Growing together for a sustainable future
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Megan:
Bruce, could you give me an overview of your operation? I've also looked a little bit online and done some additional research. You have a great website and Facebook page. But give me an overview of your ranch.
Bruce:
Yeah, so we historically have been a registered seed stock provider or breeder focusing mainly on registered black Angus. We do have a few red Angus that we play around with. And until a couple years ago, that was our primary source of income.
Bruce:
And really what kind of launched us into our latest gesture was Taylor buying that farm. And so, Taylor owns his own cows and we own cows. But as we mentioned, we manage the herds together, and we try to split up the income best we can. But it really got down to that we had to create some additional cash flow to help facilitate him buying that farm.
Bruce:
And so, we branched out into the meat business too. So we sell, call it CVR Premium Beef. And you got to play with the cards you're dealt, I guess. And one of the cards we're dealt because we live in a fairly densely populated area of the country where we're 45 minutes from downtown St. Paul and we're a half-hour from Rochester.
Bruce:
In the southeast corner of the state, and so we have a lot of people there, a lot of hungry mouths to feed. So we decided to branch out, start a meat business, and that's kind of, I guess, our newest venture to just kind of diversify the farm.
Bruce:
I'm going to call ourselves a first-generation farm. My wife and I, we both grew up on farms, but we did not really get any family legacy as far as land or anything like that. So we started out, bought an 80 acre farm, and primarily all our incomes comes off of our beef cattle. So we're more ranchers than we are farmers.
Megan:
Well, that's a great story too, to be finding your own land. And so, Taylor, that 100 acres, how did you find that? Is that nearby? Was that a piece of property you were looking at?
Taylor:
So it was actually connected, so it's all, the 320 is all continuous. And, I mean, that was just through, well, kind of happenstance and being good neighbors over the years. We have very good friends and worked with our neighbors. And we thought that they were going to be there until they passed away, but they decided to take a little left turn in life and had a little bit of change of pace.
Taylor:
And they approached us directly the chance to buy the land next door. So it was a little hard at first, but we were able to make some different things work as far as cash flow to get the financing approved and work flow, and were able to get it done. But it was just good relationship that over the years that kind culminated into them approaching us and asking us. It never hit the market.
Megan:
So Bruce, you mentioned you've parlayed into the meat business now too. To both of you, is that something that can help you remain sustainable in the future? Do you see that growing or also increasing that side of your business in the future?
Bruce:
We got a lot of things that happened right. And being in a small operation, a relatively small, I guess, in the beef world, we're probably in the top five or 10% as far as size of the producers because the average producer's got like 30 cows, you know?
Megan:
Sure.
Bruce:
And so, we got like 120 cows, I think, or thereabouts between the two of us. And for a lot of people that's relatively large. But in order to create a sustainable operation and a living, hopefully a full-time living off this, we have to obviously generate more cash.
Bruce:
And that's where the meat business came in. And being small, I always make the joke, I want every animal that leaves our place to sell at a premium to market. Of course, when you're selling bulls, obviously over market price. And when you're selling breeding females, they're obviously over market price. And we've been successful in that. And now when we sell our beef, it tends to bring more than market price too.
Bruce:
So we're kind of staying true to that original goal of selling stuff at a premium. And we even took it one step further here about a year-and-a-half ago, we actually started breeding some Wagyu too, our registered Angus. And through just kind of a weird set of circumstances, we ended up working with another breeder and actually doing some embryo work, and I guess that's one more piece of our diversification too, and Taylor can tell you about that. But we also serve as a collection point for ABS to do in vitro, IVF embryos. So that's once a month, and that helps Taylor with his cashflow. So we have cattle that will come in and do that.
Bruce:
But anyway, so we got purebred Wagyu cattle on our place now, and that's kind of our next step in the meat journey. So, I mean, that's been kind of an interesting step too. And then we have another son, well, he liked the cattle growing up and liked showing at fairs and stuff like that. But he doesn't have the passion for it that Taylor does. He's in the restaurant industry in Rochester. He opened some doors for us, so we're in a few restaurants down in Rochester too and the surrounding communities, not just Rochester.
