Rust, Rot, Depreciate

Starting with point #7 from last week‘s entry of setting oneself up for financially healthy ranching or business.

Reduce overheads! Stan Parsons said you only need a hammer and a wheelbarrow to be a financially successful rancher, and the wheelbarrow was questionable. Now, i might be paraphrasing, but his point is clear; that which rusts, rots, and depreciates is not an asset and likely adds labor and other unnecessary costs. Machinery, buildings, vehicles, even a stack of hay!

Nearly every ranch or farm has a massive amount of iron and steel piled around the farm or taking up space in a barn or shed of questionable value. Both the barn and the machinery must be pulled under scrutiny. Some farms may even have extra homes, though often the old homes and ancient barns may not even be worth tearing down, but the satisfaction of cleaning up a place may provide the incentive. However, there is also the issue of liability and, even the threat to health of livestock to leave such structures in place. Livestock has no need of buildings or machinery.

Approach each piece of machinery, barn, shed, house, corral, etc with a very critical eye. Be careful you aren’t fixing machinery and buildings you don’t even need! Additionally, consider whether or not you are making an overhead expense as a monument to tax evasion. If you purchase fence supplies, fuel, machinery, etc to offset income every year, what advantage is there except needing more room for storage and increasing chances of obsolescence and decay. Is it important to hoard fence supplies when you really don’t need to build fence? Even in our remote area with few people to do work, we can hire a fencing crew.

1. When was the last time i used this machine and why did i use it?
2. Do i have time to run this machine?
3. Does it have a purpose right now, this very moment in time which will add harmony to my life?
4. Does it have more value to someone else – in other words – before it is obsolete, would the kinder thing be to sell it to a younger person to give him an opportunity to purchase a needed piece at a discounted (used) price?
5. A shed or building may have value to someone else – either as selling it and moving it off your property (ideal) or if it’s in good condition and easily accessible maybe repurposed from storing your machinery you don’t need to leasing out the space. Remember though that maintenance expenses, depreciation, damage will still fall on you.
6. If a building is needed for necessities, be sure to update it so that it is easily used by all who need to. Consider overhead doors or smaller ‘people’ doors. Eliminating heavy sliding doors will save on health issues.
7. Corrals – good ones are a necessity on any ranch. There may be too many expensive systems scattered at various small parcels – Why? If the money has already been spent it becomes more difficult to decide the path forward. Should more money be spent to tear it out and sell the parts? or just leave it and use it once a year?

In some cases, the time to make the decision whether or not to spend wads of cash comes BEFORE the money is blown. This is most assuredly the case with more permanent type structures such as corrals and buildings.

I’m going to go so far as to say, the many farms, ranches, and businesses, could have ‘estate’ sales to generate 100s of thousands of dollars to reinvest and actually free up valuable time and be more profitable. In fact, you may have other valuable assets which need selling before they become liabilities or worthless. Harvesting mature trees comes to mind. Take inventory of your farm, ranch, and business. Decide what is not needed to keep it moving forward so it’s more rewarding – perhaps the next generation will be more interested in continuing the legacy you built with literal blood, sweat, and tears.

All the points i will be covering are so intertwined, it’s difficult to pull out each one as a standalone. Case in point is the example of excess corrals. Before spending 10s of thousands of dollars on multiple corrals, the better direction is likely to combine herds and build one good corral. If a small catch area is needed at another location, perhaps a mobile unit would be helpful. But better yet, the satellite location can likely be leased out or sold off.

The bottom line:

Sell off all unused machinery, buildings, vehicles, tools, etc   All these are liabilities and cause a lot of wasted time and expense in maintenance (labor and supplies), insurance, and depreciation.  Hoarding is not a good trait – help someone get started by selling off unused assets before they are obsolete.

Shabbat Shalom!

Create Something Beautiful Everyday!

Incredibly, this is an actual race (alleyway) that we still use. It is very dangerous with broken boards on each side which are sharp, jagged, but wired back into place. The remaining boards are just waiting to bust with a minimum amount of animal pressure. A few years ago, whilst quickly sliding a bar in behind an animal just at that crowding area, my finger was smashed against a bolt sticking out. Didn’t quite cut to the bone. It’s ridiculous, IMHO, to spend 10s of thousands of dollars on new seldom used corrals, when the main ones are badly neglected, yet are used quite often. Gates should swing and easily latch, proper sized race for type of cattle, butt stops, sharp edges, blind spots addressed, etc. Installing good equipment that can be used that will be far less than even one trip to the emergency room. Alleyways or races should be appropriately sized for the stock and have a back up gate. From experience, i’m so tired of bringing one calf at a time only to have the bloke manning the butt bar at the chute to miss and the calf barrels back into me, then having to crowd the calf back up to the headgate.

