Herdquitter Blog

According to the USDA Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, the average Angus, Red Angus and Hereford cow in America weighs over 1,400 pounds.   WOW!   The status quo seedstock industry has successfully out-Simmentalled the Simmentals.   Unfortunately, as cow size has increased, profitability has decreased.   It doesn’t matter how big your cattle are if they’re not profitable.

Why are cows as big as they are?

For the past 50 years… the status quo beef industry has focused almost single-mindedly on increasing production per cow (weaning weight).   Although this has provided some bragging rights, it has been very detrimental to ranch profits.   As individual weaning weights increase, pounds and profit per acre decrease.   Average cow-calf producers of today are much less profitable than they were 50 years ago – and it continues to get worse.

Since big cows need to eat substantially more than smaller cows just to meet their maintenance requirements, producers have been forced to reduce stocking rates and/or to increase supplemental feeding.   With the cost of land and feed as high as they are, it is quickly becoming less and less profitable to own those big, high-maintenance cows.   Ask your banker if he thinks you should focus on bragging rights or on profit.

Since smaller cows need to eat less to meet their maintenance requirements and since they are able to wean a higher percentage of their own body weight, they will always produce more total pounds and more total profit than big cows – on the exact same acres.   To add insult to injury, there is growing evidence that smaller cows will actually wean bigger calves than big cows in a real-world, unpampered environment (see table below).

Notice… as cow size increases, weaning weights decrease.   This is the exact opposite of what most people would expect to happen.   After all, the reason everyone has big cows is to increase individual weaning weights.

So, what happened?  How can this be?

The big cows do NOT fit their environment!  Your ranch can only support so much growth, frame and milk.   Once you go beyond that point, you will have to provide expensive supplementation to meet the needs of your big, high-maintenance cows.   Without expensive supplementation, your weaning weights and your conception rates will suffer.   Maintenance requirements must be met before any weight gain or reproduction can take place.

It shouldn’t surprise you that most of the bulls being sold today were produced by high-maintenance, 5 to 7-frame cows that weigh 1400 to 1800 pounds.   These cows must be pampered to stay in production.   What size and type of replacement females will these bulls produce?   Like begets like!   If you are concerned about long-term profit, then thick, easy-fleshing, low-maintenance, 3 to 4-frame cows that weigh 1100 to 1250 pounds are plenty big enough (pictured below).

These 10-year-old Solar Cows are very feminine in appearance.   They are wedge-shaped – and they carry a tremendous amount of thickness and condition.   Even during a severe drought, with calves at side, they met their maintenance requirements and were able to store up energy in the form of fat.   They were ready to re-breed 30 days prior to our breeding season.

When you purchase something, you always hope you will get your money’s worth.   That, however, is often easier said than done, isn’t it?   When purchasing bulls, cost is always a factor – but it should not be the only factor.   First and foremost, you should consider the program behind the bulls.   Bulls that were produced in a program that aligns with your long-term goals are worth a whole lot more than bulls coming out of a program that does not align with your long-term goals.

It’s unfortunate, but most bull programs do not align with any commercial cow-calf operations.   Most bull programs are high-input operations with big, inefficient cows that require substantial pampering just to stay in production.   I just heard of an extremely high-input outfit that sold over 400 highly-overfed Diesel Bulls for an average price of $15,700.   Unbelieva-BULL!   Why would anyone pay so much for a bull that is guaranteed to fall apart?

Another very important factor in getting your money’s worth is the number of calves a bull will sire before he must be replaced.   It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a bull that sires twice as many calves as the average bull is worth twice as much as the average bull.   After all, the reason you purchase bulls is to sire calves.

According to many university experts, you can only expect to get three years of use out of a high-maintenance, feedlot-developed Diesel Bull.   On average, I think that is too high.   Even with supplementation, most Diesel Bulls can service no more than 20 cows their first year and no more than 30 cows their second and third years – for a lifetime total of 80 calves.

It is not at all uncommon for low-maintenance PCC Solar Bulls that are developed without grain to provide at least six years of service.   In most cases, we are not afraid to turn our Solar Bulls out with 30+ females their first breeding season.   We expect our bulls to gain weight during their first breeding season – without being supplemented.   Our mature bulls can handle 50+ cows – for a lifetime total of at least 280 calves.

