Greg Judy has written a wonderful book titled “No Risk Ranching: Custom Grazing on Leased Land”. It’s full of wonderful information on how to get started custom grazing on leased land. There is some risk, but not much! Today, I’d like to cover a few of the key points in the book. I would highly recommend you buy the book and read it before you go out and try this.
The whole idea behind the book is to gain experience grazing cattle, and use other people’s land and cattle to make a profit. The risk that is placed on you is low. Land is expensive. Cattle are expensive. Paying the up front costs of both of those items is expensive, however the hidden costs like taxes and supplemental feed can get you into trouble quickly if you are operating on debt.
Here are a few tips that Greg provides in the book:
- Look for unused land to lease
- Make sure you have good water. If you don’t, calculate the cost of building ponds/installing a water system vs the money you’ll make custom grazing and the cost of the land lease
- Do all that you can to stay out of debt
- Get a written land lease contract – this is key and he provides all of the details you’ll need to write one in the book
- Have fun!
Greg has years of experience doing this. He still leases land today. It would benefit you to buy his book, and learn from his experiences, so you don’t make the same mistakes he did. I believe that those of us who learn from others experiences, and take their advice to heart will be the most successful in the future.