Piles of materials taking up valuable space and rusting down this past year. I’ve even toured farms and came upon a huge pile of brand new steel posts and multiple rolls of barbed wire completely engulfed by years of mature grasses and tree sprouts in the middle of the pasture! Not in good shape after 30 years or more. Count the cost BEFORE buying stuff to put into storage. The cost should include whether or not you have time or any help to get the job done. FIRST – do i really need this?

Building a corral with new materials, but in the wrong spot or in the same footprint which didn’t work before is a waste of time and money for decades. If the flow of stock didn’t work in the old layout, it won’t work even with new materials.

Quickest Ways to Profitability & Harmony

This list is old news, but reviews are seldom a waste of time. Oftentimes, we need to revisit a topic to find the low hanging fruit of our business or keeping a home to be more effective in our lives.

Questions to ask yourself:

“Am i asking the right question?” How can i do this without spending money? Do i need to do this? Am i very efficiently doing the wrong thing?

If you think it won’t work for you, then it won’t. If it’s something we don’t want to change, we will set up the situation to fail on purpose. We often are the biggest stumbling block to harmony in our professions and relationships by refusing to seek a solution which, oddly, in many situations would not only enhance our lives, but be more productive and profitable as well!

As Kit Pharo says, ‘The easiest money you will ever make is the money you don’t spend – and that money is tax-free.”

In ranching:

1. Combine animals into as few herds as possible. One or two is best. One cow herd, one bull herd kept separate until breeding season. Having one cowherd will greatly reduce the number of bulls you need to cover the cows. A single herd moved multiple times per day will actually improve productivity of the soil and increase desirable plant species (aka regenerative ranching) more rapidly than some popular managed selective grazing programs. Think outside the box on this one. Although one herd is ideal, sometimes there may be a reason for another. In the season of life you are young, strong, energetic, it is important to have cash flow and other income streams. Use separate pastures (leased or owned) for short term use. For instance, you may have a herd of yearling heifers or steers. Perhaps you want to breed your yearling replacement heifers to easy calving bulls. If you have many multiple pastures, miles apart – consider another use for the far-reaching ones. Perhaps hay it in the summer, then allow to grow for short term yearling grazing (sell the animals before winter). Lease or sell the land and focus on the main portions. Chances are very good that profitability will increase, labor will decrease, family life will improve.
2. Calve in sync with nature. In our part of the world of north central Missouri, one would look back in history and learn when the bison calved. This is typically mid-May through June, perhaps a bit into July. Oftentimes you may hear, ‘when do the deer fawn?’ But deer are more like sheep or goats than cattle and breeding season weather needs consideration in many parts of the world. While you are at it, shorten the breeding season to discover your most fertile cows.
3. Let cows raise their calves. In extreme weather conditions, it may be necessary to wean calves early and sell either them or their mommas or both!
4. Select animals for your breeding herd from your own stock. Starting out, try to find local animals raised the way you will be. This will likely be nearly impossible, and you’ll end up culling a lot. Expensive up front, but long term is the best solution to finding adapted animals which can perform without expensive inputs.
5. Incorporate some sort of managed grazing which allows adequate rest from grazing. I use Real Wealth Ranching techniques which is a way of incorporating nonselective grazing, identifying adapted animals, matching calving/breeding season with forage availability, increasing profitability, and creating harmony in your life and human relationships. There are other management practices that may fit your lifestyle or season of life better. Explore and understand the protocols, realizing that often you cannot pick and choose and still have the management work.
6. ‘Kick the Hay Habit‘ is the name of a book by Jim Gerrish, but it is also great advice for reducing costs. Hay and all the labor and machinery expense associated with it seldom makes sense in today’s ranching world. There are exceptions – especially weather related – but by and large it takes a huge bite out of the bottom line.
7. Reduce overheads! Stan Parsons said you only need a hammer and a wheelbarrow to be a financially successful rancher, and the wheelbarrow was questionable. Now, i might be paraphrasing, but his point is clear; that which rusts, rots, and depreciates is not an asset and likely adds labor and other unnecessary costs. Machinery, buildings, vehicles, even a stack of hay!

Decades ago, i sat in on an introductory Ranching for Profit course taught by Stan Parsons and i thought he had the craziest ideas. I’ve long since embraced many of his precepts, but the concepts need to be revisited to keep on track. I’m constantly making mistakes and forgetting to keep my life in harmony with my work.

Hopefully, future blog entries will dig a bit deeper into each point with real life, personal examples, and experiences.

Shabbat Shalom!

