Working Cows - Regenerative Ranching to Maximize Profitability and Soil Health

Cooper Hibbard is a member of a multi-generation ranch in the mountains of Montana. He joined me to discuss how they go about using polywire to graze these difficult terrains. We also discussed how they are trying to find genetics fit to their environment and what Cooper learned on various ranches on three continents.

Chuck Cosgrove a grazier from Utah joined me to disuss the successes, challenges, and benefits of an intensive grazing project on pivot irrigated circles. We talk economic benefits, land benefits, and animal performance.

Michelle Patten, of Patten Bookkeeping Services, joined me to discuss the ins and outs of having someone else take over some or all of your bookkeeping. We talk about the real costs associated with it as well as some of the benefits of getting good financial information in a timely manner.

Josh Dukart is a Holistic Management Educator and Rancher from Hazen, ND. He keeps a full schedule of coaching and facilitation opportunities teaching people to ask the right questions to help take their business to the next level. One such exercise on his own operation led him to start keeping track of his “To-Don’t” List.

Gabe Brown, of Brown’s Ranch in Bismarck, ND, joined me to talk about what they are doing to develop heifers that can perform in their environment. We talk about different ways of getting animals into the herd as well as different ways to market animals that fall out of the herd.

Dallas Mount, CEO of the Ranch Management Consultants purveyors of the Ranching For Profit School among other things, joined me to discuss the idea of Working on the Business as opposed to Working in the Business. We talk about what it takes to run an efficient and effective meeting as well as some reasonable expectations for frequency and what can be accomplished in such a meeting.

Glenn Elzinga of Alderspring Ranch in May, ID joined me to discuss his pioneering work with what he calls “inherding.” They have been experiencing multi-faceted benefits as a result this paradigm challenging practice.Amazon Wishlist:Working Cows Podcast

Marcos Jeffers of Jeffers Cattle Co. joined me to discuss how they have been steadily increasing their stocking rates through increased stock density for more than a decade in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico.

Mike Callicrate is a rancher and advocate from Northwest Kansas. He has been a leading voice for fair and competitive markets for over two decades. I asked him to join me to discuss where we are in today’s cattle industry and what we can do to avoid losing control of our own operations.Join the Mob:FacebookMeWeLinks Mentioned:Organization for Competitive MarketsMikeCallicrate.comR-CALF USABook Mentioned:Meat Racket by Chris Leonard

I am going solo today to talk about some of my thoughts after attending Wally Olson’s Marketing school. I also talk about a couple upcoming events and plans for the podcast and it’s community.

Brian Alexander is a grazier from central Kansas. He has recently embarked on a strip grazing experiment. Brian joined me to discuss what he knows about this experiment on the heels of the livestock leaving his ranch.

Dave Pratt, President Emeritus of Ranch Management Consultants, joined me to talk about the lengths to which people will go to avoid paying taxes. We talk about strategies for using that same capital to turn a bigger profit and what is the definition of a truly healthy business. I also had a unique opportunity to capture Dave’s thoughts on lessons he has learned in two plus decades of leading RMC, the parent company of the Ranching for Profit school.

David Neason is a horse trainer and cowboy from Texas. He dayworks seasonally and trains horses in the off-season. He joined me to discuss common mistakes made by even the most experienced horsemen. We also talk about his membership community that where he scales his training to help more people get the most out of their relationship with their horse.

Wally Olson is a rancher and educator in Claremore, OK. He teaches people how to maximize profit through marketing decisions. He joined me to talk about how we can handle the marketing decisions we face this fall and into the future.

Mark Tague, CEO of Agric-Bioformatics, joined me to discuss AgBoost a DNA data visualizaiton tool that seeks to help seed stock producers and commercial cattleman a like interpret the DNA data captured from their cowherd. We talk about how the tool is being used by a range of production models and what excites Mark about future partnerships.

Mary Jo Irmen, author of Farming without the Bank, joined me to discuss the common objections she hears to starting with the Infinite Banking Concept or Farming without the Bank. Mary Jo also recently launched a new podcast. We talk about that and how she is hoping to serve the agricultural community in this new venture.

Jason Medows is launching a new podcast today. Ag State of Mind is a podcast geared toward changing and normalizing the conversation around mental health in agriculture.

David Kleinschmidt is a contract consultant with Understanding Ag, LLC. The soil health education organization started by Gabe Brown, Allen Williams, Ray Archuletta, and Shane New. He joined me to discuss how we can improve our pastures with cover crops as well as how we can move more toward a regenerative system.

Riki Kremers is a rancher from East Central Wyoming. She is an excellent business woman who has seen great improvements in her land base as she and her family have implemented Instinctive Migratory Grazing.