In this case… the PCC Solar Bull sired 200 more calves than the status quo Diesel Bull. If the Diesel Bull cost $6000, his cost per calf would be $75.   At $75 per calf, you could have paid as much as $21,000 for the PCC Solar Bull, and still be getting your money’s worth.   Since PCC Solar Bulls cost about the same as Diesel Bulls, you will always get MORE THAN YOUR MONEY’S WORTH with a PCC Solar Bull.

We have testimonies from many longtime PCC customers that can put the above comparison to shame.   I will share a few of them with you…

“Our first PCC bull was purchased in 2001.   We spent more than planned, but have never regretted it.   We used him until he was 13 years old.   On a per-calf basis, he was the cheapest bull we have ever purchased.” (Paul Landrigan — Nebraska)

“I just sold my first PCC bull at age 12.   He bred around 50 cows every year and always stayed in great shape.” (Dan Temaat — Kansas)

“The ability of your bulls to breed a large number of heifers in a short period of time has greatly improved my profitability.” (John Nino — California)

“I couldn’t agree with you more about PCC bulls being able to breed more cows for more years than other bulls.   I put my two PCC bulls out with 60 to 70 cows each — and they did great!” (Delvin LaDuke — North Dakota)

“We used our first PCC bull for ten years — and in that time he naturally sired over 1000 calves in spring and fall-calving herds.” (Garth Lloyd — Missouri)

“Your bulls have proved themselves so well that we have been able to reduce the total number of bulls we use by 17 bulls.” (Jim Espy — Wyoming)

I look in on a few internet discussion forums on a regular basis just to see what the status quo whiz kids are saying and thinking.   In late February, one forum started a discussion on “Fly Control.”   Really?   In February?   I can’t believe it! I usually don’t see much discussion on fly control until May and June – when it quickly becomes the hottest topic within the status quo beef industry.   Of course, several members of this forum shared their favorite “toxic chemical” solution to the problem.

Step 9 of the Ten Steps to Double Your Profits states: “Use genetics to fix problems – instead of spending money on chemical, technical and mechanical solutions that won’t last.   Parasite problems are a perfect example of this.”

Genetic parasite resistance is one of many areas in which Pharo Cattle Company has assumed the leadership position.   We have been evaluating and scoring the bulls we sell for fly resistance for 12 years.   The fall-born bulls in our upcoming Texas and Missouri bull sales were evaluated and scored for fly resistance last summer.   The spring-born bulls were not evaluated for fly resistance because there are no flies in January.

You can use our unique Quick Sort program to identify the bulls with the best genetic fly resistance.   In our Texas Bull Sale, for example, 45 out of 72 fall-born bulls have 4 and 5-star fly resistance.   That’s 63%! In our Missouri Bull Sale, 117 out of 151 fall-born bulls have 4 and 5-star fly resistance. That is an impressive 77%!

Most of our cowherds have gone two decades without any chemical treatments for parasites.   We have cooperative cowherds in a variety of environments from Minnesota to hot, humid, fescue country in Missouri and Mississippi and all the way to the high-plains desert.   We also have cooperative herds from the southern plains of Texas all the way to the northern plains of Montana and North Dakota.   NO ONE has as much bred-in parasite resistance as Pharo Cattle Company – because no one else has ever tried to select for genetic parasite resistance.

Throughout history, the most ambitious and adventurous of people have constantly yearned to leave old, overcrowded territories in search of new frontiers.   These are trailblazers, frontiersmen, pioneers and innovators.   They quickly tire of the status quo.   They are anxious to make things happen.

If you are paying attention, you will find old territories everywhere you look.   For example, when an industry stops being innovative, it reaches a point of stagnation and becomes an old, overcrowded territory.   Everyone in that industry is essentially doing the same thing – and has been doing the same thing for many years.   The productivity of that industry has peaked and is declining.   There is no room for advancement and no chance to get ahead.

Today’s status quo beef industry is a perfect example of an old, stagnant and overcrowded territory.   The status quo beef industry is a result of a time when land was unbelievably cheap – at least by today’s standards.   It is also a result of cheap feed and cheap fuel.   Labor was cheap – and equipment was cheap.   The status quo way of doing things made sense 50 years ago.   Unfortunately, that era is over – and it isn’t coming back.

