When you try alternative methods and apply ranching principles that are outside of the social norms, you probably get some strange looks. A quote I read from Farnam Street this week explains everything:
“Those who fear appearing foolish rarely discover anything new. The genius of tomorrow often looks like an idiot today.”
Not that any of us are geniuses, but we are definitely on to something! I came up with a list of things that I’ve done that I’m sure made my neighbors think I had lost my marbles: using cover crops and a no-till-drill, rotationally grazing, keeping my calves on the cows until they are 10-months old, only turning out one bull to cover 60 cows, keeping my bulls on pasture all winter and making them hustle, calving my heifers with my cows in a big pasture and only checking them once a day, grass-finishing my steers without grain, selling grassfed beef, and buying a PCC™ bull!
I gave up worrying about what the neighbors thought a long time ago. Heck, most of them have either sold out or been through two or three bankruptcies. What surprises me is that they keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. And they think I’m the idiot?
If being an “idiot” means making a profit and have fun doing it, I’ll wear that badge with honor! If you want to meet some of the other fun-loving “idiots” who got tired of following the crowd and decided to think for themselves, you have one last chance. The Colorado Bull Sale is next Monday. Even if you don’t need a bull, come see for yourself what all the fuss is about. Who knows, you might meet the geniuses of tomorrow!
Quote Worth Re-Quoting
“Be the best. It’s the only market that is not crowded.” ~ George Whalin