Xiaokang Chen (Alex) has a fascinating history that uniquely qualifies him to speak to the audience of the Working Cows podcast. He attended High School in the Boston area as well as attended a prestigious Entrepreneurial School (Babson College). As such, he understands the necessity of a profitable herd. Couple that with training from Johann Zietsman in finding genetically adapted cattle and you have a winning combination for an episode of the Working Cows podcast.

Grahame Rees of KLR Marketing based out of Australia joined me to discuss his takeaways from the 2019 Aussie Graziers US Tour. The tour ranches from Idaho to Kansas and nearly 6000 miles in between. We talk about the commonalities between this yea’r’s tour and last year’s.

We take a little detour today and talk to Kyle Bueermann and Matt Henslee, pastors of rural churches and hosts of Not Another Baptist Podcast. They joined me to talk about their new book “Replanting Rural Churches.” We approached this from the angle of finding faithful gospel preaching churches, finding community in rural contexts, and blessing rural pastors.

Nicole Masters is a soil health consultant who has a knack for teaching the function of the complex systems of the soil in a way that connects clearly with those who are listening. She joined me to talk about what our plant community tells us about our soil and what we can do to influence it positively.

Collin Osbourn is the Executive Director of Beefmasters Breeder United. He joined me to talk about how the breed was developed, what the results of that development process were, and how people are putting Beefmasters genetics to work for them.

Brian Alexander, a Rancher from the Red Hills of Kansas joins me to give an update on his strip grazing experiment. We talk about changes in the land, changes in the cattle, and Brian’s sense of how the experiment is going so far.

Burke Teichert of Teichert Management and Consulting joined me to discuss the training programs that consistently produce the most well equipped ranch managers. We talk about how future ranch managers can be prepared to lead teams that follow Burke’s Five Essentials for a Profitable Ranch.

Morgan Hartman is a seed stock producer, grazier, and Holistic Management educator. He joined me to discuss the process he would go through to get started with Holistic Planned Grazing. Morgan also challenges the paradigms of some of those who are paradigm challengers themselves.

Bob Havard of the Midlands in England joined me to discuss his operation and how they made the shift to year-round grazing. We talk about the challenges his neighbors thought he would have and what those challengers actually were.

Going solo today to talk about asking “Why?” in our ranch businesses. It is important to ask “Why?” if we hope to stay open to new ways of thinking and acting in our ranch businesses, but asking “Why?” can also have other benefits four our ranches, especially as it relates to managing our most important resource, people.

Aaron Berger, a beef specialist with UNL Extension, joins me to discuss his article in the June edition of the BeefWatch Newsletter. We discuss taking a systems approach to considering moving calving season date. Aaron also shares a little about his great companion podcast to the BeefWatch Newsletter, the BeefWatch Podcast.

Steve Kenyon, a Year-Round Grazier himself, joins me to discuss his recently published book “The Calendar of the Year-Round Grazier.” We talk about how the lay out of the book and the lay out of the weather in the yearly cycle gives the year-round grazier all the time they need to get ready for a good year of grazing.Show Note for this Episode can be found at https://workingcows.net/95

Ken Olson has nearly 40 years of experience studying ruminant animals. Ken joined me to talk about how we can practically manage the nutritional plane of our animals and some of the challenges that different times of year present in maintaining healthy rumen function.

L. Carlos Lara is a certified IBC instructor and founding board member of the Nelson Nash Institute. In this follow-up episode to episode 93 Carlos and I pick up where my conversation with Nelson ended and discuss the recent history of financial instability and collapse in our country. We talk about the financial crisis of the 1980’s as well as 2008. We talk about how we have not really fixed the issues present in 2008 and actually may have set ourselves up for an even bigger failure. Show notes for today workingcows.net/93. If you missed the companion episode, please download and listen to that first at workingcows.net/92

R. Nelson Nash is the founder of the Infinite Banking Concept, a tool used to provide financing outside of commercial banks. Nelson joined me shortly before his death. We talked about the deep history of financial collapse in our country. Our discussion mostly centers on the creation of the Federal Reserve and how it has been used to finance wars and steal wealth from the public. For more information on how you can secede from this system please download the companion episode at workingcows.net/93. Show notes for today workingcows.net/92.

Bart Davidson joined me to talk about how ranchers and graziers can make better decisions if the data they are already collecting is returned to them in a meaningful way. We talk about how Maia grazing is providing that kind of information to ranchers and graziers of all sizes. We also discuss the improtance of making the most of good years and failing fast to learn fast.

Dallas Mount, Extension Educator for the University of Wyoming and instructor for the final class of the High Plains Ranch Practicum joined me ahead of the June 26th launch of the class. We discuss profitability targets for the 2018 calf crop and how you could use them to inform the decisions you are still making about the 2019 calf crop.