For many reasons… it is becoming more and more difficult to make a decent living in the status quo beef industry.   Most cow-calf producers do good just to break even.   There are no chances for advancement.   Consequently, many family farms and ranches will not be passed on to the next generation.   That’s a tragedy – but that’s the way it has always been.   The only beef producers who will advance and prosper will be those who are not afraid to venture into new frontiers.

Entering the New Frontier in Beef Production is not as scary or as risky as most producers think it is.   Yes, it will be different and yes, it will require some change – but it is not totally uncharted territory.   Many PCC customers are already there.   They are two to four times more profitable than the average status quo producer.   They have substantially improved their lifestyle.   Consequently, they have an operation the next generation is excited to become involved in.

I came across an internet article late last week entitled, “Selecting Bulls to Meet Your Goals,” or something like that.   It wasn’t worth the time it took to open the link – but it did get me to thinking.   I suspect most cow-calf producers have no goals.   They are just doing what everyone else is doing and/or what they have always done.   If you don’t have goals, you have no direction in your life or business.

Do you have business goals?   I’m not talking about ideas or dreams you think about every now and then.   I’m talking about real goals.   If you have real goals, you are probably one in a thousand.   If you have real goals, you have a HUGE competitive advantage over everyone else in your business.   If you have real goals, you are creating your own future.   If you have real goals, you are also creating a future for the next generation.

A real goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable and Time-Sensitive.

1. Specific: Goals are no place to waffle.   This is no place to be vague.   Vague goals produce vague results.
2. Measurable: Always set goals that are measurable.   If they are not measurable, you will never know for sure when they have been achieved.   For example, don’t set a goal to “make more money.”
3. Attainable: Goals must be realistic and attainable.   Most people don’t set goals – so when they do, they tend to set goals that are too big to be easily attained.   This creates discouraging results.
4. Time-Sensitive: Every goal should have a timeframe attached to it.   A goal must have a deadline – a time in which you want to accomplish it.

I have achieved the best results when I break my big goals down into several (or many) smaller goals that can be easily attained in a relatively short period of time.   I liken my really big goals to an elephant that must be eaten.   There is no way I can eat an elephant in one sitting.   However, I will eventually eat the entire elephant – one bite at a time.

If you do not have any business goals, I encourage you to set some.   Start out by just setting one simple goal that should be easy to attain.   Do it today!   Someday is not a day of the week.   I cannot think of anything that will even come close to giving you a greater return on the time invested.   You will literally amaze yourself!

Let’s go back to the subject of bull selection…
Since the bulls you purchase are responsible for at least 90% of your herd improvement (or deterioration), it makes sense that bull selection can play an extremely important part in helping you meet your goals.   Are you purchasing bulls that will help you achieve your business goals?   Are you purchasing bulls that will increase your future success and happiness?   Are you purchasing bulls with the next generation in mind?

• Treat their cows tougher than you treat your cows?
• Refuse to make an excuse for a cow, or give a her a second chance?
• Develop bulls on forage — with nothing but starch-free supplements?
• Evaluate and score bulls for disposition?
• Evaluate and score bulls for fleshing ability, thickness, muscling, masculinity, overall rating, hair coat and fly resistance?
• Evaluate and score bulls for low maintenance, longevity and grass efficiency?
• Evaluate and score bulls for feet and leg conformation?
• Evaluate and score bulls for preputial prolapse problems?
• Provide an udder score for the bulls they sell?
• Provide a One-Year Guarantee on the bulls they sell?
• Guarantee bulls for calving ease?
• Guarantee bulls to be free from genetic defects?
• Control flies and other parasites with genetics — instead of chemicals?
• Invite customers to participate in bull evaluation days?
• Provide a Quick Sort program that takes the guesswork out of sorting bulls that meet your specific needs?
• Use an honest, low-pressure Cowboy Auction to sell bulls?
• Deliver bulls to over 60 delivery points across the nation?
• Make it possible for their customers to receive a $15/cwt premium on their calves?
• Provide an online discussion group with world-renowned industry experts for their customers?

If you want to produce the right kind of replacement females, you need to be using bulls that were produced by the right kind of momma cows.    Weights, ratios and EPDs serve a purpose, but they don’t tell the whole story.