Bruce:
As we were saying too, as far as the meat helping us become more sustainable, I just wanted to tie into that a little bit too. If his thing keeps on growing, hopefully becomes more sustainable for us and helps us get on the farm full time, and that it will help us be able to buy our customers' calves or through customers retained ownership, being able to market them through a branded beef program, and to help them get more money for their cattle so that they can be sustainable as well, if that makes sense.
Megan:
It's a really interesting, almost like a cycle.
Bruce:
Exactly, yep. It's because if our customers aren't in business too, it's going to be hard to find because we can't own all the pieces of this thing. It'd be way too expensive. I mean, we've been working with custom feeders in the area, helping them stay in business too. And as you know, I mean, the capital investments in agriculture are just through the roof when you start from the ground floor.
Bruce:
So it was just developing and strengthening the community through our local meat, of having lots of different touchpoints within the community, through custom feeders, backgrounders, so on and so forth.
Megan:
Yeah. Taylor, would you talk about the AI, and what was it, IVF program?
Taylor:
So a good friend of ours out in southwest Minnesota, they had been working with this daughter company of ABS, or it is ABS, and in vitro. And so, they're owned by American Breeders Services out of DeForest, Wisconsin. And they had a lab out Sioux Falls working with these very large dairies along the I-29 corridor. And we had done a little bit of work with them out there, had some cows out there, got to know a few of the people.
Taylor:
The lab manager at the time was actually from just the county north of us. And he had approached us about potentially being a satellite collection facility for ABS and doing the IVF. And what's cool with their process of the IVF is that it's a no drug, minimally invasive process that you can do every two weeks, if you wanted to, upon the animal.
Taylor:
When we started, we were kind of working with the hand that we were dealt, and we started our own chute and had some success in helping both local beef producers, whether they be looking to make show calves or performance-oriented bulls, and a lot of local dairies as well. We've had Supreme Champion at the World Dairy Expo come through our doors and choose our IVF protocol for their cows, and plenty of more of the high-end genotype seeking, not the people that are chasing the EPDs.
Taylor:
And it's been great at helping us. How that works for us is we collect a fee for our services on a per head basis. And it's just all these little things that kind of help with making it work and helping with the cash flow. Because that's a huge problem with beef, I mean, a lot of people are only getting paid once a year or maybe, I mean, in our case, I mean, it was kind of twice because we're doing fall female sales and a spring bull sale. But it's really helped with that. It's just another little hat in our pocket, or a little trick in our bag to help things work.
Megan:
Yeah. It kind of sounds like you've sort of had opportunities come to you, but you've also purposely built and created opportunities, and then committed to some. So is that true? Do you find that you've got a mix?
Taylor:
Yeah. You're 100% right. I mean, those opportunities don't come to you if you aren't a good manager and a good person. But you, at the same time, have to be willing to capitalize on them. And somebody may open the door, but you do have to beat it down.
Bruce:
Well, I just think to Taylor's point, we aren't afraid to take risk, calculated risk. Not everything works out, but yet, we don't take a risk that if it doesn't work out, it's going to damage the financial liability of the farm either. But we still, all three of us, I work for an egg supply company, Winfield, which I guess you know. And my wife is a beef nutritionist for the local co-op, and that's been invaluable too because she feeds a lot of the cattle that are results of our offspring of our bulls that we'll bring back into our meat program. And in that very predictable genetics, we know what they're going to do and that kind of thing.
Bruce:
And then, Taylor went to school to be a trained agronomist, but he actually is a meat cutter, but it's four days a week because he works four 10s. So it gives him an extra opportunity, he has a rotating schedule. So he'll have four days on and three off, and it just allows more time around the farm.
Bruce:
So we got a lot of stuff going on in our place, and it's kind of the sacrifice you got to make to get going. And as Taylor mentioned, he wants to really make this thing and work his full-time job at some point in time. But it isn't today, you know?
Bruce:
I mean, it's just, it is what it is, and it's just kind of the price you got to pay to get started in agriculture now. It's really tough without a little help from family or an off-farm job.
Megan:
Taylor and Bruce, what other lessons have you learned over the years? What would you share as advice to other ranchers, to other farmers?
Bruce:
Probably ask Taylor. You can start. Or I can start too, I guess.
Taylor:
Go ahead, Dad.
