Time management, learning to delegate and managing employees have all been learning curves. However, one of the greater challenges is the current cattle markets. While ranchers remain giddy about the high prices, it creates challenges for those toward the end of the supply chain. Calli and CJ note that it isn’t as easy to sell direct-to-consumer today compared to four years ago when people were panic buying.

What’s the true value of eating organs? James says, “We call organ meats nature’s multivitamin.” Organ meats contain all the essential vitamins and micronutrients in balanced and easily absorbable proportions.

There are a multitude of methods to experience the benefits of strategic crossbreeding. Outside of marketing endpoint, operation size is another key factor to consider before picking a plan. “What works for someone with 50 cows may not work for someone with 500 or 5,000 cows and vice versa,” says Weaber. Pasture size and availability also plays a role in the best system for operations.

We already have people paying five dollars more per hundredweight because they know these calves will perform well once they hit the feedlot.

It’s easy to not do it because it costs money and might be hard to find someone to feed cows while you’re away, but you just need to make a point to do it.

“There is a big part of the message missing when it comes to talking about estate and transition planning. That part of the message is what we can do as the younger generation to prepare ourselves for that eventual transfer,” said Groskopf.

Jessica and her husband know firsthand what it is like to build for the future even when there has been a lack of transparency and communication from the senior generation. Together, they turned what looked like a less-than-ideal buy out to others into a great opportunity for themselves by using emergency funds, good debt, flexible investments, and alternative revenue. 

Groskopf says, “Fifty percent of land owned by an operator was purchased from a non-relative.” That means the younger generation needs to start preparing financially because the likelihood of them purchasing property is very high.

The full picture of a direct-to-consumer marking plan doesn’t have to be complex, JT encourages ranchers to think through the three M’s: Market, Message and Media. This ensures businesses are connecting the right people, sharing the right message and using the right media.

Passing down the ranch to the next generation requires more than business skills—it takes effective communication. Nebraska rancher and Enneagram coach Terryn Drieling shares how improving communication can strengthen leadership, reduce tension, and build connection on family ranches. Learn practical tips for fostering better relationships in your operation.

"These conversations are uncomfortable to have in an open format and setting like this, but they need to happen," said Dr. Keith Belk, Director of the Center for Meat Safety and Quality at Colorado State University. At the 2024 International Summit on the Societal Role of Meat and Livestock, world-class scientists and policymakers tackled critical topics, including meat's role in human diets, ecological impacts, and the importance of clear, science-based communication. Their goal? To bridge the gap between industry practices and public understanding while empowering producers to take proactive, fact-based action.

“From the Big Four to small and moderate-sized packers, they are packing Certified Angus Beef (CAB) but want to include Red Angus. When we started working with them, they just weren’t sure how to do so. We now help packers with their USDA paperwork, G schedules, and other parts of the process to include Red Angus in their Angus brands,” Smith said. The Angus brands that accept Red Angus are not CAB but are nearly identical programs.

“The biggest thing to remember is to look at feed on a cost per head per day basis and not a cost per ton basis. Some feeds might be cheaper by the ton, but cattle will have to eat a lot more to get the same benefits.”

Picture this. You take the time to go on vacation during the winter and can leave the ranch without taking the stress with you. You are at ease knowing your employees can handle anything that comes up. The best part is you don’t get a single phone call or text about frozen water lines, sick calves, cows being out or equipment that doesn’t work. While this sounds like only a sweet dream, it is attainable for you and your employees to achieve this level of training, communication and trust.

Erin McKnight ranches with her husband and their sons in the Sandhills of Saskatchewan. They rely on employees to help them keep the ranch operating smoothly but like many ranchers have experienced the negative impacts of poor communication and lack of training. The difference with the McKnights is Erin recognized these gaps and created a solution that can be easily replicated across ranches. She said, “I was a registered nurse for 10 years and our whole first year of nursing college was about communication. I thought it was unnecessary at the time but once I started working in an emergency room, I realized how important it was. Clearly communicating with your teammates builds trust and it is the same thing on farming and ranching operations.” Erin took her past experiences in nursing and ranching and created Ranch Academy – an online training platform for ranch employees and family members.

Ranch Academy is a complete guide of trainings for ranch employees that can be customizable to each operation. Examples of trainings include transporting cattle, treating cattle, troubleshooting water lines and wells, equipment safety, and power tool safety. Employees can access trainings from their phones to read instructions and watch videos to prepare for an upcoming task or troubleshoot a current one. “Nobody wants to pull up a YouTube video and fast forward to the 30-second clip they need. These trainings are short and sweet yet effective,” said Erin. Once ranchers purchase this program, they can go through and adjust trainings and directions to fit their needs and preferences.

Ranch Academy is used by a variety of individuals. From people with no ag background who want to be ranch hands to new spouses and even kids returning to the operation this program is versatile. The ability to train employees who didn’t grow up on a ranch is especially beneficial as it opens up more hiring options for ranchers.

A quality employee training and communication program is part of a good risk-management protocol. Whether you look into McKnight’s Ranch Academy or other options, remember the following quote by Zig Ziglar, “The only thing worse than training employees and having them leave is not training them and keeping them.” Investing in the time and resources to properly train your people will increase productivity, reduce the costs that come with mistakes, save time and improve employee retention.

Increasing profitability is a topic you see in every issue of any newsletter, publication and many podcasts. Cattle producers run on tight margins and many work to defy the old saying that ranchers are only profitable one out of every ten years. By far, the most common piece of advice I’ve heard and witnessed when it comes to profit is knowing your numbers.

Brianna Buseman is a meat scientist working for Marble Technologies – a company that specializes in helping packing plants improve their processes through automation. Brianna said, “Most people’s interactions with the agriculture industry are the cheeseburgers they buy or steak they grill at home. Meat science serves as an awesome way to connect more people with the agriculture industry.” On the flip side, meat science also connects ranchers to consumer demands and perspectives which can impact future production practices as well as how meat is processed.

“I encourage people with a priority breeding objective to control cow cost to use AI sires or bloodlines with high accuracy for these two traits. And for them to encourage their seedstock suppliers to collect these phenotypes and turn them into the breed associations. Over time, this will improve commercial producers’ ability to control cow cost and improve cow efficiency.”

Unlock the secrets of the Beef Checkoff in this episode of Cattle Convos! Experts discuss origins, structure, and the impressive $13.41 return on investment for producers. Learn about key marketing strategies, producer involvement, and how the Checkoff benefits the beef industry. Watch to understand how the Checkoff works for YOU!

Specialty sales and value-added programs are also great opportunities for cattle producers to participate in at auction barns. Joplin has their own tagging program but has seen countless producers benefit from breed-specific tagging programs too. Skyler said, “The more we can tell buyers about the calves, the more the value of the calves increases.” These programs are another tool to differentiate your calves and build up your reputation which is the most important piece of marketing calves. “This business is all about reputation,” said Skyler. If someone buys your calves and they are healthy and perform well, they’ll want to buy them again next year.

Lindsleys are showing cattlemen and women how to take back their time and live the lifestyle that draws many people to agriculture. They are leading by example by finding the right technology for their operations, building a team to support all areas of their business and never losing sight of why they chose the cattle business.

The foundation behind Cattlemen’s Heritage and Legacy Beef Co-op is to keep more family farms in business for generations to come by implementing a business model that gives producers a share of processing and brand profits plus it offers a more favorable pricing and delivery model.

“The whole premise behind the business is that we need more butcher education. But, we need to do it in a way that meets butchers where they are at whether that’s making the most of an older facility or a modern on-farm facility that was built from grant money after COVID,” said Jepsen.