Although most ranchers tell me they want to produce efficient 1100 to 1200-pound cows that can wean 50% of their own weight for many years without being pampered, they will usually confess to purchasing bulls from seedstock programs with high-maintenance cows that weigh 1400 to 2200 pounds.   These big cows must be pampered just to stay in production.   How is that gonna work?   It isn’t!

For the last 30+ years, Pharo Cattle Company has put a tremendous amount of pressure on their cows – requiring them to produce and reproduce with minimum inputs in many different environments.   This quickly forces the inefficient, the infertile and the unadapted cows out of our cowherds.   Our momma cows have proven their ability to increase pounds and profit per acre in every environment they have been placed in

Like Begets Like…   If you are serious about producing efficient, moderate-sized, easy-fleshing, low-maintenance replacement females, then I suggest you get serious about buying bulls that were produced by the right kind of momma cows.   Pharo Cattle Company has the genetics you will need to increase profitability – in good times and in not-so-good times.

While thumbing through a status quo beef publication, I came across an article about “average producers.”   The leadoff sentence said, “Being average in the cow-calf business means you are probably just breaking even.”   That got my attention, so I read on.

When you look at cow-calf producers across the nation, you will find producers with several thousand cows all the way down to producers with just 20 cows.   Nationwide, most cow-calf producers have small herds that are subsidized by off-farm income.   Their cow-calf programs were never designed to be profitable.   Therefore, most cow-calf producers never make a profit.

One might think you must be a big producer to be a profitable producer.   That’s not true! In a ten-year period, most of the biggest producers do good just to breakeven.   They will have some good years mixed in with some bad years.   For the most part, the good years have high calf prices, while the bad years have lower calf prices.   This is something the producer has no control over.

The two things that have the greatest effect on profitability are cost of production and stocking rate (pounds per acre).   Fortunately, these are also the two things the producer has the most control over.

Reducing cost of production is easier than most cow-calf producers think – but it will usually require a slight paradigm shift.   Most expenses are fossil fuel-based.   Real success in this business will take place when we transition from fossil fuel energy to free solar energy.   Winter feeding is usually the biggest expense.   With the right kind of cows and with proper grazing management, most winter feeding can be eliminated.   Working with nature will also lower cost of production.

Increasing stocking rate and pounds per acre will never take place until you stop focusing on increasing pounds per animal.   Status quo producers have been focused on the wrong thing for the past 50 years.   With the right size and type of cow, most cow-calf producers can increase stocking rate by at least 30 percent.   With proper grazing management, it is possible to increase stocking rate by another 50 to 200 percent.

Back to the article in the status quo magazine…

The article started taking a turn for the worse after the third paragraph.   One of the suggestions provided was to wean calves with above average weaning weights.   If the average weaning weight is 520 pounds, then the author suggested we strive to produce calves that weigh 550 pounds at weaning.   I wanted to SCREAM!   How can intelligent people get it so wrong?

What happens when you increase weaning weight?   Cow size and maintenance requirements increase.   Consequently, stocking rate decreases and the cost of production increases.   It does not matter how big your cattle are if they are not profitable!

The two things we have the most control over – cost of production and stocking rate – are also the two things that have the greatest effect on our profitability – or lack thereof.   I truly believe most ranchers can easily double their profits once they STOP focusing on the wrong things.

When a business is able to sustain profits that substantially exceed the average for its industry, that business is said to have a competitive advantage.   We firmly believe having a competitive advantage will be the difference between mere survival and true success in the future of the cow-calf business.   There is no reason you cannot have a competitive advantage – if you want one.   It is up to you!   There are two primary types of competitive advantages – a cost advantage and a differential advantage.A cost advantage exists when a business is able to deliver the same product as competitors but at a much lower cost.   This requires a low cost of production.   Low-input cow-calf producers, for example, have a big competitive advantage over status quo producers.   Many (perhaps most) PCC customers have a cost of production that is less than half what the national average is.   That’s an advantage of $300 to $400 per calf.   WOW!   The easiest money you will ever make is the money you don’t spend.