Bruce:
Yeah. I think that one thing that we've gotten a lot better at is communicating as a family. I jokingly call it we got to have a board of directors meeting. Well, that's myself, my wife, and Taylor, and that's, "I'll have to run it by the board of directors," if somebody asks you a question.
Bruce:
So two things, I mean, it keeps the communication going, and that's really important. And there's times we still struggle. I mean, don't you know what I'm thinking? Kind of thing. And I think that's any time with family operations you got to work through that. And as a father, I mean, Taylor makes a lot of the breeding decisions now. That's his deal. And we'll give him input. We'll talk. So we strive to do that.
Bruce:
And when it comes to finances, I mean, we want him to know that, hey, our checkbook's not very full right now. We got bills to pay, and this is, we're not going to do this right now, or we got to sell cattle because of this. We got bills coming up. Just all those things.
Bruce:
And great communication in a family farming or ranching operation, it's a journey that you don't ever arrive at your destination. It's never done, and you can always get better, and you can always figure out ways to make that relationship better. And whether it be the dynamics of family... And we're not at this place yet, but when the next generation wants to come into the farm, how do you set that up? And those are struggles that people struggle with every day. We're not alone.
Bruce:
But I'm not going to say it's always been smooth, but I think for the most part, it's been pretty good. And we try to recognize that everybody needs a little bit of time to themselves and you got to have fun once in a while too. Anyway, I guess that's kind of my two cents worth on some of the things that we've done.
Taylor:
I would say it truly is a grind doing the little things right day in and day out is what makes the difference. And being able to also sit back and kind of analyze your business as a whole as well, and able to adapt. It's adapt or die, be able to do it quickly.
Taylor:
And I mean, that's one nice thing that's been about being a little bit smaller compared to a big ranch out West. We've been able to pivot a lot quickly to take advantage of opportunities. Being adaptable is just such a huge thing in my mind.
Megan:
Yep, absolutely.
Taylor:
And then, I would also say that I went to college too. And one of the only things that I really learned or really gained from it that I use every single day is my network of people, and also, my network of people that I've accumulated from going to cattle shows, going to conferences and stuff like that. Network has really helped a lot, whether it be a breeding decision, whether it be something in the meat deal. And those members of that network have become mentors and helped us in numerous different ways, whether it be something big or something small. So I guess that's kind of my answer to your question.
Bruce:
I think too, when you look at a family operation, and I think this is part of my generation, and I guess I've tried to teach this to Taylor, that he mentioned the grind of every day and doing all the little things right. And that grind can take a tremendous toll on you, and you need your family to support you on the days that you can't quite, you're not 100%, that you're just maybe not there mentally, or you need a little bit pick me up.
Bruce:
And the resilience. I mean, I think agriculture, you got to, I can't think of one, you have to be more resilient where... I mean, we fought dry weather for an awful long time, and we weren't as bad off as a lot of other people. But there was times this summer that we were down to, well, we got about a week of pasture left and we're done. And the Good Lord blessed us and gave us the rain, and we kept going. That wears on you, and you got to be able to help each other out, well, if it's, "Hey, take the day off," or whatever it might be, hey, just a slap on the back or a hug sometimes will go a long way too.
Megan:
Absolutely. I appreciate that too. Are there any other lessons that maybe you've learned from each other?
Bruce:
Patience.
Megan:
Good. Yeah.
Taylor:
For sure.
Bruce:
When you're in a farm or a ranch, you're multi-generational, you got to shut the dad or the mom switch off. I mean, there's times when you got to shut that switch off and just you got to be a coworker, or you got to be a support guy, or you got to be a boss, one or the other. I mean, and all those things happen.
Bruce:
And, I mean, there's absolutely times when Taylor will call out his mother and I, and say, "Are we really doing this the right way?" Weaning calves this year, we had to do it because of the grass situation. And we weren't set up right to do it. We tried to cut corners and stuff. And it was kind a bad day. Calves just weren't cooperating and all this stuff. But we got done, and we said, "Okay, that didn't go very good today. Let's talk about this on why it didn't go good."
Bruce:
And I mean, it wasn't personal against anybody. It's just that things did not work good today, and we better talk about it, what we can do to make it better next time. It's not about quitting or not doing this ever again or any of that. It's just that we got to figure how to make it better.