Draw your pasture on the map. Cowculator queries USDA ecological site and forage production data for your exact location — and gives you a stocking rate in seconds.
Simple 3-step process
If you can use Google Maps, you can use Cowculator. The hard part — finding and interpreting USDA data — is done for you.
Use the polygon or rectangle tool to outline your grazing area on the map. Zoom to your ranch and trace the boundaries.
→Cowculator queries official USDA databases for ecological site classifications and measured forage production data at your exact location.
→Enter your acreage and grazing season. Get a plain-English result: "30 cows on 500 acres for 12 months" — backed by real forage data.
Why Cowculator
Most stocking rate tools use broad regional estimates. Cowculator pulls site-specific USDA data for the actual ecological sites within your pasture.
Two fields with similar soil types can have dramatically different forage production. We capture those differences using USDA ecological site classifications.
Results are based on USDA-measured forage production data — not rules of thumb. See production in lbs/acre and which plant species contribute.
Enter your actual acreage, grazing season, and average cow weight. The result updates instantly with a clear "X cows for Y months" answer.
Location queries go directly from your browser to USDA's public API. We never store or see your property coordinates.
No credit card, no trial period, no account required for the core calculator. We sustain it through optional premium features and contextual ads.
Works anywhere USDA has ecological site data — which covers nearly all rangeland across the contiguous United States.
Ranching resources
Draw your pasture on the map and get a USDA-backed carrying capacity estimate in under a minute — free.
🐄 Open Cowculator Free →