Predicting Drought
What would the value be in your operation if you could predict drought? I know we can’t predict the weather, but we can keep track of monthly rainfall. Rainfall is going to be a darn good predictor of forage growth. In addition to rainfall, we can also keep track of monthly livestock head counts and […]
Read MoreIs Opportunity Interest, Real Interest?
An opportunity cost is the lost benefit of choosing a different option. The opportunity cost of going to college is losing out on four years of wages; the true cost is tuition plus lost wages. At the Ranching for Profit School, we include opportunity interest as a cost on owned livestock herds, because there is […]
Read MoreDrought Isn’t a Surprise
If you’re in the ranching business, drought is a normal part of life. David McLean is part of RCS, our sister company in Australia. David refers to planning for the average year as “riding the unicorn”. David says it a bit more colorfully, “Stop riding the bloody unicorn!” Managing your business for the average year […]
Read MoreRanch Records
Calving season is in full swing across most of cow country and so are ranchers armed with a red book or smart phone app taking notes about birth dates, weights, calving ease, and a host of other things we were told we need to record to be good cattlemen and women. At the end of […]
Read MoreSell/Buy Lessons from Aaron and Tara
ProfitTips is taking a different direction this time. Aaron and Tara Helmick recently shared with me a collection of “Lessons Learned” from the past 4 years as they have been on a journey to transform their business. I met Aaron and Tara at a Ranching for Profit School I taught in Rapid City, SD. Aaron […]
Read MoreImplementing the Drought Plan
A good chunk of cow country is experiencing a dry time. If you are Ranching for Profit you had your drought plan done before spring arrived. That drought plan included key dates with specific actions tied to those dates, it was written down, and shared with others on your team who held you accountable to […]
The Value of Gain & Grass
Wally Olson is a rancher from Vinita, Oklahoma. He has a profitable cattle trading enterprise based on the Sell/Buy marketing principles popularized by Bud Williams. At the foundation of Wally’s operation is an understanding of the value of grass and the value of gain. Wally is quick to point out that he doesn’t limit his […]
Cowboys and Grassmen
I once heard Bud Williams say, “Ranchers love their cows and hate their grass.” Bud thought they had it backwards. They should love their grass and hate their cattle. I know that Bud didn’t really hate cattle or think that anyone else ought to hate them, but his point was that for a livestock business […]