Cattle Starter

Tag: leasing land

  • No Risk Ranching – Custom Grazing on Leased Land

    Judy_NoRiskRanchingNo Risk Ranching – Custom Grazing on Leased Land
    Greg Judy
    Green Park Press, 2002

    We recently wrote a blog post on leasing grazing land.  The inspiration for our leasing endeavor came primarily from reading Greg Judy’s book.  It’s a book that has helped change the mindset of cattle farmers and ranchers across the country, and helped many achieve a greater level of profitability.  Read more below.

    While most of us desire it, land ownership is probably the greatest obstacle to profitability in the cattle business today.  In his 2002 book “No Risk Ranching”, Greg Judy tackles this issue head-on, and describes in detail how you can successfully start up a cattle operation without owning land, or even animals!

    Like many others, it had long been Greg’s dream to own a farm.  He bought a bunch of land in his home state of Missouri, put together some cattle, and struggled for years to make it all pencil out.  After coming dangerously close to losing it all, Judy met a friend that helped him see ranching in a totally new light.  He began reading the Stockman Grass Farmer publication and attending grazing schools where he realized the importance of Management Intensive Grazing, and looking at grass and cattle management in a whole new light.

    Greg realized quickly that his land mortgage and cattle ownership were sinking his operation.  He also began to discover the many parcels of unoccupied grazing land surrounding his farm.  Absentee landowners were looking for someone to manage their ground, and Greg was looking for land to put cattle on.  He also realized that many cattle owners are looking for someone to manage their animals and are willing to pay for that management on a per-pound of gain or per-day basis.  Greg began a headlong journey into land leasing and custom grazing that rocketed him to incredible success as a Missouri grass farmer.

    In “No Risk Ranching”, Judy describes how to find idle land to lease, contact landowners and put together a lease proposal.  He even provides a detailed example of a lease proposal.  He then provides details on custom grazing and how to work an arrangement that is profitable for both the cattle owner and grazier, while improving the quality of the leased land.

    Throughout the rest of the book, Judy walks the reader through the details of setting up a leased farm from scratch, including high tensile electric fencing, water development and overall grass and property improvement.  He describes stocker cattle management and the economics of ranching as well.  Greg writes this book from a very humble perspective of someone who’s learned a lot and wants to help others along as well.

    “No Risk Ranching” is one of my favorite cattle-related books because it planted in me a philosophy and mindset that I believe is essential to our success in the cattle business.  It also provides some excellent detailed, practical information I’ve used for setting up infrastructure on our farm and the expansion we have planned for the future.  It deserves a place on every livestock farmer’s bookshelf.

  • Leasing Land for Cattle Grazing

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    A property near where we live that has been for sale for years and sadly, starting to turn back into woods.

    Are you wanting to expand your herd size but you are running out of pastureland?

    Do you drive by abandoned fields, longingly wishing that your cattle could graze there?

     

     

    Are those fields quickly turning back into woods?

    Are your neighbors looking for a natural and cost-effective way to manage their overgrown fields?

    Have you ever considered leasing pastureland??

    Leasing pastureland can be a win-win for all parties involved.

    As the leasee, it may be just the ticket you needed in order to buy those 10 new heifers or it may provide you with the additional pastureland you needed in order to allow your existing pastures time for grass regrowth.

    Leasing those extra 20 acres may allow you to graze further into the fall season and help lighten the load a bit on your winter feed cost (hay!).

    By allowing your cattle to graze their land, the lessor may be finding just the ticket they needed to help manage their fields.

    031
    August 2012 –  56 acres of old potato fields that had reverted back into woods, over-your-head grass and patches and patches and patches of alders and dogwood.

     

     

     

    In our neck of the woods, we have an abundance of abandoned potato fields that are quickly reverting back to woodlands and forests.

     

     

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    August 2014 – Our 18-month old son is now standing where we stood in the picture above.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    For some landowners, the cost of maintaining these fields as pastureland is just not worth it – financially and otherwise. These fields take more than just a little push mower to maintain.  Because of the woody elements in these fields, mowing has to be done with either a bush mower or a tractor with a mower attached.  This equipment costs money.  The fuel needed to run these machines costs money.  And for many, the time element and the physical labor required is the biggest obstacle of all.

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    Our farm – October 2012

     

     

     

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    July 2014 – Our farm with cattle. 🙂

     

     

     

     

     

    For some people, though, buying an old potato farm and clearing it back into pastureland and putting a herd of cattle on it is a dream come true.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Mowing and maintenance aside, the landowner(s) may simply find pleasure in the animals themselves.  They may find the sight of cows grazing in their backfield pretty neat.  There is certainly something to be said for the calming affect of animals such as cows.  I often find myself escaping to the pasture to simply watch our cows.  Not for any particular purpose.  Being a wife and mom while running a farm can have it’s stressful and overwhelming moments.  Being with our herd reminds me of why we are doing this and recharges my batteries for another day or at least another hour. 😉

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    Part of the 20 acres we lease from our neighbors

     

    This year, we came to an agreement with our neighbors that worked for all parties involved.  We need additional pasture land to support our growing herd and they were more than happy to let us cows “mow” the field for them, even though they do have the equipment to mow it.

     

     

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    Our cows grazing on leased land.

     

    We walked away with an additional 20 acres of pasture land for our cattle to graze!   We agreed to fence the property and remove the fencing if at any time the lease situation was not working out.

     

     

     

    281I can’t tell you how many times our neighbors told us how much they enjoyed seeing cattle grazing on their property.  Coming from the West, where cattle are as abundant as black flies here in northern Maine, I get a kick out of how much people around here enjoy just seeing our cattle…..from the road, as they go on an evening summer drive.  I know I have said this in a previous post but I will say it again:  We used to be the only people on our road that didn’t have cattle;  now, we are the only ones on our road with cattle.  ha!

    We hope that this is just the beginning of us being able to lease nearby land.  Like I said earlier in this post, we have a lot of abandoned or unused potato fields in our area, and we would love nothing more than to see our herd grazing on them.  It is hard to see these beautiful fields and pastures turn back into woods.  By allowing grazing on these fields, we hope that we can turn back the clock and restore these fields to their former glory.