Dalmas Tiampati of the Maasai Center for Regenerative Pastoralism of Kenya joined me to discuss the history of Maasai Pastoralism, the effects of colonialism, as well as his hopes, dreams, and definition of success for his people. We talk about how Dalmas plans to use Holistic Management to regenerate land, livestock, and his communities through ancient pastoralist practices.

Brian Alexander, Custom Grazier, Prescribed Burner, and Wildfire Survivor joined me to discuss his experiences at the Grass Fed Exchange as well as some new ideas he as a result of attending. We talk about the business opportunities presented by strip grazing and about how he went about making the decision to give this expirement a shot.

Bob Kinford joins me to discuss the American Prairie Reserve and his perspective on their misguided ambitions. We also talk about how Bob would use Migratory Grazing to accomplish the regeneration of the landscapes.

Glen Jensen a veterinarian with Emery Animal Health in Castle Dale, UT joined me to discuss the current state of bull breeding soundness exams and what we can do to improve their accuracy. We discuss the importance of morphological and motile soundness in sperm cells as well as ways to help standardize the process of determining the breeding soundness of seedstock industry wide. Sponsor:HPRanchPracticum.comGuest’s Website:EmeryAnimalHealth.comGuest’s Article:Who pays the piper? The hidden losses of subfertile bullsWebsite Mentioned:IntegrisCattle.com

Cody Creelman, Cow Vet, from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada joins me to talk about different ways of handling and thinking about the task of castration. We discuss regional strategies as well as some out of the box tactics people are using to realize some unexpected gains.Leave WCP a Voicemail:(605)549-5401Guest’s Vlog:<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6s_w8XzrwA” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>Keep up with Cody:FacebookYouTubeTwitterSnapchatvahs.netIntro Voice Over:H/T: Jim ThompsonIntro Music:H/T: Luke Dowler

John Coleman Locke of the Locke Division of the J.D. Hudgins ranch joined me to discuss their transition to and implementation of mob grazing to improve their resource base. We talk about his influences like Dave Pratt, Dallas Mount, and Ian Mitchell-Innes. We also discuss how much of a paradigm challenge it is for a seed stock operation to employ these techniques. Be sure to tune in to their bull sale on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019 to see how your business might be improved by some Bos Indicus genetics.

John Coleman Locke of the Locke Division of the J.D. Hudgins ranch joined me to discuss their transition to and implementation of mob grazing to improve their resource base. We talk about his influences like Dave Pratt, Dallas Mount, and Ian Mitchell-Innes. We also discuss how much of a paradigm challenge it is for a...

Kelly Sidoryk is an Holistic Management Educator based out of Blackroot, AB, CA. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge in helping families develop the shared vision that will facilitate smooth management and asset transition in their succession planning an execution process. I so appreciate Kelly’s heart to help people develop businesses that are not only economically and ecologically sustainable but also sustainable on the human resources front.

Rob Jennings is the CEO and Co-Founder of BeefChain a grassroots free-market tool for tracking and communicating the handling and sourcing information of livestock. I am excited to feature this decentralized approach to answering the questions consumers want answered as well as putting the power of information in the hands of beef producers.

Dave Ollila, SDSU Extension Sheep Specialist, joins me once again to answer some questions about his recent presentation on the history of the Western Range Ewe. We discuss the development and use of the Targhee and Rambouillet sheep breeds in Western contexts. We also talk about the future of the Western Sheep industry and how they can be a key factor in benefiting soil health.

Dave Pratt, owner of Ranch Management Consultants the parent company of the Ranching for Profit school, has experience in guiding ranchers through disaster recovery. I invited me to share some of his experience in helping people focus on the right things in their recovery efforts.<strong>Article Mentioned:</strong><a href=”http://workingcows.net/nebraska-disaster-relief/”>WorkingCows.net/Nebraska</a>

Kelly Sidoryk is an Holistic Management Educator based out of Blackroot, AB, CA. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge in helping families develop the shared vision that will facilitate smooth management and asset transition in their succession ...

Rob Jennings is the CEO and Co-Founder of BeefChain a grassroots free-market tool for tracking and communicating the handling and sourcing information of livestock. I am excited to feature this decentralized approach to answering the questions consumers want answered as well as putting the power of information in the hands of beef producers. RSVP for...

Dave Ollila, SDSU Extension Sheep Specialist, joins me once again to answer some questions about his recent presentation on the history of the Western Range Ewe. We discuss the development and use of the Targhee and Rambouillet sheep breeds in Western contexts. We also talk about the future of the Western Sheep industry and how...