WHO AM I IF I AM NOT A FARMER or RANCHER ANYMORE?

FIND PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITY.

Let’s face it, transitioning to a niche market or picking up more work is not a solution for every farmer facing hard times. Some will need to stop farming. While that may be hard, it can also be an opportunity.

Outside agriculture, career shifts are often seen as a way to advance, points out Extension educator Megan Roberts. “In other occupations, if we switch jobs, that’s not seen in any way as a failure,” she says.

READ MORE: Shortage of truck drivers means opportunities for farmers 

BY – Natalina Sents

2/12/2020

Here’s a look at how to stop farming and the opportunities that come with the change. Ending a career in farming begins with making a decision.

Mental health practitioner Shauna Reitmeier explains, “In some situations, that decision is something you’re choosing to do on your own without any external pressures, and in some situations, you have to do it in order to sustain. We know that this current environment we’re in, many farmers dealing with commodity prices and weather situations are needing to decide, ‘Do I liquidate? Do I need to sell half of my dairy cattle, or not?’ ”

Anxiety and worries about the unknown are totally normal, she says. To keep from getting overwhelmed, it is important to recognize what is in your control and what you can’t control.

Keeping your values front and center as you make decisions may ease the heartache of difficult choices. Ask yourself, what are the two or three values that drive you to get up every day?

“Yes, farming is a way of life and we identify ourselves with farming, but it’s really those strong values that get you up every morning to continue to farm. Those values don’t change based on whether you’re farming,” Reitmeier says.

“It isn’t the farm that makes the farmer – it’s the love, hard work, and character,” says Brenda Mack, who lives on a farm and works as a licensed independent clinical social worker.

After making the decision to end or pivot your farming career, don’t expect to bounce back overnight. Some people experience real grief and loss over the change, and that’s OK, says Reitmeier, who grew up on a farm. Be prepared for the following range of emotions as you make decisions, develop plans, and put them in place.

• “Normal” functioning
• Shock and denial: Avoidance, blame, fear, numbness
• Anger: Anxiety, embarrassment, irritation

“You might be having more fights with your spouse or get more irritable with the lenders you’re having conversations with,” Reitmeier says.

• Depression and detachment: Blahs, helplessness, lack of energy
• Dialogue and bargaining: Reaching out to others, desire to share one’s story, struggle to find meaning for what happened
• Acceptance: Exploring options, a new plan in place
• Return to meaningful life: Empowerment, security, self-esteem, meaning

The stages of grief may not all come in this order. “One day you’re angry, the next day you’re feeling a little acceptance, another day you’re depressed. You’re all over the place,” Reitmeier says.

Mack remembers watching her own parents process their decision to retire from farming. The transition was especially hard for her proud, third-generation row-crop farming father.

After retiring, her dad felt as though he didn’t fit at the table of neighboring farmers discussing their problems at the local café. He struggled to find where he belonged. Conversations with his wife, other farmers, his priest, and a mental health therapist all helped him find a new, broader identity for himself and a renewed sense of purpose.

“I was really proud of my dad for having the understanding and ability, and not feeling shame in reaching out to a formal provider because that can be really terrifying. It can be hard to go see a mental health provider, but it’s what he needed at that point in time,” Mack explains.

Mack acknowledges mental health resources aren’t always easy to find in rural areas.

In addition to seeking professional mental health services, there are other strategies to cope with the massive changes that come with the end of a farming career.

Keep in mind who you are in addition to your role as a farmer. Farmers wear many hats: parent, child, sibling, community leader, church member, history enthusiast, 4-H leader, to name a few.

Building self-awareness can help you discover you are more than what you do. If you’re struggling to get out of the grief and loss process, Reitmeier suggests knowing your body cues. Sensing when they become different can be helpful. Also, keep tabs on your relational, cognitive, and physical health

LEARN MORE

Cultivating Resiliency resources are presented by American Agri-Women, District 11 Minnesota Agri-Women, University of Minnesota – Women in Ag Network, and Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center.

umash.umn.edu/cultivating-resiliency-webinars/

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7 Steps to Creating a Successful Ranch Management Plan

By Hugh Aljoe
Director of Producer Relations

Posted Jan. 1, 2020

What is intentional management? It might be easier to describe what it is not than to describe what it is. In an attempt at “tongue-in-cheek” humor, let me describe what intentional management is not.