Having a cost advantage will only be possible for those who focus on production per acre – instead of production per cow.   I personally know several producers who have increased pounds and profit per acre by 50 to well over 200 percent.   These producers have implemented proper grazing management to make the most of every ray of sunshine and drop of rain that falls on the land they control.   They also produce smaller, more efficient cattle that fit their environment – instead of artificially changing the environment to fit their cattle.

A differential advantage is created when a product differs from competing products and is perceived to be superior to competing products.   Many PCC customers, for example, produce and market grass-finished beef.   While the demand for conventional beef has been steadily declining, the demand for grass-finished beef has been increasing by leaps and bounds.   Producers with grass-efficient genetics are receiving huge premiums for their calves.

Many PCC customers have both a cost advantage and a differential advantage.   They produce beef for substantially less than everyone else and they sell it for substantially more than everyone else.   These producers are my heroes!   As time goes on, they will be buying out more and more of their neighbors.   That’s a little sad – but I don’t have much sympathy for people who are too lazy and/or too afraid to think for themselves.

With the coming of the New Year, it is traditional to look back at what happened, good or bad, in the world around us.   For the cattle industry, one definite change I have seen in the last year is that “cow size” is mentioned more and more and finally given its full due – even in the freebie magazines!   These are the same magazines devoted to following the path of the money laid down by the sellers of inputs who depend on pushing production as opposed to profit.

Going back to the early 1970s, everything we read, whether in magazines or university and government research papers, was all about increasing individual animal performance – with a special emphasis on weaning weights.   This led to big cows, although it was not considered a detriment at the time.   But now cow size is becoming a popular topic amongst producers and academics alike.

Why is this changing after over 40 years of big-cow dominance with very few speaking out about the illogic of big cows?   One person, with the knowledge of what the producer on the land needed to be profitable, brought this into focus. Kit Pharo began his seedstock operation with a totally different approach than the norm.   Instead of the industry’s standard of increasing performance no matter the cost, Kit knew it would take more than buying high-performance bulls for his customers to be profitable.   This led to the PCC Philosophies that continue to be the guiding force in PCC’s seedstock operation.

One of Kit’s focal points was cow size.   Bigger cows were not efficient and were reducing profit in several ways.   Kit began a campaign for smaller cows that started with the publishing of the PCC Newsletter and speaking engagements around the country.   As the years rolled by, with newsletters going to several thousand people and speaking engagements before thousands of producers and academics, cow size became something to not only talk about – but to seriously consider.

For nearly three decades… Kit was the only one speaking out and making waves about cow size.   There were others with similar views, but they did not have the platform from which to sway large numbers of producers, which eventually encouraged (forced?) academics to take a real-world look at cow size and how it diminishes producer profits both directly and indirectly.   This proves that one person with persistence can make a difference.

WARNING: This Newsletter may be Hazardous to Closed Minds.   Read at your own risk!

Click to Read…

One of the smartest things I’ve heard anyone say was Johann Zietsman’s comparison of corn farming and beef production.   The rancher-consultant from Zimbabwe said if corn farmers thought like beef producers, they would space their plants far apart and try to maximize the number of kernels per ear and the number of ears per plant.   They would think nothing about yield per acre.   In the end, they would surely go broke.

This is pure, sound logic, and yet the cow business has been chasing profit per corn plant … er, I mean per cow … for 50 years and more.   In fact, we don’t really even measure profit per cow but only production per cow, with little attention paid to net profit at all.   No wonder our industry’s average net return is so low, commonly averaging 3%.   Of course, there exist cow operations that make 10% or more and those which lose money nearly every year.

Texas economist Stan Bevers says cow operations are asset-management operations – meaning the investment money goes into assets with very low turnover – and the largest asset is nearly always the land.   Usually, the second-largest asset class is the cattle.   Yet the profit-per-cow mindset overlooks the natural tendency to make bigger cows so they require more land, thereby increasing cost per unit of production in two ways.

If we also consider that when managed grazing is properly executed, it has been shown by hundreds of practitioners across the nation – indeed around the world – to improve the land’s productivity over time.   That means we can run more units of production (cows) on fewer acres, thereby lowering our cost of production.

If we at the same time select cattle that are well-suited to forage, moreover well-suited to the very high-density grazing which allows us to improve the land faster and produce even more pounds of beef per acre, we are also selecting for animals that lower our cost structure further.

