Any good books on ranching/stewardship?
My inlaws run a small sheep/cattle op on rotationnal grazing outside of their 'real' job. The wife and I have been supporting them as well and would be interested in eventually taking over.
We're definitely going through the motions of the daily/seasonal activities.
I was curious to know if anyone had any book or ressources recommandations to strengthen or knowledge and abilities.
Posted Aug 8, 2019, 12:36 PM UTC
Pick a topic and go through the online archives of the BEEF and Canadian Cattleman's magazines. Lots of great info there for free.
Ranching is pretty specific to each area, so find someone whose management you admire and give them a ring--people usually love to talk about what they're doing on their ranch.
Most importantly (and yet for some reason people never do this), find the numbers for some of the buyers at your local auction and pick their brain about what sort of animal they're looking to buy. They're almost always very knowledgeable on cost-effective ways to grow good calves and the fact that you gave them a ring and showed you value their opinion sure doesn't hurt either.
I've read a lot on ranching but the best info I've gotten has either been from other producers or from my own experiments and figuring out why something did or didn't work after the fact. Just keep experimenting and don't bet the farm on any silver bullet ideas.
This might be a little late but I just found this subreddit.
I’ve been looking at getting these:
“Dirt to Soil” from Gabe Brown,
“Holistic Management: A common sense Revolution to Restore our Environment” by Alan Savory
“Holistic Management Handbook, Third Edition: Regenerating your land and growing your profits” by Allan Savory
“No Risk Ranching” by Greg Judy
“Comeback Farms” by Greg Judy
I’ve read “Grass-fed cattle” by Julius Ruechel and it was a very good all around book on the topic.
Greg Judy has his own YouTube channel and Gabe brown and Allan Savory can also be found on YouTube.
Thanks I'll look into it!
Dumb question. Why so few sheep farms verses cattle ranches ?. Seems they would be easier to raise less labor intensive and cheaper and faster to raise than cattle.
If you want to work on better grazing, contact the nearest National Resource Conservation Service and tell them you are interested in grazing management and need some technical assistance.
They can help you calculate how many lbs per acre of pasture you are producing and using and could increase your yeild in lbs of meat.
Thanks I'll keep that in mind, we are luckily well connected for local resources and I think my in-laws are doing a very decent job as far as yield goes.
I'm not specifically looking to increase yield, I've grown up somewhat involved in the farming/ranching life and feel like my knowledge is kinda like a swiss cheese (full of holes).
I'd be interested in some kind of ranching "bible" that would help me gain more confidence my skills and knowledge.
Honestly, your best resource is going to be people. Try going to the local county fairs and talking to the local ranchers showing cattle. Also, look into the local Grange; you may find some good resources there. Feed store can be a good source of local connections and info as well. Become a sponge when talking with the long-timers and old-timers in your region.