Outside the Box
Forages, finances and folks.
March 1, 2025
Business is dynamic, subject to the shifting winds of consumer preference, competition, regulation and a host of other factors. Business requires leaders who are agile, resilient, peasant tough and constantly in learning mode. Ranching is certainly no different, and the words of Warren Buffett ring particularly true: “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.”
It is then a fair question to wrestle with the concept of knowing. What does it mean to know?
Finding clarity
Knowing is not an outcome. Certainly there are benchmarks along the path of gaining knowledge and understanding, where skills and processes have been honed or even perfected, but knowing is by no means a fixed point. It’s rather a journey of discovery that requires a relentless desire to learn, synthesize, connect the dots and improve decision-making.
A cow-calf enterprise is a system of interconnected elements in which no one decision is without a ripple effect across the organization and ecosystem.
A cow-calf enterprise is a system of interconnected elements in which no one decision is without a ripple effect across the organization and ecosystem. At the macro level, those elements might be categorized as cattle and livestock, natural resources (water, forage and soil), infrastructure (machinery and facilities), people and financial resources.
It is never difficult to start a conversation with a rancher centered on all things bovine. Comparing notes on the best chute system, brand of stock trailer or preferred baler would also be a likely conversation. The remaining three — finances, forages and folks — are subject areas that are less often discussed and where the process of knowing may not receive quite as much attention.
Financials
Let’s face it, money makes us uncomfortable. P. T. Barnum aptly described our relationship with finances by stating, “Money is a terrible master, but an excellent servant.”
Developing a financial management system that allows leaders to assess the position of an enterprise in real time and to leverage knowledge of costs and returns to make better decisions (in terms of operations, as well as business growth and expansion) is crucial to reducing risk and enhancing opportunities for making profitable choices.
Financial jargon, tools and processes can be intimidating, even to the point of paralyzing the learning process. Fortunately, there are a multitude of resources that offer insight, technical expertise and sound advice.
If financial acumen is limited, people often feel embarrassed to seek coaching and expertise, but I have yet to meet anyone who worked up the courage to ask for assistance who regretted it later. Ranches rarely fail because of poor cattle management, but operating in the dark when it comes to financial matters is heavy with downside risk.
Forages
Forage management is another element that may get the short shift because the results of decisions related to soil, water and plants may not be quickly or easily apparent. As Hal Borland puts it, “Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.”
The most lasting influence and legacy a manager has on a ranch is how the ecosystem is affected. Thus, deepening knowledge about grazing systems, plant health and the interaction between improved forage productivity and utilization on the bottom line is imperative for even the most seasoned ranch manager.
The people
Lastly, we come to the challenge of leading and managing people, developing talent, and growing the effectiveness of a team while building a culture that supports not only what we do, but how we do it (and even more importantly why we do the work of ranching). While perhaps one of the most daunting arenas of expertise, time invested in the development of human beings yields a legacy of meaningful impact.
The acclaimed naturalist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
Perhaps this too applies to the work of ranching: A lifetime pursuit of cattle productivity might be better balanced if the performance and health of finances, forages and folks received more attention along the way to knowing.
Editor’s note: In “Outside the Box,” a regular column in both the Angus Journal® and the Angus Beef Bulletin®, author Tom Field shares his experience as a cattleman and his insightful perspective on the business aspects of ranching. Field is director of the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he holds the Paul Engler Chair of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship.
Featured in the 2025 Angus Beef Bulletin
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