#268 – Dallas Dodson – Building a Profitable Ranch
An investor wanted to buy a ranch and asked Dallas Dodson to manage it. He had two conditions: I don’t lose money at anything. If we can’t have fun doing it, let’s not even start. In this episode, Dallas shares how he took those words and built a ranch that was both...
#268 – Dallas Dodson – Building a Profitable Ranch
An investor wanted to buy a ranch and asked Dallas Dodson to manage it. He had two conditions: I don’t lose money at anything. If we can’t have fun doing it, let’s not even start. In this episode, Dallas shares how he took those words and built a ranch that was both profitable and enjoyable....
#234 – Rusty Lee – Grazing Grain Milo
Rusty Lee is a University Extension Specialist with the University of Missouri, as well as a farmer and rancher with extensive experience in grazing grain milo. In this episode, he shares valuable tips and considerations for using grain milo to reduce winter feed...
#233 – Chris and Lyndsey – Solar Grazing
In this episode, I speak with Chris Moore and Lyndsey Smith, from Shady Creek Lamb Co., who share their innovative approach to sheep farming through solar grazing. They discuss their backgrounds in agriculture, the challenges of transitioning from cattle to sheep, and...
#232 – Keith Olsen – Low Input Crop and Cattle Farming
Keith Olsen is passionate about low-input, regenerative agriculture and is exploring both approaches on his own operation in southeast Minnesota. We discuss how he’s working to improve both his land and his bottom line through these enterprises—and much more....
#231 – Sam Fryer – Ranching, Podcasting, and Working!
Sam Fryer has an incredible story. He shares how he made the decision to step away from the family farm and strike out on his own in order to preserve family relationships. We talk about the process of building his operation independently, as well as his thoughts on...
#230 – Jacob Gilley – Enterprise Analysis, Real Estate, and More
There’s a lot of great insight in this conversation with Jacob Gilley. We talk about his path to farming, his decision to leave his off-farm job, and the many enterprises he’s been involved with. We also spend time diving into his record-keeping strategy and approach...
#229 – Ben Minden – Training Cowboys and Buying a Business
Ben Minden is the founder and president of Bear Hug Cattle Company, a non-profit organization that trains retiring military members on the basics required to work in the cattle industry in the West. In the second part of our conversation, Ben shares his unique...
#228 – Drew Bruner – Going All in on Sheep
Drew Bruner shares why, in today’s market, he chose to shift away from stockers and focus entirely on sheep. He discusses both his permanent flock and his stocker ewe flock experiment for this year. Drew dives into the key challenges of sheep production, how he...
#227 – Matthew Menke – Risk vs. Reward, Leverage, & Knowing Your Business
Matthew Menke shares his powerful story of turning down what many would consider a dream opportunity—taking over a family business—because he couldn’t make it work profitably. Instead, he built an ag business from the ground up and eventually returned to farming and...
#226 – Randal Breen – From Living in a Shed to Full Time Farmer
Randal Breen shares his incredible story of building a farm from the ground up. Today, he operates on over 650 acres and direct markets meat and eggs to local individuals and wholesale accounts. One powerful example of the strong relationship he has with his community...
#225 – Alex McKiernan – Car Wrecks Can’t Stop This Family!
Alex McKiernan and his wife have built a diverse and thriving farm and ranch business that began with direct-to-consumer vegetable production through a CSA. Over time, it has grown into a large ranching operation that includes custom grazing, goat production for weed...
#224 – Caleb Smith – Switching from Dairy to Sheep
Caleb Smith has taken a unique path into agriculture. He had the opportunity to take on a 40-year land lease from a non-profit, which allowed him to build a dairy farm from scratch. In this episode, he shares that story, along with his recent transition from the dairy...
#223 – Hayden Heigele – Changing Genetics, Calving Window, and More
Hayden Heigele encountered some resistance when he wanted to introduce new farming and ranching practices on his family farm. Rather than giving up, he has been experimenting with low-input ranching while building an operation of his own, all while continuing to work...
About the Ranching Returns Podcast
On this podcast, we talk to farmers and ranchers who are leading the industry in so many ways. We’ll discuss the various returns they get from ranching, including, of course, the significant financial returns, but also returns to their land resources and ultimately the amazing lifestyle. That might be the most important return ranching can offer!
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In the last two PCC Updates, I discussed a major Turning Point that cow-calf producers are going to be confronted with. What has worked so well for the last 20 years will not work for the next 20 years. Most producers are headed for a train wreck – and don’t know it. If you don’t plan to make any significant changes in your cow-calf operation, this is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get out while the getting is good. Cattle and land prices have never been...