Finances are one of the biggest struggles you are going to face as a new rancher. This is definitely a lifestyle and not something you get into to become rich. You may not believe it from watching Yellowstone but most ranchers do not have their own private helicopter flying them around.

I always joke that one of our favorite ways to spend a date night is crunching numbers and thinking up new business plans. And while it’s not totally true… it’s very much a reality and constant in our lives.

Tyler and I sat down and decided to go over the latest idea we have been talking about and in this video he breaks down his thought process and all the things we need to be considering.

Key Points Mentioned In The Video

Custom Haying Business

• This is an idea we had for side income that would not be something that gave us cows but it would allow us a better financial situation to eventually get cows of our own.

How to start a custom haying business?

• Think about all the things you need to make it happen (equipment)
• Price it all out online
• Look at land for sale on a weekly basis
• What does the land come with? House? Irrigated? – These are determining factors of what something like this could cost.
• Check out websites such as Farm Credit Services or FSA

TIPS:

• Run the numbers and figure out everything you can on your own
• Call family members and friends and ask them questions/ have them help you think about anything you may have forgotten about
• Over budget and always lean on the more expensive side just in case

What are some of the things people should consider for monthly expenses?

• Property tax
• If you are buying irrigated farm ground you have to buy water and think about those costs

After you get all the numbers plugged in, then you have the fun part of trying to figure out how to make income off of it.

Intensive Grazing

• Most ranches are not intensive grazing ranches
• It’s not really a new concept but essentially you can run a lot of cows on a little land without having to buy a bale of hay

AUM’s

• Animal units of measurements. If you buy a chunk of land and they say you have 100 AUMs you can graze 100 cows for a year

How much grass that land produce? How many cows can that land feed for a year?

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