What Can We Do vs. What Should We Do?
In managing through the recent drought covering much of cow country, I hear a lot of discussion around questions like: “How many cows ‘can’ we keep?”; “How much hay do we have on hand?”; “How much hay can we afford to buy?”. These questions are not very helpful. They miss the larger point. In looking […]
The Ranch Business Time Bomb
Think of a ranch business you know of, that is no longer in business. Now I want you to think of the underlying cause for that business no longer being around. Was it related to production? Did the cows not breed, the calves weren’t big enough to bring in decent money or was the death […]
Gross Margin Inside the Cow Herd
We just wrapped up a full school in Oklahoma City. It was an amazing week where 54 people spent a week exploring the leadership of their businesses and making new friends along the way. Wally Olson of Olson Ranch and founder of Ranching FYI stopped by and discussed cow depreciation and how to make decisions […]
Read MoreCow Depreciation – Don’t Follow a Recipe
There has been quite a bit written about managing cow deprecation over the past few years. In simple terms cow depreciation is the reduction of value of a cow from its height of value until it is sold for salvage. I’m glad this often hidden cost is getting attention and that ranchers now see this […]
Is Tagging Calves a Good Idea?
We need to constantly challenge the management practices we do on the ranch, to make sure they still make sense. As business management guru Edwards Demming (who lived in Powell, WY) said, “It is not necessary to change, survival is not mandatory.” Since calving season is in full swing across most of cow country, I […]
Ranching “Granny Style”
We have a basketball hoop in our dirt driveway (makes dribbling interesting). My daughter, Gracen, a sophomore in high school, plays several sports including basketball. I’ll join in on a game of “horse” every now and then. We make it more interesting by calling the type of shot, hook, backwards, or of course “granny”. I’m […]
There’s Nothing Wrong With A Hobby
The Ranching For Profit School is intended for ranchers. But every year some people who want to get into ranching attend the class to build a business plan to test the feasibility of pursuing their dream. A week hasn’t gone by in the last couple of years when I haven’t had an email or phone […]