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You raise your cattle for a lot of reasons – is profitability one of them?
Agriculture operates on razor-thin margins, and sometimes those margins aren’t just thin, they are nonexistent.
Before we really dig deep into these questions, let’s take a look at a football team. It will make sense later, I promise. This clever concept is credited to David Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech University and popular instructor on agriculture finance.
We have a yearling heifer that always finds the hole in the fence. As a calf, she would snuggle next to the fence for a sunny nap and wake up on the other side. She would bellow and holler at her mama, who would in turn bellow and holler at us.
Last week, I was interviewing an operator for the January edition of Progressive Cattleman. This operation is a little different (OK, a lot different) than your average ranch. They run 800 commercial beef cows, farm 2,000-plus acres and operate a 1,500-cow dairy.
I live on a dirt road that comes to a dead end at our house. It’s about a third of a mile off the highway. Directly to the west of where our road and the highway junction meet is a sugar beet dump operated by the regional sugar beet cooperative.
My iPhone buzzed with a text message. It read, “What you decide on chicken coop?” The phone rang an hour later and I sent the call to voicemail. Later, when I read the transcript, it said, “This is, um, Eric – the chickn’ coop guy – um, wondering if I can deliver it today.” There were also two emails, “Wondering if you want this chickn’ coop. Plz respond.”
For the Rice family, farming has always been a family affair. With the sixth generation coming back to the farm, there is no denying farming is in their blood. Brothers Scott and Steve Rice operate a production alfalfa farm in Wilsonville, Nebraska, the town where they were born and raised.
He knocked on my door at 7:30 a.m. Muting the cartoon, I answered still in my pajamas with my newborn in my arms. My neighbor, Jeremy, eyeing me, said, “Your cows are out. Is your husband home?” No, my husband is not home and nowhere near cell service. I tried to not sound bitter.
Max and Melissa Benedikt operate a direct-marketing farm in New Hampshire. The farm raises everything from Jersey milk cows to laying hens and plenty in between. For such a diverse operation, the adage “Necessity is the mother of invention” has become a sort of motto.
Farming is rarely a one-man job. Very few can get by without some sort of outside “help.” Even with thin margins, having a hired hand or two makes a huge difference – if not financially, it sure helps with your quality of life.