There is a counterintuitive outcome of profit per cow that needs to be explored.   When we focus on the cow exclusively, the side effect is bigger, higher producing cows and lighter and lighter stocking rates – exactly the path we’ve taken.

We talk about how much our calves weighed on sale day and whether they topped the sale in price.   Instead, we should be measuring our net profit per acre, and secondarily asking whether each cow is paying her way by producing a calf every single year and doing it at very low cost.

We should also stay out of the coffee shops and co-ops if we can’t learn to ignore the neighbors’ drivel about how much their calves weighed.

The easiest money you will ever make is the money you DON’T spend.   Ben Franklin once said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”   Folks, this is just as true today as it ever was – and it applies to every $10, $100 and $10,000 you DON’T spend.   Guess what?   This income is tax-free.   You DON’T have to pay income taxes on the money you DO NOT spend!

Reducing and eliminating expenses is easier than most cow-calf producers think – but it will require a paradigm shift for most producers.   Most expenses are fossil fuel-based.   Long-term success in this business will require you to transition from fossil fuel energy to FREE solar energy.   Winter feeding is usually the biggest expense.   With the right kind of cows and with proper grazing management, most winter feeding can be eliminated.   Working with nature will also reduce and eliminate expenses.

If you are a cow-calf producer who is in the business for the long haul, you probably need to make some changes in your operation.   I firmly believe the beef industry is at a major turning point.   What has worked so well for the past 40 years won’t work for the next 40 years.   Those who are quickest to adapt and change will be in the driver’s seat.   Those who are slow to change will get left behind or run over.   This might be a good time to review the Ten Steps to Double Your Profits.

I received a tremendous amount of response to last week’s PCC Update.   This included an inordinate number of unsubscribers.   To be honest, I expected to receive a tremendous response.   Our Cowboy Logic said, “You’re not old until your dreams are replaced by regrets.”   I followed that with an article entitled “Regrets” which was followed by an article entitled “A Cowboy Hat and a Dream.”

All of this was designed to push people out of their comfort zone and challenge them to make the most of their life – before it is too late.   Some people refuse to be pushed out of their comfort zone.   They would rather unsubscribe than to think about changing their life for the better.   That’s too bad – but that is just the way some people are.   Others truly desire to accomplish more – but they can’t figure out how to get the ball rolling.

I am, by no means, an expert on this – but I have always been a highly driven and motivated individual.   I am not afraid to dream big.   I set goals and do what is required to make them come to fruition.   Over the years, I have helped a few other individuals and groups make some of their goals and dreams come true.   The biggest obstacle most people deal with, including me, is the box (paradigm) they have put themselves in.

As we have said many times, it is impossible to achieve greatness if you are locked into the status quo way of thinking and doing.   By definition, members of the status quo herd will always be average.   Several people who responded to last week’s PCC Update said they are definitely NOT status quo.   One said he is considered the village idiot.   The fact that you are not status quo does not mean your paradigm is not holding you back.

If you are having trouble reaching the next level, you need to determine what is holding you back.   More than likely, it is in your head.   For example, many producers cannot imagine increasing the size of their operation because they don’t think they can move to a different location – a location with more opportunities to expand and grow.   You cannot choose where you were born – but you can choose where you live and work.

Most people go through life flying by the seat of their pants.   They spend most of their time reacting to events rather than being in control.   To be in control we need to be proactive, instead of reactive.   A clear destiny with goals is very important.   Goals, however, must be attainable.   I like to break my big goals down into smaller goals that can be easily achieved in a relatively short period of time.   How do you eat an elephant?   One bite at a time.

Cowboy Logic: “Think small.  Big ideas upset people.”

I am fortunate enough to know several very successful cattlemen who started out with nothing more than a cowboy hat and a dream.  They did what everyone in the status quo herd said could not be done.  I have always been greatly impressed and inspired by such people.  Some of these people did not even have an agricultural background.  In my opinion, that was more of a blessing than a curse.  They were not handicapped or hindered by status quo traditions and ways of thinking.

