The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 28Knowing how to raise livestock is not the same as
running a business raising livestock. Also, if you
are a livestock farmer doing $10 jobs when you
should be focussing on the $100-per-hour jobs, then you
are working for a lunatic. That would be you.
Such was the no-holds-barred commentary Dave Pratt,
owner of The Ranching for Profit School in California, had
for beef farmers at the Inaugural Cow-Calf Management
School offered by Beef Farmers of Ontario in Elmwood on
August 16 and 17 in Bruce County.
In what was more about lessons on human nature than
business, Pratt spent the morning discussing attitude and
approach. Then he followed it with some financials that
had some beef farmers rethinking their entire business
structure.
Were they in the livestock business or the cull cow
business? Can their businesses compete with the actual job
of ranch manager in the United States or Western Canada
where pay is $120,000 a year with a house, car and
retirement fund?
Pratt has been to Ontario before. He says he used to
come a few times a year but as he approaches retirement,
he’s travelling a bit less and saying a lot more.
He began the session using a graph with four letters on
it. (See next page). Then he asked people to say which
letter was different. There were a few hands up for each
letter but mostly for the letter C.
“And how many of you would say the letter T,” asked
Pratt.
Very few saw the T.
“I believe your place is full of the letter Ts. That’s why
it is easier to solve your neighbour’s problems ... you can
see them. And they can see your T. And once you see it,
you will see it forever and it will bug you until you do
something about it.”
24 The Rural Voice
Dave Pratt, owner and instructor of the Ranching for Profit school in California, United States, came to Elmwood in
Bruce County in August to teach beef farmers how to create a paradigm shift on their cattle farms.
......................... By Lisa B. Pot
Beef
Is your farm
a business or
a hobby?
Dave Pratt teaches cow calf
farmers how to move past
productivity into profitability