities, fence maintenance, weed control, and entry rights for inspections.
Providers serving Texas
8 providers in our directory serve Texas for cattle grazing.
Land valuation and marketplace platform with parcel-level analytics; ag-focused.
Nationwide ag lender with a recourse network for landowners seeking working cattle tenants and stocker grazing leases.
Largest farm management and ag real estate firm in the US. Lease management, auctions, brokerage.
Premier US ranch brokerage since 1946. Specializes in working cattle ranches, hunting properties, and large rangeland transactions across the West and Plains.
Largest US marketplace for rural and recreational land sales. Listings reach millions of buyers.
Major US land marketplace specializing in farms, ranches, timber, hunting, and recreation tracts.
Colorado-based ranch brokerage focused on Western working cattle operations, recreational ranches, and grazing leases.
Land brokerage and management firm focused on hunting, recreation, and rural acreage.
FAQ — Cattle grazing lease in Texas
Animal-unit-month — the forage consumed by one mature cow with her calf in one month. Standard pricing unit for US grazing leases.
BLM federal rates run ~$1.35/AUM (heavily subsidized). Private leases run $18-$45/AUM in the West, $20-$50 in the Plains, $18-$35 in the Southeast.
Negotiable. Tenant usually maintains existing water infrastructure (wells, troughs); landowner provides existing infrastructure. New wells/fencing are negotiated upfront.
Yes — most grazing leases reserve hunting rights to the landowner, who can keep them or sublease as a separate hunting lease for $5-$60/ac/yr.
Free, instant assessment — across all fifteen monetization paths, not just cattle grazing.