You might not be managing intentionally if:

• Your record-keeping system is a shoe box or a file folder in which you keep receipts until tax time.
• Your marketing plan is to sell the largest calves each time you pen the herd, weaning the calves en route to the sale barn.
• Your winter feeding program is to provide cubes a couple of times a week to the herd without knowing the quality of the hay or standing forage on offer.
• Your stocking rate was set by what the neighbor, your granddad or your real estate agent suggested, and you don’t adjust it until drought forces you to.
• You don’t routinely test and analyze your pasture soils, yet you routinely apply fertilizer.

I’m sure you can think of other s of how we as producers too often go about “running” cattle with little forethought and planning. In favorable years, we can get by easily enough, but in unfavorable years (due to weather, markets or other issues), difficulties arise. These unanticipated surprises can be costly and often difficult to overcome. Hopefully, most of us learn from our mistakes and failures and, if we survive, can laugh at them in hindsight. The secret is to fail early, fail often, but fail cheaply — and adapt our management so that we do not repeat our mistakes.

MANAGE WITH INTENT

Intentional management is the active management of the collective components of an operation toward the achievement of realistic, well-defined goals. It is a holistic and forward-focused management approach in which an operational management plan is created and used as a template to plan and prioritize activities then to monitor and measure progress toward defined production and economic objectives. Management plans need to be built to complement the resources of the operation — the land, facilities, personnel and production system(s) being operated. Even though there is always some uncertainty within an agricultural operation, with a management plan in place, a producer has a road map to guide him or her toward a predetermined outcome. When variations in climate or markets or other surprises occur and force a change of course, having the plan in place helps guide a producer to either continue to navigate toward the original outcome or alter the course toward a new, more realistic or attainable goal, given the circumstances.

PLANNING BRINGS CLARITY OF PURPOSE

For intentional management to be more than a concept, it takes forethought, planning and action. The biggest challenge for most producers is getting started. It is much too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of running a cattle ranch or agricultural operation. It is in the intentionality of developing a management plan where clarity of purpose is achieved. This is where a manager establishes a vision of a desired future for the ranch, identifies the key management objectives to be accomplished, devises an action plan that addresses the critical aspects of each management component, and integrates these components into the management plan for the ranch that the entire staff will implement.

The management plan for the current year becomes the template for the following year, with continual fine-tuning and adjustments over time while adapting to the changing industry, market conditions and climate variations that will occur. Through intentional management and use of a management plan, managers are more likely to attain their desired goals, will experience fewer surprises, and are better prepared for the unexpected when it occurs. Then, instead of just laughing at mistakes of the past, we can laugh ourselves all the way to the bank.

7 STEPS OF INTENTIONAL MANAGEMENT

1. MANAGEMENT PLAN

First is the management plan itself, which is the compilation and integration of the other six components.

2. PASTURE MANAGEMENT

Second is the pasture management plan, which includes the soils, forages and water resources. The management plan is grounded by the pasture management plan, which forms the foundation upon which the other components rest. The pasture management plan is the first component to address in intentional management.

3. STOCKING RATE MANAGEMENT

Third is the stocking rate management plan, which entails the matching of grazing livestock numbers to forage production as well as managing and adapting livestock numbers as forage production changes within and throughout years.

4. CATTLE MANAGEMENT

Fourth is the cattle management plan. The cattle management plan includes the breeding, nutrition, health and husbandry aspects of a cattle program, which ideally complements the land resources of the operation.

5. MARKETING PLAN

Fifth is the marketing plan, which leverages the attributes of the cattle and management for optimum economic results. Typically, this means managing the ranch resources so there is an element of flexibility within the stocking rate for retained ownership of calves or other stocker cattle enterprises as well as timing sales with favorable cattle markets and market cycles.

6. RECORD-KEEPING SYSTEM

The sixth component is a good record-keeping system for ranch operations. This is a record-keeping system that allows easy tracking and monitoring of critical production and economic information. It also provides managers the ability to conduct enterprise analyses, prepare financial statements, and develop monthly and annual operational reports.

7. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Seventh is a personnel management plan, which allows a manager to intentionally develop the skills and knowledge of ranch staff to build competencies and enhance their value to the operation. A personnel management plan addresses the needs of the operation, from onboarding a new employee to rewarding valued and tenured employees. It also includes performance evaluations, goal-setting sessions, training and professional improvement.

 TAGS:

• management
• intentional management
• planning
• pasture management
• management plan
• stocking rate management
• cattle management
• marketing plan
• record-keeping system
• personnel management plan

Overcoming Barriers to Entry for the Next Generation of Ranchers

By Dan Childs
Senior Agricultural Economics Consultant

Posted Nov. 6, 2019

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been saying for years that the average age of the American farmer is going up. The latest estimate of the average age is 59.3 years, as the baby-boom generation gets older. As a result, it has been estimated that 70% of the land in agriculture will change hands by 2031. This is a startling forecast and one worth contemplating in terms of how the transition will occur.

