Episodes

Michael Groot had the opportunity to take over his in-laws farm and quickly got to work transitioning to a regenerative crop farm and direct market meat producer after attending a Dave Brandt event. Now he is researching how rotating cropland with perennial pastures improves the soil and potential profitability of his cropping enterprise. We also discuss their direct to consumer marketing brand, Wholesome Pastures. Resources Mentioned: Land, Livestock and Life - Allan Nation Dirt to Soil - Gabe ...

In this weeks episode we follow up on our conversation last week with Rob Pierce and discuss in more detail his heat tolerant cattle breeding program. If you haven't already, listen to episode 91 to hear Robs ranch transition and this one will talk about the different breeds he using to produce a low input, heat tolerant, beef animal bred to thrive in portions of the country and world where heat and humidity stress cattle! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram...

Rob Pierce quit ranching in 2008 and after a member of his church signed him up for Kit Pharo's PCC Updates and Newsletters he found hope that there might be potential to be profitable in ranching. And so after a 4 year break from ranching he jumped back in with corriente crossed with PCC Red Angus bulls. He has since developed a heat tolerant breeding program which we will discuss in more depth in part two of this conversation next week. But we discuss this week how he managed to grow to over 5...

Mark and Sara Hewitt from Minnesota joined me in this episode to share their story of taking the bold step of leaving the family farm where they were constantly met with opposition and no promises of transition or change to start a farm of their own! They talk about the decision to leave the family farm, their focus on minimal debt and managing their business as well as the many enterprises they juggle while both working off farm jobs and managing a family with 2 kids. So much to learn from them...

Jason Medows is a rancher in Missouri and also the host of the Ag State of Mind Podcast. We discuss his transition to an intentional low input ranch business, and how he runs the business while working full time off the farm as a pharmacist. We also discuss mental health in agriculture as his podcast is focused around breaking the stigma around mental health in Ag. Resources Mentioned: Can't Hurt Me Atomic Habits 12 Rules for Life As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and I...

Eric Barth is the Farm Manager largely responsible for managing the steward program which is their internship program. In this episode we discuss his path to Polyface farm, the farm and all it's enterprises and how they manage their internship program to ensure that interns leave with a ton of value. Resources Mentioned: Extreme Ownership - Book Stockman Grass Farmer As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check...

By running their ranch as a business and focusing on return on equity they have expanded their business to owning livestock in 26 counties in Texas and 13 different states. Missy Bonds talks to me about how they expanded the business, how they run their numbers and take action with confidence! Resources Mentioned: TCU Ranch Management Program As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out Pharocattle.com for ...

Andy Junkin of Stubborn.farm specializes in working with stubborn farm families to get out of crisis, or begin the conversations around farm succession. We discuss these as well as how you can work with another generation to incorporate new ideas into an existing operation! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out Pharocattle.com for more information on how to put more fun and profit back into your ranc...

Bobby Thoman was first on the Herd Quitter Podcast back on Episode 16, check that out to hear about his ranch history and context. But today we discuss some of the philosophy around profitable ranching and then we get into a discussion around 4H show steers. Bobby and his kids raise 4H show steers right out of their PCC cooperator herd and develop them on grass and hay, NO GRAIN! And while they may not be grand champion steers, they are consistently middle of the pack competitors! This is pretty...

Brad Reese is owner of the Rockin 7 Ranch near Shawnee, Wyoming. They manage beef cows, a hunting lodge, an outfitting business and farming enterprise. Brad shares he perspectives on his production model, management style, views on land and land ownership, as well as his experience in season 41 of the popular tv show Survivor. Resource Recommendations: John Maxwell Jim Collins As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can ...

In last weeks episode, Dale and I discussed managing while in a drought. Today we discuss how to prepare for future drought to be more resilient when it comes. Be sure to listen to episode 81 along with this one to get all the great information that Dale has to share! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out Pharocattle.com for more information on how to put more fun and profit back into your ranching b...

In part 1 of this two part episode with Dale Strickler we talk about managing while in a drought. He talks about emergency feed resources and land management decisions. In part 2 which will be released next week we will discuss management to prepare for future droughts and how we can make our land and businesses more resilient for those future weather challenges! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out...