Create beauty and harmony!

It Might Have Happened

With the continuing rain, it’s too muddy to drive in to shift my cows to a new paddock, so once again, I’m ‘hoofing’ it across the previously ploughed ground to their paddock.  Today, as I walked across the muddy ragweed and cocklebur infested paddock, I spotted something very white and roundish on the ground.  Nothing to do when finding something so unusual, but to stoop and pick it up.  Alas, nothing but a broken piece of porcelain, which –  guessing –  was once a drawer pull or door handle.  Not one to just toss away such treasure/trash, I contemplated about the story it could tell.  Possible, if my Grandma Falconer was still alive, this little bit would bring memories – good or bad – we’ll never know.  I found it just back of where the old house, yard, hen house, and cellar once held sway on the Bowyer Farm at which Grandpa and Grandma ‘went to housekeeping’ back in 1940.

 I trekked on down to the little creek (crick, as we say) and washed it off a bit, but carried it to the cows, shifted the cows, and brought it back.  As I passed where the old homestead once stood, I imagined my dad and his younger brother dashing out the door to catch up with their papa on his way to milking cows, with momma hollering out ‘DON’T….. slam the door” as the screen door bangs shut behind the two boys.  Momma sighs…

Of course, I don’t know that any of that happened, but grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, and children are much the same – we say the same things to each generation – some of it sticks and is good and sometimes it seems they/we hear nothing.  And, sadly, too many times now, there is no mom or dad to instruct their children not to slam the door.

Shalom!

The Right Attitude

Giving credit to Kit Pharo from his most recent PCC Update e-mail for the following.

People with the right attitude tend to be innovative.   They are independent thinkers who are not afraid to think outside the box.   They are not afraid to step out of their comfort zone.

People with the right attitude will often be entrepreneurs and trailblazers.   They are goal setters.   They know the best way to predict the future is to create it.

People with the right attitude are proactive – not reactive.   They know that failing to plan is the same as planning to fail.

People with the right attitude are not afraid of failure.   If they fall down, they get back up, brush themselves off and learn from their mistakes.   They seldom, if ever, whine or complain – and they never blame others.

People with the right attitude will seldom if ever say something cannot be done.   They realize that just because something has never been done does not mean it is impossible to do.

People with the right attitude see problems as opportunities.   They are always looking for ways to make lemonade out of lemons.   They realize every dark cloud has a silver lining.

People with the right attitude tend to be spiritually grounded.   They know who is really in control.  

People with the right attitude like to create win-win relationships with other positive people.   They know their success is often dependent upon the success of others.

Selecting Land

My good friend, Greg Judy, who actually has a Youtube channel to which you can subscribe for his interesting and informative videos about farming/ranching and a whole host of other topics related to profitable cattle and sheep farming, has offered up some key points for considering land purchases for your specific goals.

Greg’s check list when selecting a farm.

The check list really hasn’t changed in considerations for the purchase throughout history.

Buying undeveloped land may seem less expensive, but bear in mind the high cost of making it livestock worthy (or whatever it is you will use your land for). Perimeter fencing is expensive made even more so if hiring a bulldozer to clear the fence rows first is necessary.

As we get older, land which may be more expensive yet closer to a hospital or at least a sealed road will likely become more important.

If you are so fortunate to find a reasonably price parcel in the location important you, with limited buildings, then don’t wait because someone else will buy it. Desirable parcels of property are snapped up very fast. My observations of looking for properties, indicates that poor properties are offered at ridiculous prices just hoping for someone to bite; quality, in-demand properties will sell immediately and land auctions are becoming more popular due to immediate sell and they are bringing a premium price.

If the neighbours aren’t interested in the property and it has been languishing on the market, that is a red flag that something is wrong – do in depth research. Oftentimes, it can be high taxes, poor production values, swampy land, no water, low rainfall, the lay of the land requires constant maintenance (i have a 160 like that, every little rain causes my deep watergaps to blow out, fighting encroaching brush is an annual and long days event)

My personal search requires:

1. enough acreage in one block location with minimal perimeter (in other words more squarish, not nooks and crannies. one property online had 11 miles of perimeter to maintain yet enclosing only 1700 acres!)
2. A nice home which has been built with finishes which stand the test of time. Too many homes from the 80s and 90s and so faddish inside, it needs to be completely gutted and redone. May be better to tear it down and start again. Not out of the range of possibility, just be sure you aren’t paying twice for a new home.
3. Live water with no or little flood plain.
4. Located on a sealed road with minimal traffic
5. Near infrastructure to livestock auctions and other supportive ranch venues
6. Warm winters, warm winters, warm winters – did i mention warm winters?!
7. Minimal timber and very little brush.
8. I would like to not be close enough to neighbors to hear or see them, but within 2 hours of a major airport.
9. Price is critical – i’m not rich – the ranch i buy must find a way to pay for itself or at the least provide a good rate of return. This is nearly impossible in today’s environment where there is very little low risk good investment. Land is in too expensive for its productive value.