As we have discussed in previous PCC Updates and Newsletters, there have always been more opportunities to advance in a down market than in an up market.  For example, more millionaires were made during the Great Depression of the 1930s than at any other time in history.  The fact that more and more status quo producers are struggling to make a decent living, indicates there will soon be more and more opportunities for others to advance.  In a world that seems to be filled with whiners, complainers and blamers, it’s extremely refreshing to visit with people who are totally excited about the future.

Getting started in the cattle business does not require that you own land.  If you do not already own land, do not purchase any until you can do so with your profits.  I did not own any land for the first ten years I was in the cattle business.  Getting started in the cattle business doesn’t require that you own cattle either – at least not in the beginning.  The only thing required is knowing how to be profitable.  Be very careful who you listen to, though, when you seek knowledge.  Most of the status quo information that is floating around free of charge will take you in the wrong direction.

The money you have should be invested in things that will provide a relatively quick payback or return.  You should also consider turnover.  The more times you can turn over the money you have, the more opportunities you will have to increase profit.  With that in mind, you might consider taking a course in Bud Williams Marketing.  The cost of using someone else’s money has never been as cheap as it is right now.  I hate debt, but it can be a great tool when properly used.  Long story short, use your money (or someone else’s money) to make more money – NOT to fill your shop or garage.

As I look around… I see many options and opportunities.  The time is right!  There is always a need for custom graziers who know how to get the most out of every ray of sunshine and drop of rain that falls on the land they control.  There are niche markets popping up everywhere you look.  Consumer demand for non-traditional beef has been on the increase for several years.  Consumer demand for grass-finished beef is growing by leaps and bounds.  There are not enough producers to even come close to meeting the demand.  Keep in mind, though, you cannot produce acceptable grass-finished beef with high-maintenance, status quo genetics.

Each and every one of us have unique competitive advantages based on our location, our personality, our experiences, our acquaintances, etc., etc.  Status quo producers, however, never take the time to identify their competitive advantages.  They fail to realize they must be different to truly excel.  The first step to becoming extraordinary is to stop being ordinary.  Don’t be afraid to dream.  Dream BIG while you are at it!  Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.  If you’re afraid to follow your dreams, your kids and grandkids will probably end up working for someone who did.

What about YOU?  Most cow-calf producers started out with much more than just a cowboy hat and a dream.  What is preventing them from being as successful as those who started out with much less?  For the most part, they are unable to make their hopes and dreams come true because they are afraid to break away from the so-called “comfort” of the status quo herd.  What about you?  Are you as happy and as successful as you would like to be?  Are you creating a good future for the next generation?  Are you doing what needs to be done to avoid having regrets when you come to the end of this life?

Have you noticed that the most successful and happy people throughout history have been those who made decisions that were based on the future?   It’s true!   Successful people know that nothing stays the same.   The present is different from the past – and the future will be different from the present.   Those who make decisions that are based on the future will always have a HUGE competitive advantage over those who continue to make decisions based on the past and/or the present.

Unfortunately, nearly all people from all walks of life are afraid to make decisions that are based on anything but the past or the present.   It has always been this way, and it will probably always be this way.   Even though they can see things transforming before their very eyes, they are reluctant to make any changes in what they are doing.   It’s as though they would rather fail doing what they have always done than succeed if success requires change.   That is a shame – but it gives you the opportunity to move your family and your family’s business to a very sought-after position.

Based on what you think about the future, what kind of management decisions should you be making in your cow-calf operation?   I’m not going to tell you what I think.   I want you to do your own thinking.   You may come up with something different and/or better than what I have.   The decisions you come up with, however, need to be based on what you think the future holds.   Be bold in your actions.   Those who are slow to take the appropriate actions may lose all they have – forcing their kids and grandkids to get jobs in town.

We hope you are making plans to attend and/or participate in our Colorado Bull Sale…

Where else can you purchase coming-two-year-old bulls that have been developed on native grass?   Where else can you find bulls that were produced by efficient, easy-fleshing, moderate-sized cows that have never been pampered?   Where else can you find bulls that can reduce cow size and maintenance costs – without cheating you on pounds?   Where else can you find bulls that come with a One-Year Guarantee?   Where else can you find bulls that are guaranteed for calving ease?   Where else can you find bulls that can breed more cows for more years?   Where else can you find bulls that will sire calves that will sell for a substantial premium?   Where else can you find bulls that were bred and developed with your long-term profits in mind?