Today we discuss the idea of diversification. Is it truly best to be diversified? Does it help or hurt a business? As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out Pharocattle.com for more information on how to put more fun and profit back into your ranching business!

This one was way beyond my level of expertise and I felt like I learned a ton! Jordan talks about how our breeding management and selection of cattle based on breeding windows can drastically increase the profitability of our ranches! He discusses heritability of different traits, epigenetics, and a whole lot more in a way that after a little while even a guy like me can begin to understand! Definitely worth the listen! Resources Mentioned: The E-Myth Thinking Fast and Slow Out of the Crisis Miz...

Vannie Collins just got started in the ranching business in 2016 and because he had no previous paradigms he had to break, he started immediately down the right path. He attended Ranching for Profit and with what he learned there along with help from mentors like Ian Mitchell Innes and Greg Judy he has since grown his herd to 2000 cows which over tripled the previous stocking rate of his families ranchlands. He is developing a herd of low input cows in a low input rotational management system ov...

Craig Fischer and his family have a long history in agriculture in South Central Minnesota. They have a background in crop and dairy production, but chose a different route by raising pastured hogs, poultry and bison on their family farm. He talks about how he got into it, and why as well as some neat facts on the bison industry and building a direct market. Resources Mentioned: Minnesota Bison Association National Bison Association Soil Health Academy Stockman Grass Farmer Bison Insider Podcast...

There are plenty of things we can blame for a lack of profitability in our farm operations but at the end of the day it's our decisions that impact whether or not we are profitable, no excuses. Kit and I talk about this idea and how using excuses and blaming others can be what keeps us from recognizing our role in our business profitability and keeps us from making necessary changes to our business! As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitt...

Aaron Bradley farms with his wife Nicole in Bostic, North Carolina. We’re talk briefly about grazing operation and discuss in depth his marketing enterprise and how they hope that their brand can be a marketing outlet for other farmers passionate about raising regenerative meats but don’t have the market themselves. Resources Mentioned: Dirt to Soil - Gabe Brown As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out ...

Chase Jones recently had the opportunity to take over his families generational farm in Southwest Wisconsin after his father decided to back out of the farming business. Recognizing the capital requirements of getting into the cow/calf business of equipment and cows but also wanting to keep the land in grass he went the route of custom grazing. He shares with us in this episode his first 3 years of custom grazing, the lessons learned and the successes that he had. He also provides some encourage...

Colter DeVries is a ranch broker in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado and is host of the Ranch Investor Podcast. Today we discuss the increasing ranch values over the past several years, who is buying it, and what that means for those of us trying to make a living on the land. We also discuss the need for turnover in the ranch business, people willing to think differently and bring new ideas and technology into the industry as well as the importance of land and property rights! To learn more check h...

Doug and Wally are experienced sell/buy marketers as well as educators. They join me in this episode to answer your questions! You can listen to episodes 17 & 18 where I had some initial discussions with Wally Olson and then episodes 28 & 37 with Doug Ferguson. As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well as at herdquitterpodcast.com. You can also check out Pharocattle.com for more information on how to put more fun and profit back into your ranching busines...

Dale is a sales agronomist for Green Cover Seeds as well as a speaker, consultant, author and experienced grazier! He shares his experience building a grazing farm and dramatically improving grazing productivity, and profitability as well as soil organic matter and soil health. We talk about the advantages of a grazing system as opposed to a row crop system. So much value in this conversation, and if you want to learn more, I would definitely encourage you to check out the many youtube videos he...

Ben Beichler always had a dream of being a farmer, but with no farm to inherit, he set out to build one of his own. After apprenticing with Polyface Farms under Joel Salatin, he bought and built a dairy selling raw milk directly to 1250 families through a herd share program! His story is inspiring, and while I wouldn't recommend everybody go out and get a mortgage to incentivize you to be successful, he does have a lot of great wisdom to share in his story! Resource Recommendations: Newman Turne...

This is the second part of our conversation with Joseph Hubbard. If you haven't, I would highly recommend going back and listening to part 1 before listening to this episode just for context but also because there is a ton of value in that episode! Joseph is doing some pretty impressive things! Resources Mentioned: Herd Quitter Podcast Working Cows Podcast Ranching Reboot Podcast Grazing Conferences Steve Campbell As always, check us out at Herd Quitter Podcast on Facebook and Instagram as well ...