Behavior and Tasks

I’ve always been amazed and astounded at how, even at very young ages – preteen in fact, my children have exhibited the powers of observation, deductive reasoning, insight into human behavior, and spiritual intellect far above what i would think is normal at any age. Maybe i’m just clueless. Whatever the reason, most of the time, i’m thankful they feel free to share my shortcomings with me.

In fact, the biggest change was to learn to NOT start another project until the one at hand is completed. They noticed that this would cause me to be overwhelmed by too many incomplete tasks – which simply drives me nuts! It seems like a low priority task should be started while you are in the location of a high priority task – but i’m guessing that 90% of the time that simply isn’t true. Best to make the priority list and stick with it. Don’t start that task that could be put off for 6 months or a year. Just don’t do it. Finish what you are doing, tick it off the list, then start the next. (along with this admonishment comes the all important question – does it really need to be done?)

Don’t get me wrong – if you are reroofing a building and you have a crew and equipment all on site and well into it and you find some rotted boards – yes, replace the rotted boards, then finish the roofing. You get the drift.

Why do i bring this up? As readers have noticed, i’ve started a new and exciting grazing program which is already show promise. Will i be able to maintain the protocol? Yes, with modifications in time and allotments, but the principles can be used. (and mostly as Yah allows)

Anyway, my youngest son, years ago, (okay it can’t be that many years since he’s only 24), pointed out that until the grazing and cow business can be put to a management level that most people can handle – even with minimal training – i’m simply never going to find anyone who will want to take over or even help because the day to day is ridiculously overwhelming – basically feeling like i’m putting out fires rather than focusing on building a profitable business that’s fun to watch grow with healthy animals, healthy soil, water, and forage, while producing a premium food product.

To that end, i’m finishing up getting my semi-permanent hi-tensile fences in place to better utilize water, forage, and time resources.

The total grazing plans are a bit bumpy for now because i’m not fully on track, but i’m getting there. Grazing where i wouldn’t normally graze if i was already , but needs to be prepared and get in sync. HA! Well, that was clear as mud.

I needed to change the location of a fence – nearly done with that – this is not necessarily in response to easier strip grazing (though it will be extremely better placed for that) and was already on the to-do list for a couple years now. I installed it in the wrong place 12 years ago – finally getting it done. Otherwise, there are a few short stretches of fences to install, remove, or shift plus i will re install the fence on the Bowyer farm which were removed for the organic soybean farming.

But every task has a priority and unless weather or some such intervenes, I plan to tackle them in the proper and timely order.

So thankful to be able to work hard everyday – though i run out of steam and muscles a bit more quickly than i did a decade ago.

Have fun!

Shopping Responsibly

A photo and comment showed up on Facebook recently that misleadingly and irresponsibly tries to justify laziness and poor eating habits as an excuse for being overweight. Well, that’s quite a hard thing to put together, i know, so i’ll copy the article here. Clearly, the author has selected items which are likely imported and out of season as well as being convenience and snack type foods. These types of selections are nearly always the most expensive choices. Anyone on a budget needs to shop smarter. If you can’t afford organic, don’t buy organic – buy the best you can afford. Historically, food is cheaper than it’s ever been!

Item	# lbs	price/lb	total price
Carrots	2	$     0.80	$     1.60
Onions	1	$     0.90	$     0.90
Potatoes	3	$     1.00	$     3.00
ground beef	2	$     3.00	$     6.00
chicken	4	$     1.00	$     4.00
sugar	1	$     1.60	$     1.60
zucchini	2	$     1.00	$     2.00
oats	3	$     1.15	$     3.45
milk	4.3	$     0.50	$     2.15
apples	3	$     1.60	$     4.80
butter	1	$     1.99	$     1.99
eggs (doz)	1	$     1.50	$     1.50
Flour	2	$     0.90	$     1.80
	Total		$   34.79

For fun, i quickly put together a sample shopping list of items not on sale which adds up to a bit more than $32. Now, i’m going to be very clear – this list is commodity, cheap, and not environmentally friendly food stuffs and i would not buy these items where i am in my life. I can afford more costly, more humanely raised, healthier choices, including that which i raise of it in my own garden.

Real food is not expensive to buy – don’t be fooled – do your homework.

Shop responsibly and wisely.