The number of farmers and ranchers in the United States has been decreasing, with the latest estimate just a bit more than 2 million in total. Fewer children are being raised on farms or ranches, too, and many of those who have are choosing other occupations, with no plans to return to the farm or ranch. Young people who have developed an interest in agriculture but do not have farm roots face a variety of barriers to entry as beginning farmers.

According to the balance sheet of agriculture, the total value of all U.S. farm assets is just over $3 trillion. When divided equally among the estimated number of farmers in the U.S., the average investment per farmer is $1.5 million, with the majority of that being in land. So how does an interested young person get started, when the day one could buy land and expect to pay for it by working it is long gone?

70 percent of the land in agriculture will change hands by 2031. This is a startling forecast and one worth contemplating in terms of how the transition will occur.USDA estimate

LAND: OWN OR LEASE?

It is generally agreed that the biggest barrier of entry to agriculture is the price of land. When the price of land prohibits entry into agriculture, what is the best alternative? Typically the answer is to lease it from a landowner. Lease payments are usually much lower than land payments, even in today’s low-interest-rate environment. However, leasing does come with challenges. Often landowners will only negotiate one- to three-year terms. It is usually not feasible to develop infrastructure through permanent structures or invest in long-term soil health improvements with lease terms no longer than three years. Aging farmers need to be more amenable to longer term-lease agreements or willing to recognize improvements lasting longer than the lease term by cost-sharing or including a refund clause if the lease is terminated.

OPERATING CAPITAL AND DEBT CONCERNS

A second barrier common among many people wanting to have their own farm is operating capital. Granted, there is a greater awareness by some lenders such as the Farm Service Agency and the Farm Credit System, which have created special credit standards for young, beginning and small farmers and ranchers to be able acquire financing. However, then debt becomes a concern. As noted in the below figure, U.S. farm income has been somewhat of a roller coaster. Managing debt in such an uncertain landscape can be very difficult.

U.S. Net Farm Income 2000-2019 Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, Farm Income and Wealth Statistics

PROFITABILITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

This brings us to a third barrier: the lack of consistent profitability. The perils present in production agriculture are many. At the end of each day, every agricultural producer must be an astute risk manager. First and foremost, weather risks could be at the top of the list, with markets or commodity prices not far below, followed by government policy, including regulations, trade, tax and labor laws. Many other risks exist that challenge consistent profitability. Considering all these factors, it becomes apparent that agricultural producers truly have a genuine passion for the work they do and the contribution they make to feed the world, despite the risks.

ENSURING THE FUTURE

The U.S. has not had to depend on another country for food, and that is a great blessing. We have achieved national food security because of the work ethic and productivity of American farmers and ranchers. Yes, there are obvious reasons for the U.S. to trade with other countries and benefit from our comparative advantage. Fair trade between countries helps both consumers and producers.

Much work lies ahead for the U.S. as we navigate the transition of farmland to the next generation. It is paramount that the transition is made to people who have the same passion and dedication to production agriculture as past generations, who have made U.S. agriculture the envy of the world.

Animal Unit Months

Here’s more math for figuring out how to feed our livestock while making a good living on leased pasture. Even if math isn’t your strong suit, we take it one step at a time so that it’s as easy as it can be.

Figuring pasture use rates by Animal Unit (AUM) is more common in the western United States where it is the basis for public lands leased to ranchers for their stock. The nice thing about this method is that it makes it easy to plug numbers into a formula to give you a good idea of how many animals you can feed for how long. The formula factors in pasture quality, and the market price of hay so that you can come up with something fair to both parties.

An Animal Unit Month (AUM) is the amount of forage required to sustain a 1,000 pound cow with her calf at her side for 30 days. That works out to about 26.1 pounds per day. Forage requirements for all the other classes of livestock are shown in relationship to that 1,000 pound cow and her calf.

Here’s the formula:

Number of Animal Units x Average Hay Price Out of the Field Per Ton x Pasture Quality Factor = Rate Per Head Per Month

(Note: This formula works well for irrigated pasture, but may over-estimate non-irrigated, arid range rental rates where there is less forage and very little infrastructure.)

