Recently my social media has been filled with videos of ranchers from different parts of the country showing what they do on a daily basis. Some of the videos are fun and lighthearted, others show the difficult issues that ranchers face in this way of life. What I can’t get on board with, however, is some of these ranchers in their videos putting down the way other operators do things. At the end of the day, we are all out here to produce a product for the American consumer that is safe, wholesome and nutritious.
I’ve said it before that ranching is a lot like medicine. I don’t ever think you are a professional rancher, you are constantly practicing because you are likely to learn something new everyday if you try hard enough. What works for one operation might not work for another. That doesn’t mean that one operation is better than the other, it simply means that there is freedom to manage your ranch the way that you think is the best way possible. I once had a mentor and a friend tell me that you should run your operation on the Three “P” Principle. If your operation is not profitable, perpetual, and pleasurable, don’t do it.
Profit is the first reason that we should do business. Like it or not, it takes money to run a business. You cannot operate at a loss year after year and expect to still be in business. You must operate in such a way that your operating costs are lower than the revenue generated by your business. Feed and labor have always been the largest costs associated with any ranch. If you are managing these two overhead costs well, chances are you might be operating in the black.
An operation is perpetual when you can wake up every morning and know that what you are doing today is something that will allow your kids to take over the ranch in the future. The most dangerous words in any business are “that’s the way we have always done it.” Failure to change has probably been the downfall of more operations than anything else. Blend technology with tradition. Don’t become so set in your ways that you don’t think that maybe there is a better or easier way of doing things. I love using horses to move and work cattle, for me I don’t think there is a quieter or lower stress method out there if it is done right. At the same time, I believe that training your cattle to come to a call or to follow a feed tractor serves a purpose as well. When the snow is blowing sideways and you need to move a herd behind a windbreak, it’s sure a lot easier to do from the inside of a heated cab.
If you wake up in the morning with a smile on your face because you get to go out and do something you enjoy, then you are taking pleasure in your job. There is such a thing as burn out; we all need a break from time to time. We should find joy in our work and be glad that the lifestyles that we lead are beneficial to those around us. If raising black cattle makes you happy, then do that, but don’t put down your neighbor for enjoying seeing his red cattle out there in his pasture.
I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to ranch, only different ways. That doesn’t make one way better than the other either. Raise the cattle that you feel fits your environment the best. Manage your operation your own way and let your neighbor do it their way. That’s all for this time, keep tabs on your side of the barbed wire and God bless.