Here’s an example of what the formula looks like using a 1200-pound cow with her calf, during a time when hay is going for $10o per ton, and you’re hoping to rent an excellent grass and legume pasture:

1.20 AU x $100/ton x .20 Quality Factor = $24/AUM

From here the landowner and prospective lease can negotiate price based on expectations for management of the pasture, past experience, water and fence infrastructure and other requirements.

Don’t like that formula?  Here’s another option:

Hay Value Per Ton / 8.5 Rule of Thumb Forage Equivalent x Animal Unit = Rate Per Animal Unit Per Month

Using the same cow-calf pair and hay price, here’s that formula in action:

($100 per ton/8.5) x 1.2 = $14.12 per AUM

This is also just a starting point and depending on the result may point out whether you’ve over- or under-estimated the value of your hay.

Sharing Profit and Risk

If you intend to graze Stocker Cattle, establishing a rental rate based on pounds gained means that the landowner and the lease share the profit if there is one, and the risk if gain isn’t as great as expected. If you’re considering this method, you’ll have to have base values for the cost of gain, the expected gain, how long the animals will graze, and the per animal costs for caring for them through the grazing season.

All of the formulas I found for this method start with a Pasture Charge per Head per Month, also called a Seasonal Cost.  None of them told me where they got that number, but they all started with $10.  So starting with that as my full disclosure, we’ll go through this figuring process.

Pasture Charge Per Head Per Month x Number of Months = Seasonal Cost

$10 x 6 months = $60 per head

We use this as our base and then we divide by the pounds of gain we expect. This will change depending on the kinds of animals you’re running, grazing management, health and parasite load of the livestock and forage quality. This is where the risk sharing comes in. Let’s say that we think our stock will gain 200 pounds each while they’re on pasture.  Now our formula looks like this:

($10 x 6) / 200 pounds = 30¢ per pound of gain.

Thirty cents per pound is our break-even price and if the animals all gain 200 pounds each, that’s what the landowner gets. If the stock gain more, say 240 pounds, here’s what the landowner gets per animal:

240 x .30 = $72 per head

But if the animals only gain 175 lbs each, the landowner gets less money per animal:

175 x .30 = $52.5 per head

2019 Nebraska Cow-Calf Pair and Stocker Rental Rates

Recent findings published from the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights 2018-2019 indicate changes in cow-calf and stocker monthly rental rates trended slightly lower when compared to 2018 (Table 1). Nebraska monthly grazing rates represent a typical fee for one month of grazing during the summer. Many leases run for a five-month grazing season subject to annual weather conditions.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics annually surveys Nebraska land professionals including appraisers, farm and ranch managers, and agricultural bankers. Results from the survey are divided by rental rate class and summarized by the eight Agricultural Statistics Districts of Nebraska (Figure 1).

Reported rates for cow-calf pair and stocker from the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights include by district the average, high third quality, and low third quality. The range in these averages reflect the differences in the quality of the grazing land. Features influencing the quality of the grazing land might include the mix of the forages present during the growing season, livestock water sources, fencing upkeep, and general market competitiveness for the area.

To determine a cow-calf pair rental rate for a five-month period, the monthly rate for a district would be multiplied by five to calculate the seasonal rate. For example, the Central District average cow-calf pair monthly rental rate of $50.70 multiplied by five would be $253.50 per cow-calf pair for the 2019 grazing season.  This rate would vary depending upon the district of the state and provisions considered as part of the lease.

Negotiations on contractual terms for the grazing season include considerations on the landlord and tenant’s willingness to provide fencing maintenance, weed or brush control, and monitoring or providing water. Depending upon the willingness of either party to maintain, control, or provide these resources as part of the lease, the final rental rate may vary accordingly as panel members noted.

In addition, panel members also reported on the need for reviewing leases to account for different kinds of weather-related disasters such as flooding or drought. Reviewing these provisions by the appropriate agency or organization providing disaster assistance ensures compliance on grazing land in the case of an adverse weather event.

Survey results shown and discussed in this report are findings from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln 2019 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey. Complete results from the survey may be found at the Nebraska Farm Real Estate website: http://agecon.unl.edu/realestate.

Please address questions regarding preliminary estimates from the 2018-2019 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Survey to Jim Jansen at (402) 261-7572 or jjansen4@unl.edu.

Jim Jansen, (402) 261-7572
Agricultural Economist
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
jjansen4@unl.edu

Jeff Stokes, (402) 472-1742
Professor, Agricultural Banking and Finance
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
jeffrey.stokes@unl.edu

 

Interviews with the authors of BeefWatch newsletter articles become available throughout the month of publication and are accessible at https://go.unl.edu/podcast.